Urdu poet and Bollywood lyricist Nida Fazli passes away

Nida Fazli: Legendary poet and lyricist, 78, passes away

Kabhi kisi ko muqammal jahan nahin milta, poet Nida Fazli famously wrote for the film Ahista Ahista.

The poet-philosopher, who passed away on Monday at the age of 78, was a living embodiment of the immortal song rendered poignantly by Asha Bhonsle and Bhupendra.

Life's vagaries, trials and tribulations never ceased to interest Nida Fazli. The wonder that is life, duniya, was both his pet muse and peeve.

"Duniya jise kehte hain, jadoo ka khilona hai; Mil jaaye to mitti hai, kho jaaye to sona hai," he mused in a couplet that went on to become the signature ghazal of the Jagjit-Chitra era of music.
Like many other poets and artists of his age, Nida Fazli's was influenced by his early life and childhood trauma of Partition. Fazli, real name Muqtida Hasan, was from a family of Kashmiri Muslims that had later shifted to Delhi.

During the Partition, his family decided to migrate to Pakistan. Fazli, who was just nine then, decided to stay back in India. But all his life the pain of separation and loneliness found expression in his poetry.

And he never agreed with the Partition, remaining its lifelong critic and opponent of communal, divisive politics.

It was to reflect later in his musings that were poignant insights into the heart of man who had lost a lot and come to terms with it with the sang-froid of a philosopher, without complaining. "Jise bhi dekhiye woh apne, aap mein gum hai, zubaan mili hai magar hamzubaan nahin milta; Bujha saka hai kaun bhala waqkt ke sholay, ye aise aag hai jisme dhuaan nahin milta."

Bhopal-based journalist Shams ur Rehman met Nida Fazli several times during the past few years. He says the poet was so well read that he could quote Kabir, Meera, Ghalib, Amir Khusroe, Russian writers and Latin poets with equal ease. All of them influenced his oeuvre.

Fazli was born in an age when shayars were the biggest celebrities in India. Saahir Ludhianvi, Kaifi Aazmi and Jan Nisaar Akhtar attracted big crowds at mushairas and had a huge following among men and women. (Yash Chopra's Kabhie, Kabhi, loosely inspired by Ludhianvi's poetry and life, captures the defining mood of the era).

So, after struggling in wilderness in Gwalior and Bhopal, Fazli shifted to Mumbai in the 60s to try his luck in cinema and popular culture. His early life in Mumbai was to teach him valuable lessons about being in a city where success depends not just on your ability and talent.

So, he wrote:
Baat kam kije jahanat ko chhipate rahiye
Ajnabi shehar hai ye, dost banate rahiye;
Dushmani lakh sahi, khatam na kije rishta
Dil mile na mile, haath milate rahiye.

His big break in Bollywood came in the 80s when lyricist Jan Nisaar Akhtar died midway during the production of Razia Sultan. The film's producer signed Nida Fazli to write two songs -- Tera Hijr Mera Naseeb Hai and Hariyala Banna Aaya -- for the period film after Akhtar's death.

Around the same time, his songs for two more films went on to become chart-toppers, primarily because of their poignant poetry and silken, lyrical grace. These were Ahista, Ahista and Aap To Aise Na The, whose song Tu Is Tarah Se Meri Zindagi Mein Shaamil Hai, is a cult classic.

In later years, Fazli's songs for Sarfarosh, Hosh Walon Ko Khabar Kya, and Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin received critical appreciation and success.

Nazakat and Nafast, two words that have no parallel in any other language, were the hall mark of his lyrics. If you listen to his songs, full of erudition, philosophy, finesse, and literary refinement, you would feel somebody is running a feather through your hair, while you lie close to a silent river on a quiet night.

Like the great Khayyam's music, Nida Fazli's poetry always transports to you a calm, peaceful world where you just ruminate about life and its intricacies.

But, the poet would perhaps be remembered as the heart of Jagjit Singh's ghazals. Singh's repertoire is full of couplets penned by Nida Fazli. Tum Nahin, Gham Nahin, Sharab Nahin and Apni Marzi Se Kahan Apne Safar Ke Ham Hain.

Long live, Nida Fazli, you will always be around till there is poetry, Bollywood, ghazals and music in this world.

To quote your famous lines: Tu Is Tarah Se Meri Zindagi Mein Shaamil Hai, Jahan Bhi Jaaun Ye Lagta Hai Teri Mehfil Hai.

