Tribute to Lyrics Maestro Yogesh Gaur who had Magical Ability to hit that sweet spot between simplicity and depth!
Bollywood veteran lyricist Yogesh Gaur passed away yesterday in Mumbai on 29th May 2020. He was 77. The veteran lyricist was not keeping well for some time, according to sources. He was staying with a disciple in the Mumbai suburb of Nala Sopara.
Born in Lucknow in 1943, Yogesh moved to Mumbai in search of work at the age of 16 through the help of a relative. In Bombay of the sixties, he aspired to be a poet and also a lyricist in films. He often hung around the sets, not knowing what to do. Depressed about leaving his home at a young age, Yogesh spent hours at Marine Drive and the Hanging Gardens brooding about his situation and penning his thoughts. It was while sharing his diary with music composer Robin Banerjee, that he was coaxed into writing lyrics for a tune Banerjee had created. Yogesh took the job and the song got selected for a film, which never got made.
His first Bollywood break was as a lyricist in the film Sakhi Robin (1962). His breakout film was Hrishikesh Mukherjee's ‘Anand’.
The story behind ‘Anand’
Yogesh wrote two songs for producer L.B. Lachman’s then-forthcoming film. Director Hrishikesh Mukherjee, who was making Anand, at the time, heard them and insisted one of those songs, would be perfect for his film. That’s how ‘Kahin Door Jab Din Dhal Jaaye’ got Yogesh his break. Lyric writer Yogesh Gaur was a man in great demand among the slice-of-life filmmakers like Basu Chatterjee and Hrishikesh Mukherjee.
His Journey throughout the Years:
Just starting out, Yogesh shad said, “I got Rs. 25 per song, and a total of Rs. 150. Two of the songs were played on primetime slots on Radio Ceylon. That helped,” he says.
With just enough money to shift from a jhuggi in Andheri to a chawl in Oshiwara, Yogesh couldn’t buy discs of his own compositions. He would spend hours at the home of Savita Chowdhury, wife of music composer Salil Chowdhury.
In Rajnigandha and Chhoti Si Baat, Salil Chowdhury allowed him to experiment with words and phrases not commonly used, he has once disclosed. Another success story was Chatterjee’s Baaton Baaton Mein (1979) with music director Rajesh Roshan. The songs ‘Na Bole Tum’, ‘Suniye Kahiye’, and ‘Utthey Sabke Kadam’ were hits. “I only did two films with S.D. Burman but Mili received a huge response,” he had mentioned.
Once television became big, Yogesh wrote for serials like Chandrakanta, Hasratein, Thoda Hai Thode Ki Zaroorat Hai and Gudgudee. “There too the subjects changed, and I slowed down. I worked on some films that never got released or which flopped,” he had pointed out.
Lyricist Yogesh had a favourite incident, one that he would often recount to his acquaintances, of how Javed Akhtar would start fanboying over him. “Whenever Javed Saab would run into me, be it at award functions, or other gatherings, he would start humming songs written by me, especially the ones I wrote for Anand. It used to be very surreal,” revealed Yogesh.
His discography included his career-defining songs such as ‘Kahin Door Jab Din Dhal Jaaye’ and ‘Zindagi Kaisi Hai Paheli’ from Anand (1971), ‘Rimjhim Gire Saawan’ from Manzil (1979), ‘Badi Sooni Sooni Hai’, ‘Maine Kaha Phoolon Se’ and ‘Aaye Tum Yaad Mujhe’ from Mili (1975), ‘Rajnigandha Phool Tumhare’ and ‘Kai Baar Yunhi Dekha Hai’ from Rajnigandha (1974), among many others.
More recently, Director Harish Vyas approached Yogesh Gaur after he had settled down to a retired life in his Goregaon flat to write songs for Angrezi Mein Kehte Hain (2017). The NFDC film had star cast including Sanjay Mishra, Ekavalli Khanna, Shivani Raghuvashi, Anshuman Jha and Pankaj Tripathi. For the film, the lyricist penned the song ‘Meri Aankhen’, composed by Pravin Kunwar and sung by Shaan and Vaishali Mhade. “Then I did a thumri ‘Piya Mujhse Rooth Gaye’ sung by Satyendra Tripathi and an adaptation of the Amir Khusro qawwali ‘Aaj Rang Hai’, where I used fresh antaras,” Yogesh had mentioned.
Regarding his writing style, Yogesh had once revealed, “I write about everyday things, the people around me. Unke beech mein hi rehkar, door jaaunga toh kaise likhunga.” (If I go far away while being with them, how will I write?)
Talking about his relationship with Yogesh Gaur, Writer and lyricist Varun Grover said, “I learned a lot from his words. They had the magical ability to hit that sweet spot between simplicity and depth. His sense of rhythm and meter was masterful.”
On the demise of Yogesh, Varun Grover expressed his grief, “Alvida Yogesh Saab. Writer of so many gems (‘Kahin Door Jab’, ‘Rimjim Gire Saawan’, ‘Zindagi Kaisi Hai Paheli’) he always managed to find the sweet spot between simplicity and depth.”
Veteran playback singer Lata Mangeshkar also expressed her grief over the death of Gaur. “I just got to know about the death of Yogesh Ji and I am deeply saddened. He wrote so many heart-warming songs. I have sung many songs written by him. He was a very calm and composed man. I pay my respects to him,” Mangeshkar wrote on Twitter.
Although he is not with us anymore, his essence can always be felt in his eternally evergreen songs. We, at Apeksha News Network, pay our respects to the legendary lyricist as he has left for his heavenly abode.
