Anand Bakshi

Anand Bakshi (21 July 1930 – 30 March 2002) was an Indian poet and lyricist. He won Filmfare Award for Best Lyricist four times during his career. He wrote more than 6,000 film songs in more than 300 films.

Early life Anand Bakshi (Bakshi Anand Prakash Vaid) was born in Rawalpindi in the Punjab Province of British India (now in Punjab, Pakistan), on 21 July 1930 into a Mohyal Brahmin family of the Vaid clan.

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 Navy, 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 troops. He worked in the Navy for many years and simultaneously tried to market his songs in the Mumbai film world.

After writing for a few movies from 1958 onwards, he first found success in 1962 with Mehendi Lagi Mere Haath (1962 film), music by Kalyanji-Anandji, with Raj Kapoor as producer. (See Filmography below for films reference, names of the films and their year of release).

He got another break as a singer in a film directed by Mohan Kumar – Mom Ki Gudiya (1972). The first song he sang was a duet – "Baaghon mein bahaar aayi honton 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.

Death Late in his life, he suffered from heart and lung diseases. In March 2002, he caught a bacterial infection at Nanavati hospital during a minor heart surgery. He died there due to multiple organ failure on 30 March 2002, at the age of 71.

Filmography

Awards Filmfare Award for Best Lyricist in 1978, 1981, 1995 and 1999.