Your poetry will forever be alive, Nida Fazli: Legendary poet and lyricist

At mushairas across India, they would wait deep into the night for his ghazals and nazms. His couplet, Kabhi kisi to mukammal jahan nahin milta / Kahin zameen to kahin aasman nahi milta, has become an everyday phrase for articulating the imperfect human condition in modern times.

Nida Fazli, one of the foremost Urdu poets of his generation and a lyricist who brought a dash of quality to Bollywood songs in the trashy 1980s, passed away following a heart-attack on Monday morning in Mumbai. He was 77.

"He complained of breathlessness this morning around 11am. When we reached the hospital, we were informed that he is no more. He had no medical history. It's shocking for us," a relative told PTI.
Renowned poet Wasim Barelvi, who participated in hundreds of mushairas with Fazli, said he was popular both among the masses and the literati."Fazli saab brought in a style of nazms that was different from the traditional. His father had migrated to Pakistan and the nazm he wrote because he couldn't attend the funeral is poignant poetry at its best," he told TOI on phone.

Fazli got the Sahitya Akademi award for his collection of poems, Khoya Hua Sa Kuchh, in 1998.
His ghazals brought out the alienation of the individual in uncaring cities. Har taraf, har jagah beshumaar aadmi, phir bhi tanhaiyon ka shikar aadmi. Also the helplessness of unremarkable people, who are just weathercocks in the hands of fate, Apni marzi se kahan apne safar ke hum hain. His love songs captured the quietitude of within as in Hoshwalon ko khabar kya, bekhudi kya cheez hai (film: Sarfarosh). In singer Jagjit Singh's golden voice, these ghazals reached millions of homes and hearts. Fazli also wrote dohas, couplets in traditional Hindi.

In Hindi films, he mostly worked with composers Khayyam (Razia Sultan, Nakhuda, Ahista Ahista) and R D Burman (Red Rose, Biwi O Biwi, Harjaee), often sharing space as lyricist with Vithalbhai Patel and sometimes with Gulshan Bawra. He teamed up with composer M M Kreem to earn a Filmfare nomination for the song, Jeewan kya hai in Sudhir Mishra's Is Raat Ki Subah Nahi. He was also in top form in Tanuja Chandra's Sur.

Fazli wrote the agonising Tera hijr mera naseeb hai in Kamal Amrohi's Razia Sultan. In general, the 1980s were hard times for sensitive poetry in Hindi films. But even in the age of asinine rhymes such as Ladki nahi tu lakdi ka khamba hai, Fazli stayed true to his craft. His words were so tender one felt even a whisper would hurt them as in Tere liye palkon ki jhalar bunoon (Harjaee) or Tumhari palkon ke chilmanon mein (Nakhuda).

Khayyam points out, Kabhi kisi ko mukammal jahan nahi milta, became his signature song. Singer Bhupinder also remembers recording the track. "He corrected the pronunciation of one particular word. I don't remember which word. His poetry reflects the truth of life," he says.

Adds Khayyam, "He wrote many popular songs but he was also a poet of depth and nuance."

Renowned Karachi-based poet Pirzada Qasim said, "You could immediately identify his work. Fazli saab arrived on the scene in the sixties but his work evolved with the times enabling him to stay contemporary. Along with Wasim Barelvi and a few others, he belonged to a select list of top Indian poets in Urdu of his generation. He was quite popular in Pakistan too." From all accounts, he was a frank and forthright person with a zest for life.

A student of English literature, Fazli grew up in Gwalior. He came to Bombay and wrote for magazines such as Dharamyug. In an interview with Filmfare in 2014, he wrote why in his younger days he had written against poets such as Kaifi Azmi and Sahir Ludhinavi in his book Mulaqatein.

"I was fresh out of college and had great dreams. I found their communism paradoxical. I thought, 'Ye log aaram se flats mein rehte hain (just the way I do today) while talking about the mazdoor and the kisan'. It seemed all preaching and no practice," he explained. "Naturally, they were upset. Eventually, I realised the truth. I even wrote for Sardar Jaffery's magazine Guftagu for some time. But Sahir saab remained upset with me. Shayad zaroorat se zyaada!" he told the magazine.

During the same interview, he also revealed being targeted during the Mumbai riots in 1992. "A Hindu poet friend, Kamal Shukla, took me to his home," he said.

His death was unexpected. Nonetheless, as Qasim said, "He will always have a special place in the world of Urdu."