Remembering lyricist DEV KOHLI

By

Sharada Iyer

The importance of lyrics in a Hindi film song has always been underestimated and yet without the right words the apt emotion can never be conveyed by the on-screen character in the context of the situation. Even after several decades, the songs remain eternal, the singers are revered, the actors/actresses are remembered, even the music director’s name is recalled many a time, but the lyricists remain unsung and forgotten.

This blog is an attempt to remember one such unsung song-writer Dev Kohli, whose debut song created a sensation and yet he had to undergo a struggle period of 18 years where he hardly got any work. Not one to give up hope, he waited and destiny did smile on him albeit almost two decades later to give him the chance to score his 2^nd super-hit song! Today we walk down memory lane remembering this lyricist’s contribution to Hindi cinema.

Let us have a look at his first hit song –‘Geet gaata hoon main….’

Film: Laal Patthar

It is indeed difficult to imagine the journey of Dev Kohli whose debut song ‘Geet gaata hoon main gungunata hoon main…’ sung by Kishore Kumar from the film Lal Patthar in 1971, was a super-duper hit. In fact, the song is a favourite among listeners even today but unfortunately, he remained in the background and despite having worked with the hit music director duo of Shankar-Jaikishen, his path was not easy. It was only after a waiting period of 18 years did he get his 2^nd tryst with success when two of his songs from the 1989 blockbuster Maine Pyar Kiya became chartbusters – ‘Aate jaate hanste gaate…’ and ‘Aaja shaam hone aayi mausam ne li angdaayi…’.

It was in the year 1964, at the age of 22, that he landed in Mumbai (Bombay at that time) to try his luck in the film industry. He used to meet with other writers and a few music directors and kept on the lookout for some work. Listening to the songs written by the lyricists of Hindi cinema’s ‘golden era’ had been his greatest source of inspiration to join films and write songs.

His first break came when his music director friend G S Kohli, offered him a chance to write one stanza of a song-‘Khushi se jaan le lo ji…’ sung by Asha Bhosle in the film Gunda, for which G S Kohli himself had written the ‘mukhda’ and one of the stanzas. He requested Dev Kohli to write the 2^nd stanza. For this small contribution he not only got paid but was also given credit in the titles along with the other two lyricists of the film. Though Dev Kohli was touched by the music director’s help, he felt it was not really his song and did not deserve any credit.

One day he got a call from music director Shankar of the famous Shankar-Jaikishen duo to meet him in the music hall of the recording studio. Being a newcomer in this field, he mentioned that he had no experience of writing lyrics to fit into the meter of an already composed tune, so Shankar explained the situation to him and asked him to write the ‘mukhda’ or the beginning lines of the song. By the time Shankar came back from his lunch-break, Dev Kohli had come up with the now famous opening lines of the song – ‘Geet gaata hoon main, gungunata hoon main…’. Shankar liked them so much he came up with the tune on the spot. Soon both the stanzas were completed and the tune was also composed then and there. The song was ready in no time.

After such a dream break, he would have never imagined that things would not work out in his favour. People enjoyed his super-hit song but no one remembered him. Jaikishen passed away before the release of the film and the magic and aura of S-J was never the same. Shankar did call him a few years later to write a song for the film Sanyasi (1975), but the song Dev Kohli wrote never got recorded and hence never made it to the final version of the film!

During this struggle period he did get the chance to write a few songs. Many times, he was asked to write only one song from the full film. The songs did become popular yet he remained in the background.

Film: Khoon Khoon (‘Maati ke jalte deepak ki …’)

Film : Salaakhen (‘Saathi chal chal kahin akele mein…’)

Born on 2^nd November in 1942 in Rawalpindi he was part of a family of four brothers and two sisters. Dev Kohli lost his mother when he was still a child of 3 years. His early schooling had been in a madrasa where he learnt to read and write Urdu. His father remarried and after partition the family shifted first to Delhi in 1948 and then to Dehradun in 1949. As a young boy of 11-12 years, he was greatly influenced by his 16-year-old neighbour, who used to recite to him verses and poetry (shayari, ghazal, nazm, etc.,) of renowned writers and poets. The young Dev Kohli loved this and influenced by what he used to hear he also started writing. In Dehradun, he improved his writing under the guidance of an ustad (teacher) and after a few years encouraged by him and his well-wishers he felt writing was his calling in life.

