DEV KOHLI .... A Natural Poet

Dev Kohli, born in Rawalpindi no doubt is the name in every household even though he has kept his profile very low in Indian Film Industry. He has given this industry some foot-tapping numbers with many a love songs under the banner of Rajshri Productions. Over and again he has topped the charts with numbers like 'Maine Pyar Kiya, 'Didi Tera Devar Deewana' and 'Yeh Kali Kali Aankhen'. 'Geet Gata Hoon Mein' was one of his early hits which made his name familiar to this industry. Dev Kohli hail from Rawalpindi, now in Pakistan, but the partition of India made his way to parent India with his family moving up to Dehradun in Uttar Pradesh. From very early on in his life Dev Kohli was very much interested in sher aur shayari. He wrote a lot of poetry earlier but he never disclosed it to anybody, as he feared that people would laugh at him. But in Dehradun, he also met his mentor Mr. Shaukat who read his poems and assured him that they were of a certain standard. Shaukat gave the aspiring poet’s writing a certain purpose and direction and till today Dev Kohli owes a lot of his success to him. The Struggle Dev Kohli has taken up Sahir Ludhianvi, as his idol when he came to Mumbai sometime in late 60’s. But getting work was not very easy. But he persevered and he decided to take shelter in a hotel in Khar. He soon realized that Dev Kohli and a few character artistes also stayed there. Film personalities frequented the hotel quite often and one day the secretary of composers Shankar Jaikishan met him and heard his poems. He also introduced Dev Kohli to the composer duo and that is when he got his first break through the song ‘Geet Gata Hoon Main’ from Lal Patthar. Fortunately for Kohli he met with success from his very first song. The Success His first song might have been a hit but few knew about his existence. Although his first song itself was a big hit not too many people within the industry recognized him. But Kohli accepted all this in his stride saying it is a matter of destiny. Kohli also feels that his inability to market himself seriously affected his career. Says Kohli, “ In this industry to get work and be famous one needs to possess good PR skills, hire a secretary or a PRO and one has to do a lot of chamchagiri. I am very happy that I do not possess these skills even though I had to pay quite a heavy price for it. I got noticed only twenty years later with the songs of Maine Pyar Kiya.” Natural Poet – Dev Kohli In today’s day and age when lyricists and composers are working on 10 to 12 films at one time it so happens that lyricists are so hard pressed for time that many a times they have to succumb to the pressure and produce sub standard work. But Dev Kohli prefers to try and understand the situation of the film and tries his best to write lyrics according to the character on which the song will be picturized. “It is very important to write in the same language that the character speaks.” But ask the lyricist what inspires him the most to write and pat comes the reply, “I am very much a nature poet and I like to write about rains, mountains, the rising sun and things like that.” Talking about the kind of songs he likes Kohli says, “Oh my best lyrics have been for romantic films songs like ‘Aate jaate’ (Maine Pyar Kiya), ‘Pehla Pehla Pyar Hai’ (Hum Aapke Hain Koun). But I have also written some happy go lucky songs like ‘Tan tana tan tan tan tara’ (Judwaa), ‘Kurta Phadke’ (Anari No 1) and ‘Yeh Kali Kali Aankhen’ (Baazigar). The title song of Biwi No 1 is also a big hit especially with children. Association with the Rajshri Banner Talking of successful partnerships Dev Kohli has had quite a successful one with the Rajshri banner so far. Talking about his association with one of the most well known banners Kohli says, “It all began in 1980 when I wrote the lyrics for the title song of the film Ek Baar Kaho the music for which was composed by Bappi Lahiri. So when they were making Maine Pyar Kiya and recording the songs they knew that I had written the lyrics for Ek Baar Kaho and the song was a hit and Raam Laxman the Music Director called me and when I listened to his tunes I decided to write the lyrics for the film and the rest as they say is history.” About Hum Saath Saath Hain Dev Kohli feels that when the music of the film was released a few weeks prior to the release of the film a lot of people heard the songs and said ‘In Gaano Mein Woh Waali Baat Nahin.’ “But the music gradually grew on the people and a couple of songs especially ‘Maare Hibda Mein Nache Mor’ became really popular and started topping the countdown shows. In a Rajshri film music is always good but people start liking the music when they watch the film. The same thing happened with the music of Hum Aapke Hain Koun and the same happened to Hum Saath Saath Hain.” According to Kohli he felt that the best song of the film was the title song not just because he had penned it but also because he liked the message behind the song, which said, 'We are united'. The song speaks of family values and I feel in today’s times when family values are declining rapidly this song comes as a good message to today’s generation. But I also like ‘ABCD’ because of its simplicity. The Credit goes to Media Dev Kohli feels that a few years ago lyricists were facing a problem of being relegated to the background. "In fact there came a time when we would feel fortunate if our names were being included behind the cassette covers and being mentioned in the credits of the film. But now things have changed for the better and people recognize lyricists not only by their name but they will also recognize them if they happen to see them and the credit for that must go to satellite television." The lyricist might be ageing but age is not coming in his way at all as far as writing songs go. At present he is working on quite a few things. Apart from writing lyrics for films Kohli is also writing lyrics for a few non-film albums. "Yes one of them is with Rajshri, the other is with Venus for which Chandna Dixit has rendered her voice. Apart from these two albums I also have projects with Wings Music and Magnasound." He says humbly.

The Best of Dev Kohli Song Movie Maine Pyar Kiya Maine Pyar Kiya Didi Tera Devar Deewana Hum Apake Hain Kaun Yeh Kali Kali Aankhen Baazigar Maye ni maye Hum Apake Hain Kaun Pyaar kiya tho nibhana Major Saab Maahi Ve Kaante Socha Nahi tha Kaante Maare Hibda Mein Nache Mor Hum Saath Saath Hain Tan tana tan tan tan tara Judwaa Geet Gata Hoon Mein Laal Patthar