Today is the 92nd birth anniversary of Anand Bakshi, the great Indian poet and lyricist. His words have left an indelible mark on Indian arts and movies. What started as a private hobby he did in the closed doors of his room became the reason for his popularity and reverence. The unstoppable poet and lyricist has more than 3000 recorded songs to his discography, which successfully topped for a continuing five decades, from the 1950s till the early 2000s.
Early Life
Anand Bakshi was born on 21st July, 1930 in the city of Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Some of his relatives also lived in Kashmir. At the fragile age of five, Anand lost his mother. Under his father’s guidance and love, Anand pursued his school and college education. Pursuing his higher studies in Cambridge College, Rawalpindi, Anand had to drop off in between as he got selected to join the Royal Indian Navy as a postboy in 1944.
The major reason for joining the Indian Navy was guided by Bakshi’s true dreams—Bombay. He wanted to become a singer, and Bombay, being the land of dreams, was Anand’s first step towards making his dreams true. Assuming that the ship will halt at the shores of Bombay, Bakshi boarded the H M I S Dilawar and H M I S Bahadur Ship after his appointment in the navy. Unfortunately, the ship didn’t stop at his desired place. He worked in the Navy for two years before he was expelled when he was found conspiring against the British army.
Later Years
After his expulsion from the Navy, Anand joined the Indian army. During his service of almost six years in the army, he kept trying his singing luck in Bombay. It was also reported that Anand would sing his own self composed songs to the other soldiers and keep them entertained.
After India’s independence, Anand’s family left Rawalpindi and made some other locational changes, and finally settled in Delhi. Amidst these changes, Anand Bakshi kept trying his luck in Bombay. Countless tries, but nothing came out of it. He had 60 self-written and self-composed songs with him, but no luck knocked on his door.
The Break Through As a Lyricist, Poet and Singer
At the end of 1956, the big breakthrough finally shone. He was offered to write songs for the movie, ‘Bhala Aadmi.’ He penned four songs, and this is how his first song, ‘Dharti Ke Laal Na Kar Itna Malaal’ was recorded and released in Bollywood.
The movie, ‘Mome Ki Gudiya,’ presented the unstoppable duo, Anand Bakshi and music director Laxmikant Pyarelal. The movie proved an astounding success for Anand. Along Laxmikant Pyarelal, he released some of the most iconic music ever! Throughout his career, Anand Bakshi kept proving his versatility and skills as a lyricist. The song ‘Dum Maaro Dum,’ from the movie ‘Hare Ram Hare Krishna.’ is a classic proof of that.
The journey was even brighter for him as he finally got the opportunity to sing songs as well. His first duet, ‘Baaghon Mein Bahaar Aayee,’ with Lata Mangeshkar, was loved by fans all across.
Anand Bakshi worked in almost 300 films with Laxmikant Pyarelal, and other than had around 150 films, he worked with other directors and producers. He has tons of music awards nominations to his name. He won 4 Filmfare Awards for the best lyricist—Aadmi Musafir Hai’ for Apnapan in the year 1977, ‘’Tere Mere Beech’ for Ek Duuje Ke Liye in 1981, ‘’Tujhe Dekha’ for Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge in the year 1995, ‘’Ishq Bina’ for Taal in 1999.
Anand Bakshi breathed his last breaths in 2002. He was a smoker throughout his life which had a negative effect on his body and organs. He succumbed to multiple organ failures, and later passed away.