Here are a few other chartbusters written by Dev Kohli.

Film: Hum Aapke Hain Kaun (‘Didi tera devar dewaana…’)

Film : Baazigar (‘Yeh kaali kaali aankhen…’)

Film: Judwaa (‘Tan tana tan tan tan tara…’)

Film: Musafir (‘Saaki saaki saaki aa paas aa…’)

Since he had worked with Rajshri Productions for the film Ek Baar Kaho (1980) for which he had been asked to compose the title song, Sooraj Bharjatya approached him to compose the title song for his new film Maine Pyar Kiya in 1989. Dev Kohli gives credit for this to music director Raamlaxman who had suggested Dev Kohli’s name to Sooraj. And after Maine Pyar Kiya, his luck took a big turn and he started getting many offers which kept him busy during the 1990’s.

He mentioned in one of his interviews, that the era he had wanted to work in unfortunately was not destined for him but he embraced what came his way and when he was given a second chance with Maine Pyar Kiya, he decided to move with the times. He changed his perspective to keep pace with the changes taking place in the music world and became busy writing for songs with fast paced tempo and beats giving the public what they wanted. He gave his best shot to whatever situation came his way whether it was a dance number, wedding song or love song.

Film : Koi Mil Gaya (‘Haila haila hua hua…’)

Film: Khiladi (‘Kya khabar thi jaana tumse pyar ho jayega…’)

Film: Major Sahab (‘Sona sona dil mera sona…’)

Film : Kaante

In his career which spanned thirty years, he got to work with many music directors- Vijay Singh, Anand Raj Anand, Anand-Milind, Rajesh Roshan, Himesh Reshammiya, Bappi Lahiri, Ravindra Jain, Dilip Sen- Samir Sen, Jatin-Lalit, Ram Laxman, Anu Mallik, Babul Supriyo, Vishal-Shekhar, Aadesh Srivastava and above all Shankar-Jaikishen. He also had the good fortune to have his songs sung by the golden era singers Asha Bhosle, Manna Dey, Lata Mangeshkar, Kishore Kumar, and Mohammed Rafi as well as the younger generation comprising of Udit Narayan, S P Balasubramanian, Kumar Sanu, Sunidhi Chauhan and Abhijeet.

He also wrote title songs of many films- Ek Baar Kaho, Maine Pyar Kiya, Hum Aapke Hain Kaun, Hum Saath Saath Hain, Mela and Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman.

Dev Kohli had no regrets and remained humble all his life. He was respected within the film industry by others lyricists, artistes, directors, and music directors. Even if people did not remember his name, he was happy that many of his songs got that connection with the masses to make him part of their musical journey. He attributed the making of his personality to those 18 years of struggle. It was a learning period to stay calm and gave him the serenity and understanding to face the challenges thrown by life. He made peace with whatever came his way and turned to spirituality and found solace in writing bhajans on Lord Krishna. He teamed up with Baba Sehgal for his famous song ‘Tora tora…’.

He did not get married in his lifetime and passed away on 26^th August 2023. If I had not decided to do some research and write on Dev Kohli, I would have never known that it was the same man who wrote ‘Geet gaata hoon main…’ and ‘Yeh kaali kaali aankhen…’. Salute this lyricist for his peerless contribution.

I end the blog with a song from Hum Aapke Hain Kaun which was also one of his personal favourites. Once again for this song also the lyrics were written first and then the song was composed.

‘Maayi ni maayi munder pe teri bol raha hai kaaga…’