The Lyricist’s Insight: How Anand Bakshi Defined ‘Darr’

Anand Bakshi’s ability to convey profound feelings with simple language was exceptional. Yash Chopra recounted an incident that showcased Bakshi’s lyrical genius while working on the songs for ‘Darr’ in 1983. The popular song ‘Jadoo teri nazar’ was in development. During a brainstorming session, Bakshi proposed, ‘I think I have just summed up the theme of your film in this line: Tu haan kar ya na kar tu hai meri Kiran.’ Chopra was initially surprised but understood that Bakshi had perfectly captured the film’s core in that one line. Though Chopra initially preferred Sahir Ludhianvi, he eventually worked with Bakshi after Sahir’s passing. Bakshi, a lyricist at heart, prioritized the integration of songs into the script. Filmmakers like Raj Kapoor, Raj Khosla, and Subhash Ghai would share their screenplays with Bakshi, who would then begin writing songs specifically for those narratives.