Anand Bakshi

Anand Bakshi (21 July 1930 – 30 March 2002) was a popular Indian poet and lyricist.

Early life
Anand Bakshi (Bakhshi Anand Prakash Vaid) was born in Rawalpindi, now in Pakistan, on 21 July 1930. His ancestors were Mohyal Brahmins from Kurree, near Rawalpindi, and had their origins in Kashmir. His mother, Sumitra, died when he was five years old. Bakshi's family migrated to India (Delhi) on 2 October 1947, in the aftermath of the partition, when he was 17 years old. The family arrived in Delhi, via a Dakota aircraft, and then migrated to Pune, then Meerut and settled finally in Delhi.

Bakshi was fond of writing poetry since his youth, but he did this mostly as a private hobby. In a 1983 interview with Doordarshan, Bakshi recounted that after his initial studies, he joined the Indian Army, where due to a paucity of time, he could only write occasionally. He continued to write poetry whenever time permitted, and used his songs and lyrics in local programmes related to his troop. He worked in the Army for many years and simultaneously tried to market his songs in the Mumbai film world.

Chronology from first job with Royal Indian Navy to lyrics writing: Joined Royal Indian Navy as Anand Prakash, age 14, at Karachi (Rank – Boy 1) – 12-7-1944. Ship – H.M.I.S. Dilawar from 12-7-1944 to 4-4-1945.

Dismissed from Royal Indian Navy – 5-4-1946. (Served on H.M.I.S. Bahadur from 5-4-1945 to 5-4-1946).

Left Rawalpindi, Pakistan (due to Partition) on 2-10-1947 and travelled to Delhi. They got themselves registered as refugees at the office of the D.S. Police, (refugee Registration Branch), Poona on 14-10-1947.

Joined Army, Corps of Signals (Rank – Signal Man) (at Jubbulpore) (as Anand Prakash) on 15-11-1947, age 20.

Discharged from the Army Corps of Signals at his own request on 10-4-1950 He had served in the Army for 2 years, 4 months, 12 days. Army trade and qualification – Switch Board Operator Class III. Left Army on 12-4-1950.

Took voluntary discharge from the Army, E.M.E. (The Corps of Electrical and Mechanical Engineers) a second time, on 27-8-1956, at Jubbulpore, Lucknow.

Arrived in Mumbai, (to find work in films as a singer and or lyricist and or artist and or music composer) the second time – Oct. 1956.

Success
Anand Bakshi came to Hindi films to make a name for himself in writing and singing, but ended up becoming more successful in writing lyrics. He got his break writing songs in a Brij Mohan film titled Bhalaa Aadmi (1958), acted by Bhagwan Dada. He wrote four songs in this film. His first song in this film was "Dharti Ke Laal Na Kar Itna Malaal" which was recorded on 9 Nov 1956. (In his own voice on All India Radio interview)

After writing for a few movies from 1956 onwards, he first found success in 1962 with Mehendi Lagi Mere Haath, which was produced by (LimeLight), Music Kalyanji & Anandji, Music Pub-HMV/Saregama. Bakshi later made another mark for himself writing a quawwali for the 1962 film Kala Samundar, the song was "Meri Tasveer Lekar Kya Karoge Tm". He got his real big breakthroughs in 1965 with Himalay Ki God Mein, and a huge breakthrough again in 1965 with the super-hit film Jab Jab Phool Khile, starring Shashi Kapoor; and yet again in 1967 with the super-hit movie Milan (starring Sunil Dutt). These six hit films within a decade of his entry into films cemented his status as a lyrics writer of immense calibre. Bakshi was preferred lyricist by Rajesh Khanna for films with Rajesh Khanna in lead. He went on to work as a lyricist of over 3500 songs and 638 films in his career. (See Filmography below for films reference, names of the films and their year of censorship.)

He got his first break as singer in a film directed by Mohan Kumar – Mom Ki Gudiya (1972). The first song he sang was a duet – "Baaghon mein bahaar aayi hothon pe pukaar aayi", along with Lata Mangeshkar, with music composed by Laxmikant-Pyarelal. He also sang the solo "Main dhoondh raha tha sapnon mein" from the same film. He also sang songs in four other films: Sholay (1975), where he sang the quawwali "Chand Sa Koi Chehera" along with Manna Dey, Kishore Kumar and Bhupinder, (the song was released on vinyl, but not in the feature film); Maha Chor (1976); Charas (1976); and Balika Badhu (1976).

Anand Bakshi was widely associated with music composers such as Laxmikant-Pyarelal, R D Burman, Kalyanji Anandji, SD Burman, Anu Malik, Rajesh Roshan and Anand-Milind, and his songs have been sung by all the top singers as well as other singers such as Shamshad Begum, Ila Arun, Khursheed Bawra, Amirbai Karnataki, Sudha Malhotra ,Kishore Kumar and more. He is known to have worked with more than one generation of music composers.

He wrote the first recorded songs of many first time male and female leads who went on to become stars, and also of singers such as Shailendra Singh, Kumar Sanu, Kavita Krishnamurthy etc., and he established himself as a versatile lyricist with the song "Dum Maro Dum" in the movie Hare Rama Hare Krishna (1972).

After this, he wrote memorable lyrics in many movies including Bobby, Amar Prem (1971), Aradhana (1970), Jeene Ki Raah, Mera Gaon Mera Desh, Aaye Din Bahar Ke, Aya Sawan Jhoom Ke, Seeta Aur Geeta, Sholay (1975), Dharam Veer, Nagina, Lamhe, Hum (1991), Mohra (1994), Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995), Pardes (1997), Heer Raanjha, Dushman (1998), Taal (1998), Mohabbatein (2000), Gadar: Ek Prem Katha (2001), and Yaadein'' (2001).

Death
Late in his life, he suffered from heart and lung disease as a consequence of lifelong smoking. In March 2002, he caught a bacterial infection at Nanavati hospital during a minor heart surgery. He finally died of multiple organ failure on 30 March 2002, 8:00 PM at Mumbai's Nanavati Hospital, at the age of 72. The last released movie with lyrics by Anand Bakshi (after his death) was Mehbooba.

At the time of his death in 2002, he was survived by his wife Kamla Mohan Bakshi, his daughter Suman Datt (married), sons Rajesh Bakshi, Rakesh Bakshi, and daughter Kavita Bali (married). His grandson Aditya Datt is a film director. His son Rakesh Anand Bakshi is author of Directors' Diaries – The Road To Their First Film. Bakshi was nominated for the Filmfare award for best lyricist a total of 40 times, resulting in 4 wins