Archive for the ‘Lyricists’ Category
Shailendra
While the constant composition of songs based on the fragile conundrums of love reduced most lyricists to retail merchants of words, Shailendra’s songs always dazzled with their lyrical lustre. In more than 170 films, he wrote warm souled poetry. Like the straight-from-the-heart `Aaja re pardesi … main toh kab se khadi is paar’, Shailendra’s songs ...
Kaifi Azmi
Amongst the greatest Urdu poets of the 20th century, Kaifi Azmi also penned lyrics and scripts for some of Hindi cinema’s masterworks. His cinematic work, though not voluminous, is regarded as timeless for its touching simplicity, eternal optimism, and lyrical grace. Azmi was born Athar Husain Rizvi in Mijwan, a village in the Azamgarh district ...
Sahir Ludhianvi
When Sahir Ludhianvi spotted his estranged lady love, Sudha Malhotra, at a party, emotion drove him to spontaneously vent his feelings into words: ‘Chalo ek baar phir se ajnabee ban jaaye hum dono’. The plaint was immortalized by B R Chopra in his film, Gumraah (’63). Born Abdul Hayee, this Punjabi-Urdu poet remained a bachelor ...
Pradeep
Best remembered for his inspirational and patriotic songs, lyricist Kavi Pradeep, as he was commonly known, wrote over 1,500 songs for films. He was born Ramchandra Narayanji Dwivedi in Badnagar, Madhya Pradesh. A graduate from Lucknow University, Pradeep aimed to be a schoolteacher rather than a professional poet. However, he was discovered by Himansu Rai ...