Golden Era of Bollywood: Anand Bakshi-The Lyricist who understood the pulse of Cinema lovers

Anand Bakshi was one of the most prominent and successful lyricists of Bollywood.He was not as great poet as Nirala, Sumitranandan Pant or Sahir.He plucked words from the common man's dictionary.His words were simple.He believed that simplicity is the key to reach to.the common man. He would dive into philosophy in the ‘antara’ only after he was sure he had connected with the audience in the ‘mukhra’.

Anand Bakshi (Bakhshi Anand Prakash Vaid) was born in Rawalpindi, now in Pakistan, on 21 July 1930.He came to Bombay 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's 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" .

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 caliber.

He wrote more than 3500 songs in Hindi and Punjabi films.He worked with almost all the Music Directors of his time He wrote for more than 500 films out of which he worked with Laxmikant Pyarelal in 300 films and R D Burman in 100 films. However it was only with the blockbuster Milan (1967) that he was recognized as a lyricist par excellence, with tunes from the film being hummed all over the country.

His career kept at an all-time high until 30 March 2002, when he passed away in Bombay. He had been quite ill for a few months and had been undergoing treatment for cardiac-related problems. His death was a tragic loss to Bollywood Cinema,

He holds a record of 41 nominations for Best Lyricist in Filmfare Awards but won only three.He holds the record of getting nominated for consecutively 13 years from 1970 till 1982, resulting in 23 nominations

Some of the Most Memorable Songs of Anand Bakshi