Gulshan Bawra regrets never having worked with the senior maestro, but wrote almost half his songs for R.D.Burman, a maestro he admires for the newness he brought in. He admits that the current overkill of Pancham, that too at the expense of other composers as well as RD’s better songs, is wrong, but feels happy that “at least his work has got attention today when it did not get its due in his lifetime.” He adds, “I was very happy that when Universal Music approached me last year on his birthday that I had recordings of our rehearsals and sittings. This helped them come out with the album Untold Stories in which they presented so many of our memorable songs. Gulzarsaab might be having more material about Pancham, but Bakshisaab and Majroohsaab are no more.”
The writer, whose speciality was doing the occasional cameo (Zanjeer) and contributing to singing in some of his films (Parivar, Satte Pe Satta) sorely misses his friend. “On his birthday, I get depressed, because at the time when my wife and I would start getting dressed to go to his home, we sit thinking about him and at best, listening to his songs.” The association began late in 1973 with Trimurti and continued till Zulmi in 1999 (till now, Gulshan’s last release) with highs like Khel Khel Mein, Kasme Vaade, Jhoota Kahin Ka, Yeh Vaada Raha, Satte Pe Satta, Sanam Meri Kasam, Agar Tum Na Hote and Jawaani.
The second composing entity that he was close to is Kalyanji-Anandji, for whom he wrote 69 songs. The duo were also his mentors, he points out. “It was Kalyanjibhai who gave me my first three films, Chandrasena, Ghar Ghar Ki Baat and finally Satta Bazar, all in 1959. While Anandjibhai was billed as his assistant in the first two films, Satta Bazar was the first film which they composed as Kalyanji-Anandji. We began together and worked till Desh Drohi in 1980,” he says proudly mentioning their great highs like Dulha Dulhan, Upkar, Parivar, Vishwas, Saccha Jhutha, Zanjeer, Haath Ki Safai, Rafoo Chakkar and Adalat.
Does he not have recordings of his work with them, or some of the other composers he has worked with? Gulshan confesses he does not, and explains, “The reason is very simple. Panchamda would usually give me the metre or dummy words for the songs, while Kalyanji-Anandji, Laxmikant-Pyarelal, Jaikishan and the others would usually compose the tunes after I wrote the lyrics.” Among the many other composers he has worked with are Ravi, Sonik-Omi, Ilayaraja, Dattaram, C.Arjun, Sardar Malik, Rajesh Roshan, Bappi Lahiri, Anand-Milind, Anu Malik and Dilip Sen-Sameer Sen.
Why did he work so less with others and why has he done so less of work? “I never compromised on my price because of my quality, which is why I am comfortable today,” notes the veteran, whose creme-de-la-creme includes Tumhein yaad hoga (Satta Bazar), Mere desh ki dharti (Upkar), Chandi ki deewaar (Vishwas), Yaari hai imaan (Zanjeer), Vaada karle saajana (Haath Ki Safai), Ek main aur ek tu and Khullam khulla pyar karenge (Khel Khel Mein) and the title-tracks of Yeh Vaada Raha, Agar Tum Na Hote and Sanam Teri Kasam. “But this is also the reason why many filmmakers, including Manoj Kumar, others did not work with me again even after I wrote major hits for them and asked for a raise that I deserved.”
Gulshan Bawra is proud that he has never been dishonest to his work. “I was lucky to get the support of Ramesh Behl, Prakash Mehra and Raj N.Sippy besides K-A and RD,” he says. “So I kept getting work on merit. I also respected what I earned and was never insecure. There are people who spend a decent chunk of their hard-earned money sending bouquets and gifts to influential people on their birthdays!”
The lyricist feels that his songs have all emerged from his experiences in life. “I had a gift and a flair from the beginning, but the personal pain added to my skills. I saw my parents being killed in front of my eyes during the terrible aftermath of Partition. My elder brother Banarasi Das Mehta and I lived with my sister for a while. When he passed his Matriculation examinations, he started working so that he could look after my education too. He has played a huge role in my life.”
