Gulzar mourns the demise of Rahat Indori: ‘It is an unquantifiable loss’

“It is an unquantifiable loss. He was one of a kind. It’s as if somebody has left a void in our Urdu mushairas which can never be filled. Woh jagah ko khali kar ke chale gaye. It is not a big loss, it is a total loss,” he told PTI.

He remembered Rahat Indori as someone who would steal the thunder at mushairas (poetry symposium).

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“Wo toh lutera tha mushairon ka. A happy-go-lucky man who was the ‘jaan’ (soul) of mushairas,” Gulzar said.

Gulzar said Rahat Indori was in total rapport with the new generation and times.

“He was very relevant. People of all ages used to wait for his turn at mushairas. One mostly comes across romantic shers in mushairas, but all his work that he read was about the sociopolitical and contemporary climate,” he added.

Asked when he last spoke to Rahat Indori, the 85-year-old legendary lyricist said it is difficult to recollect, but it seems as if they spoke just the other day.

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Gulzar said his friend, filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra, who worked with Indori on Mission Kashmir, would often tell him about work, including his songs Bumbro and Dhuaan Dhuaan on the 2000 film.

“I would love it and talk to him (Indori). Jab bhi koi aacha sher sunn liya, phone kar liya, daad de di (Whenever I would hear a good sher by him, I’d call him up to congratulate him),” he remembered.

With a 50-year career in poetry, Rahat Indori was known for the lyrics of songs like Dekh Le from Chopra’s Munnabhai MBBS” (2003), Chori Chori Jab Nazrein Mili from Kareeb (1998), and Koi Jaye To Le Aaye from Ghatak (1996), and Neend Churai Meri from Ishq (1997). His lyrics were used in 11 Bollywood films.