Gulshan Bawra: I didn't have to struggle to become a lyricist or actor

When I reached lyricist actor Gulshan Bawra's house at the appointed time, he was waiting for me. He made me sit and went to make arrangements for the evening. When I arrived, he offered me something but when I asked for a glass of cold water, he brought a glass of sherbet for me.

Taking a sip from his drink, Gulshan Bawra said, 

'Now tell me, what do you want to ask?'

Are you basically a poet or an artist? I asked the first question 

'Basically, I am neither a poet nor an artist. I am only a lyricist. Writing a song for a film and doing poetry are two different things. If writing a film song and doing poetry were the same thing, then today all poets would have become songwriters. Shayar-e-inquilab Hazrat Josh Malihabadi was also called to the film industry to write songs but he could not survive here. Finally, he left the film industry. Similarly, many other great poets came and went back unsuccessful.' Gulshan Bawra said. 

'Then where and how did you get the passion for writing this song?' I asked 

'Actually, my mother was very religious. I used to go with her to kirtans etc. It had such an impact that I started writing bhajans. After this, in 1947, both my parents were killed in riots. That shock had such a deep impact on my heart that whatever I wrote, there was pain in it. And when there is pain in the heart, poetry starts coming out automatically. Then I went to Delhi. When I reached college, I started writing romantic songs after looking at girls. In this way, my interest and mastery in poetry increased.' Gulshan Bawra said. 

‘So how did you get into films?’ I asked.

'I was fond of writing songs. People also liked my songs. It was because of their praise that I thought of trying my luck in films. Coincidentally, I came to Mumbai in 1955 as a goods clerk in the railways. This way, I not only had the means to earn my living in Mumbai, but I also started struggling for films. After coming here, I got a place to stay in Jogeshwari. A production controller Swarn Singh lived there. When he heard my songs, he liked them very much. He introduced me to producer-director Ravindra Dev. Ravindra Dev heard one or two of my songs and sent them to Kalyanji-Anandji. Then they heard my songs. They gave me a song to write in 'Chandrasena'. I wrote the song according to the situation and handed it over to him. That song was- 'Main kya jaanoon kahe yeh sawan matwala hai'. That song became a hit and a lot. After that, he got me to write three songs for 'Satta Bazaar'. The rest of its songs were written by Hasrat and Shailendra. But all three of my songs were hits. They were (1) 'Tumhein Yaad Hoga Kabhi Hum Mile The' (2) 'Chandi Ke Chand Tukda Ke Liye' (3) 'Ankade Ka Dhanda, Kabhi Teji Kabhi Manda'. These songs opened the doors of luck. Then I started getting opportunities to write songs with N. Dutta, Ravi, Hansraj Bahl, Usha Khanna, etc.' Gulshan Bawra said. 

'But how did you start acting while writing these songs? Did you have a passion for acting in your heart since childhood?' I asked. 

'Neither was I fond of it nor did I ever struggle for it. It is a pearl without asking. What happened was that one day I was sitting at Ravindra Dev's place. There was a character in 'Satta Bazaar'. He casually asked me, 'Will you do a role in the film?' I immediately agreed. There were a few scenes but later Johnny Walker was cast in that role and only one scene of mine remained. People liked that one scene too. Then the situation became such that I had to do a role or two in the film for which I wrote a song.' Gulshan said. 

‘This means you neither had to struggle as a lyricist nor to become an actor.’ I said. 

'Absolutely! And the biggest thing was that the producer-director himself used to call me happy and used to treat me with respect. Since I was in service, I never extended my hand to ask for work or five rupees for food. If I had extended my hand, then I would have fallen from the eyes. That is why I used to get respect from everyone.' Gulshan Bawra said. 

‘When did you leave the service?’ I asked. 

After the songs of 'Satta Bazaar' became a hit, I had a lot of work so I left the service and started working in production with one of my friends Kewal. P. Kashyap. It was because of him that I wrote songs for his friend Manoj Kumar's films 'Shaheed' and 'Upkar'.' Gulshan Bawra said. 

'Sorry, even after giving so many hit songs, you could not get the market that Sahir, Majrooh, etc. had at that time. What is the reason for this? Why could you not last long like them?' I said. 

'See, the fact is that I believe in doing less work but doing good work. If a person works more, he may have written only 110 or 112 songs in his career. Despite this, I have the best average of hit songs. Because I wrote fewer songs, I wrote good ones and that is why most of them became hits.' Gulshan Bawra said. 

'How do you manage to act and compose songs simultaneously? I asked. 

'These days I have closed my acting shop. Now I only write songs. I need time and peace to compose songs. Writing songs does not leave me any time to act.' Gulshan Bawra said. 

'The film industry is infamous for factionalism. This is why many people are unable to get work here. Have you also felt this?'  I asked.

'No, this is wrong. Here, it is not factionalism but tuning that works. People call it factionalism or monopoly. The thing is that if Salim-Javed write a film, Amitabh Bachchan, Shashi Kapoor, Rekha, etc. will also be in it. It is our good fortune or bad fortune that we cannot create another Lata. Now you call it monopoly. Although Shailendra Singh also came in the new voice, he was successful and is still doing so. But Kishore Kumar is also firm in his place. Actually, what is the point of what people say? They say that Raj Kapoor made his sons heroes, and that is why he became successful. Those who say this forget that no matter how many people try, if you do not have the ability, then you cannot do anything. Why did the sons of Jairaj and Shammi Kapoor etc. not become heroes? And moreover, Kedar Sharma made so many people like Raj Kapoor heroes, but he too could not make his son a hero.' Gulshan Bawra said. 

‘Which lyricist of today do you like the most?’ I asked. 

'Everyone is fine. And they are just like me. Actually, this is a mechanical job. Because half of the poetry had already ended. Some ended when the man reached the moon. The little that was left on alcohol was also finished by Murarji bhai. Now only a few words are left, they have to be written by shifting them here and there. Earlier it was like the hero was singing and the heroine was singing. Now the hero goes to London in the morning and comes back in the evening. The heroine now happily bids him farewell. Now the hero also takes the heroine to show cabaret. Where you can use only words like aankhein, jawaani, joban.' Gulshan Bawra said. 

I felt that Gulshan Bawra's mind was not supporting him much anymore. I had become a bone in the kebab in his evening fun.

So, while concluding my interview I asked,  'Do you also think of filmmaking like Shailendra, Jan Nisar Akhtar etc?'

'No, now I have given up on it. I had only made 'Vishwas' with P. Kashyap. I was the co-producer in that. But it incurred such a huge loss that now I don't even think of making a film in my dreams.' Gulshan Bawra said. 

‘Your upcoming films?’ I asked, ending the interview. 

'Liar', 'good man', 'traitor', 'the world is in my pocket', 'appointment', 'useless', 'key in the thief's hands' etc., Gulshan Bawra said. 

And after noting down the answer, I left them and headed towards my destination.

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