Gulshan always wanted to write for films but landed up in a job as a clerk in the Railways in New Delhi. “Then as luck would have it, I was posted to Mumbai in 1955. So I kept my job till my struggle continued.” Known as Gulshan Mehta in his first two films, he narrates an amusing tale about how he became Gulshan ‘Bawra’. “Once Kalyanjibhai and the distributor of Shantibhai Patel of Satta Bazar were arguing about which song was better among my songs Tumhein yaad hoga, Chandi ke chand tukdon and Aakde ka dhanda, all of which incidentally proved most popular though the other lyricists of the film were veterans Hasrat Jaipuri, Shailendra and Indeewar. It was at this point that I , then 20-plus and wearing a jazzy shirt, walked in. Kalyanjibhai immediately suggested that since I had written the songs, I would be the right person to decide.”
The lyricist goes on, “Patel thought that Kalyanjibhai was playing one of his jokes on him, because he said that I did not look like a writer at all. He told the director Ravindra Dave, “Main isska naam Gulshan “Bawra” rakhoonga, kyoon ki yeh to “bawra’ ( madman) lagta hain.” He lavished compliments on my profound lyrics at such a tender age and when the film released, the posters carried only my name among the lyricists!”
But Gulshan has not written just philosophical songs, or excelled at those of any fixed genre. A speciality of sorts has been his fun songs like his Satte Pe Satta numbers, Bombay se Baroda tak (Rafoo Chakkar), Tak dhin tak (Khalifa) and Peenewalon ko peene ka bahana chahiye (Haath Ki Safai). “I proved that funny songs could be meaningful too,” he smiles.
The lyricist agrees that deep friendships existed in his time in the fraternity. “I remember Majroohsaab recommending me to a filmmaker,” he says. “But my all-time icon is the late Rajendra Krishan. His poetry and range was unsurpassed. Baaqi sab naam usske baad aate hai.” They even shared a film, Modern Girl, and Gulshan had the privilege of doing a parody Ooparwale teri duniya mein (Haath Ki Safai) on his idol’s song Nandlal Gopal daya karke (Sadhu Aur Shaitan). “But I never knew about this song because the composition was a traditional one and I was not aware of the latter song’s lyrics when I wrote the fun bhajan.”
Besides being his idol, Rajendra Krishan also helped Gulshan a lot. “Before Zanjeer, I had a low phase during which he helped me a lot by getting me acting roles,” he reveals. “From 1970, when I got married, I acted in films like Ganwaar (in which I had a major role), Sasi Pannu, the National Award-winning Punjabi film in which my role was longer than that of the hero, Teen Chor, Gehri Chaal, Jwar Bhata and many others. This helped me run my kitchen though my wife hated my becoming an actor when I wrote so well. After Zanjeer I never looked back, but by then my wife said that I should do cameos in gratitude for my having survived the bad phase because of my acting!”
Why does he not write today? “I keep writing songs - I have an amazing bank, but why should I waste them on poeple who do not understand good poetry? I am a Punjabi, but Hindi films need Hindi lyrics. Today it appears that India’s mother-tongue is Punjabi! I have never written a Punjabi song in that sense!”
He intensely adds, “Yesterday’s songs were created with a lot of pain by their parents - the composer and the lyricist. Children like these become successful in life and everyone has affection for them. But today’s songs are like children delivered painlessly and mechanically. The song was born with a live orchestra before. But now, the different parts of the song are fabricated separately and assembled with a machine. Living entities cannot be created like this!”
Gulshan recorded five songs for a forthcoming film that has got stalled. “So after Zulmi I have not had a release. The filmmaker should be committed enough for that. Today’s filmmakers do not understand basic lyrics. The hero and heroine are shown in each others’ arm when the song is saying, Teri yaad aa rahi hai.”
He proudly mentions one more triumph. “A worldwide music association called the Rajputana Club once conducted a survey of the ten most evergreen Hindi film songs of all time. Members across the world voted and Mere desh ki dharti from Upkar was given the ranking of Number Two!”
The Gulshan (garden) is in full-bloom even today. But are there any takers for lyrics of high calibre?
