Neeraj: Laidback style, superhit lyrics

Vandana Singh

GOPAL Das Neeraj never accepted that he was a lyricist who wrote for films. He would also boldly say that he never wrote for anybody but for himself. He never tried to get assignments but when songs did not come his way, he would say that he was not as talented as other contemporary lyricists. But he was a magician with words, especially in introducing the beauty of Hindi in an era when Urdu dominated.

In the sixties, Neeraj’s poetry was the rage on radio. A filmmaker of that time, R Chandra heard his poetry on radio and was very impressed. He went to meet Neeraj and asked him to write the lyrics for a film. But Neeraj refused, saying that he did not write poetry on demand. If the filmmakers wanted to use his poetry, they were free to do so. But R Chandra was enamoured by Neeraj’s talent and kept approaching the poet. After six years, when Chandra decided to make Nai Umar ki Nai Fasal, he selected six of Neeraj’s poems for the film and used them all. Among those, Karwan gujar gaya and Dekhti hi raho tum darpan aaj still rule the air waves over 50 years later.

At that time, Dev Anand was about to start Navketan, his production house. Chandra suggested Neeraj’s name to Dev Anand for his film. Legend has it that Dev Anand was already smitten by his talent, having been mesmerised by his rendering at a kavi sammelan. Dev Anand discussed with SD Burman the issue of enlisting Neeraj for his upcoming film and the veteran music director readily agreed.   

But when Dev Anand contacted Neeraj, his reply was the same: please select a poem from my collection, I will not write as per requirement. Then SD Burman intervened and persuaded Neeraj to sign on for Rs 1,000. In the first meeting, Dev Anand asked Neeraj to write a song based on a single word rangeela. Such was his talent that he went out of the room and was back in 20 minutes with the lyrics. The heart-tugging song of longing, betrayal and unfulfilled expectations was Rangeela re tere rang me. When Dev Saheb read the lyrics, he hugged Neeraj and thanked SD for the marvellous selection. A team was formed.

Neeraj was closer to SD than Dev Anand and they subsequently worked for Tere Mere Sapne and Sharmilee. Neeraj used to say that SD was the soul of his lyrics and when he passed away, Neeraj declared the end of his film innings. Neeraj also worked with Shankar Jaikishan in Mera Naam Joker and the songs were again superhits but the film came a cropper at the boxoffice. In fact, many films in which Neeraj’s lyrics were used, fell flat on the boxoffice or did very average business, but all the songs were superhits. The glamour world is full of superstitions. So when this flop-hit gossip started in Bollywood, Neeraj felt upset and decided to return to his world of poetry. He remained wedded to that craft till he passed away on Thursday leaving behind a legacy which is unmatched.