Enkayaar, Bollywood Trade News Network

Bawra is a term that is used profusely for the persons who are mad at heart and who follow what the heart says and not let the head rule it, and Gulshan Bawra was indeed one of the few lyricists who followed it to the hilt. In his passing away a glorious phase of Indian music has passed away, a phase in which he along with Pancham and Kishore Kumar combined to give one of the most vibrant music in Hindi films characterized by profuse use of Jazz as the base, which ultimately came to be established as the leitmotif of R D Burman's music, and Gulshan Bawra also contributed to its evolution in no less manner.

He was given the title of Bawra by Ravinder Dave, the producer-director of SATTA BAZAR, in which he had written at all of 19 years, written '' Tumhe yaad Hoga Kabhie Hum Mile the'', one of the evergreen romantic songs written and amazed by his passion for the verse he was christened as Bawra. His was a journey that may not have had a proliferation in terms of output but it was more than ably compensated by the hits that he scored with his lyrics in films after all. He primarily worked with Kalyanji Anandji and R D Burman. Though he is known more for his romantic peppy numbers, he was the man who wrote ''mere Desh Ke dharti sona ugle'' for UPKAAR and it became the swan song for India at the cusp of new development gravitating to its emergence as an economic power. It indeed was his Bawarapan that he could think in such a visionary manner in bringing about the rural signposts of the country, summing them up in the form of a song, in such an effervescent manner that this song is a must in all the national events. Filmfare award was a logical outcome for this passionate invocation, and he again won it when he wrote his elegy for friendship in ZANJEER - ''Yaari Hai Iman mera Yaar Meri Zindagi''.

He was also one of the few lyricists who sang his own songs, as he did in ZANJEER, the song ''Deewane hain Deewano ko na ghar chahiye'' There are two distinct paths that Pancham's career had traversed and one of the phases was that in which he scored music for Gulshan Bawra's music. Randhir Kapoor was instrumental factor in bringing Gulshan Bawra to Pancham, and the gems that they produced from KASME VAADE, SATTE PE SATTA, YEH VAADA RAHA, RAFOO CHAKKER, KHEL KHEL MEIN, JHOOTA KAHIN KA, and PUKAR etc. Nearly all of the songs of these movies were the songs that were bubbling with zest, hope and life. Even though Gulshan Bawra was one of the unfortunate few who saw his parents killed before his own eyes, he never allowed it to permeate his writings. The combination of Pancham and Gulshan Bawra also was the phase when Pancham came back to play back singing in a big way with Kishore Kumar. Be it the ''Pyaar Tumhe Kis mod pe le aaya'', in SATTE PE SATTA or ''Samandar Mein Naha kar'' from PUKAR, Pancham really reveled singing these songs of naughtiness.

While he was riled for his lyrics in HAQEEQAT ''Le Ppappiyan Jhappiyan Pa le hum'', he had written much raunchy numbers in PUKAAR ''Samandar mein Naha kar rankeen ho gayee ho'', as also ''Tu Maike Mat Jaieo''. Besides, the film may have been flop, his lyrics were a hit, and a prime example is ''Lehron Ki tarah Yaadein sung sonorously by Kishore Kumar for the film NISHAN, or in LAL BANGLA, ''Chand Ko Kya Maloom use chahta hai koi chakor''.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that the second phase of the career of Pancham characterized by energetic songs that Kishore Kumar sung got a life only because of the efforts made by Gulshan Bawra to infuse energy into them. As long as Pancham and Kishore Kumar are fondly remembered, Gulshan Bawra also would be revered along with them with same respect