Mere Desh Ki Dharti...

This week we take into account the life and times of a film writer, one of whose works is in sync with the patriotic mood already in motion in the country as of present, with the Independence Day celebrations a few days away. As songs extolling the country’s greatness is a de rigueur during the official events organised on this occasion, in a coincidental sense of timing, this lyricist – Gulshan Kumar Mehta alias GulshanBawra (1937-2009) is responsible for having created one such evergreen number.

The Manoj Kumar - starrer ‘Upkar’ (1967) was not just a major box-office grosser but also gave a nationalistic spin to the image of the hero who became known as ‘Mr Bharat’ since then. Among other songs in this film, the patriotic tone to the song “Mere Desh Ki DhartiSonaUgle…UgleHeere Moti” sung at a high pitch by Mahendra Kapoor and penned by Bawra still reverberates across India, 50 years after it was released on New Year’s Day that year. It is not a favourite of schools and educational institutions on the Independence and Republic Day functions but also feted for its robust reaffirmation of all things Indian at that point in time.

Six years later, his song “Yaari Hai ImaanMera” sung onscreen by Pran, having a change of image from a villain to a character artiste in the Bachchan film ‘Zanjeer’ (1973), was not just a roaring success but also gave a different twist to the Prakash Mehra directed venture, which gave the lanky hero his first major hit in the Hindi film industry.

Bawra was active for over 40 years but had a limited output of around 240 songs, which were set to tune by all the leading names then – from Shankar-Jaikishan, Kalyanji-Anandji to the redoubtable RD Burman. Proving true the adage that quality speaks more than quality, this maverick writer is remembered for his appealing lyrics.He was also being seen on the screen, taking up guest roles in nearly a dozen films from 1970-84, which had stars from Amitabh Bachchan to Rajesh Khanna to lesser known ParikshitSahni.He died on August 7, 2009.

Another big name of the Hindi film world, Khemchand Prakash (1907-1950) also left behind an impressive body of work, his output being seen across the silver screens all over the 1940’s, a notable period in Hindi cinema. This music director scored for those films in which the actor-singer KL Saigal was featured. The legends who are still remembered today in the playback world- Kishore Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar- recorded their first duet for him.

In fact, Kishore Kumar made his debut with him in the 1948 film ‘Ziddi’ in which his solo number “Marne Ki Duwayen”, which he sang for Dev Anand in a KL Sehgal-inspired tone was the creation of Khemchand Prakash. India’s first re-incarnation thriller film ‘Mahal’ featuring Madhubala and Ashok Kumar, edited by Bimal Roy and directed by Kamal Amrohi had the famous song “AayegaAane Wala”, sung by Lata Mangeshkar, a popular track even today. Prakash had 40 films in his kitty for which he scored music between 1939-1950 when he breathed his last on August 10, the same year.