Mumbai: Veteran Bollywood lyricist Dev Kohli passed away here on Saturday after a prolonged illness.Eighty-six-year-old Kohli was famous for his superhit songs like ‘Kabootar Jaa, Jaa, Jaa’, ‘Ye Kaali Kaali Aankhen’, ‘Dil Deewana, Bin Sajna Ke Maane Na’ and ‘Chalti Hai Kay Nau Se Bara’.
Kohli’s body was kept for people and his fans to pay their last respects at his home in Lokhandwala Complex this afternoon.His funeral was performed this evening at the Oshiwara Crematorium.
Born on November 2, 1942 in a Sikh family of Rawalpindi in Pakistan, his family was settled in Dehradun.He wrote a first song for the film “Gunda” (1969) – ‘Khushi Se Jaan Le Lo Ji’, which was composed by music director G. S. Kohli, which barely made musical ripples.
Kohli wrote many superhit songs for films like “Maine Pyar Kiya” (1990), “Aansoo Bane Angare” (1993), “Baazigar” (1994), “Hum Aapke Hain Koun” (1995), “Dahek” (1999), “Bas Itnasa Khwaab Hai” (2001), “Woh,” & “Musafir” (2004), “Shootout At Lokhandwala” (2007), “Yaariya” (2008), “Judwaa 2” (2018), among others.
Over the years, Kohli worked with a host of music directors starting like the late Shankar-Jaikishan, Laxmikant-Pyarelal, R. D. Burman, Anu Malik, Raam-Laxman, Anand Raaj Anand, Anand-Milind, Vishal-Shekhar, Uttam Singh, and many more, writing lyrics for over 100 films in nearly six decades.
Top Bollywood personalities including actors, lyricists and music directors took to the social media and condoled the demise of Kohli.(UNI)<>