Son of renowned novelist Adil Rashid, Sayed Gulrez, a multi-talented writer, left us for ever in his Los Angeles home on 4th Nov, 2023.
He worked with composers like Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Bappi Lahiri, Naushad Ali, Viju Shah, Anu Malik, Bapa Lahiri, Abhishek Ray, Gaurav Dasgupta and did many albums for Venus & other International Companies.
Noted film personalities he worked with include Jagmohan Mundhra, Anand Mahendroo, Yash Chopra, Solila Parida, Joy Augustine, Kabir Bedi and Akbar Khan to name a few.
He also wrote the film scripts of ‘Apartment’, ‘Zara si Bhool – a small mistake’, ‘Miami se New York’ and others.
As a song writer, he started his film career with Jagmohan Mundhra’s ‘Kamla’ whose music was composed by Bappi Lahiri and the songs were rendered by Salma Agha and Pankaj Udhas.
His other films are ‘Vishkanya’, ‘Janam Kundli’, ‘Aa Dekhen Zara’, ‘Aloo Chaat’, ‘Victory’, ‘Apartment’ et al.
A selection of his Shayari is compiled in a book titled ‘Kuchh Dil Se’.
‘He was a spontaneous lyricist’ says Rajesh Rathi, who also started his career as an Assistant to Jagmohan Mundhra with ‘Kamla’.
‘During the music sitting with Bappi Da, Gulrez would take me out, light a cigarette and by the time it was over – his lyrics would be ready ! He would always use me as a bounce board. His lyrics were always catchy and meaningful. And his sense of humour was unbeatable.
Today, we have lost a very talented writer whose full potential was never tapped’, regrets film director Rajesh Rathi.
-By Kiran Randhawa & Rajesh Rathi
4/11/23
