Noted Urdu poet and Bollywood lyricist Nida Fazli passes away

NEW DELHI: 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.”