Years after dementia had erased much of his memory, the great Urdu poet Bashir Badr would still react to filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj's name, Bhardwaj recalled, reflecting on the formative bond they shared since Bhardwaj was 19 years old. Badr, a rising star on the literary scene at the time, captivated Bhardwaj, then just a student who had fallen in love with his verses. The impact of Badr's poetry was so profound that Bhardwaj still remembers the first couplet he heard: "Yeh ek ped hai, aa is se mil ke ro le hum, yahan se tere mere raaste badalate hain."
The poet passed away on Thursday at the age of 91, almost a decade after he withdrew from public performances due to the onset of dementia. "Whenever I called his home to check on him, his son Tayeb and Rahat apa (Badr's wife) would tell me that he still reacts to my name. I remember, we cried so much when we got to know he had dementia," Bhardwaj told PTI. In 2010, Badr had stopped talking for days. One day, Bhardwaj forgot a couplet and said, 'Mera dimag bhi dhadakata hai mere dil ki tarah...' and asked him for the next line. Badr suddenly added, 'Mita diye hain faasle sab mohabbat ne,' surprising everyone. "So, sometimes he would have these flashes of memory," Bhardwaj added.
Honoring Badr Through Work
Over the years, Bhardwaj has honored Badr through his work—by including the poet's name and poetry in "Dedh Ishqiya" or using his writing for music in films such as "Betaabi" and "Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar," projects from the early years of his career. Bhardwaj has independently composed and released many of Badr's ghazals, most recently "Main Ghana Andhera Hoon." Next month, he will release another composition, "Nariyal ke Darakhton ki Pagal Hawa."
"The track of poetry in my life is the strongest part of my personality, my creativity. My music is because of my poetry. My films are because of my poetry. My father was also a poet. And I consider Bashir Badr and Gulzar as my other parental figures. They have shaped me. I am so fortunate to have had that influence in my life," Bhardwaj said.
Friendship Began in Meerut
Looking back at their friendship, Bhardwaj said it all began in Meerut, where Badr lived and taught while Bhardwaj was still a student. Badr's daughter and Bhardwaj's sister were classmates. Bhardwaj asked his sister to take him to meet Saba (Badr's daughter), who then lent him Badr's book. The filmmaker spent the night copying the verses in his diary. At that time, names like Mehdi Hasan, Ghulam Ali, Jagjit Singh, Chitra, and Pankaj Udhaas had started "brewing this tornado of Urdu poetry and ghazal," and the youth was obsessed with poetry. "I think this was the most beautiful youth period of India," Bhardwaj remarked.
Bhardwaj began frequenting the poet's house. "At the time, my memory was really sharp... I could easily memorise poems. I started meeting doc sahab every weekend. He used to read to me his latest poems." Then, a tragic incident occurred: Badr's house was burnt down in 1987, destroying most of his latest work. "We are such a bad race as people that we burn poets' houses," Bhardwaj lamented. Badr also lost his first wife around the same time and fell into depression. It was during this period that he wrote the oft-quoted lines: "Log toot jaate hain ek ghar banane mein, tum taras nahi khate bastiya jalane mein." Badr left Meerut and settled in Bhopal after that incident.
Bhardwaj's sharp memory proved to be a blessing. "I could remember 90 per cent of what he had narrated to me. And he would ask me about those couplets and I would narrate him back. I helped him retrieve at least 90 per cent of the poetry, it was like a year's work." While Badr was in Meerut, Bhardwaj and the poet's friend Prem Bhandari formed an unlikely triad. "Bhandari sahab was 60 years old. I was 19 years old and Bashir sahab must be 50 at that time. Only two people were allowed in the evening to be with him, me and Bhandari sahab. It was such a strange company because his children were not allowed. So, the three of us used to talk about poetry and life, what a triad this was."
Recognizing the Composer
Bhardwaj went on to build his reputation in the film industry, first as a composer and later as a filmmaker who introduced a new idiom to Hindi cinema with movies including three successful adaptations of Shakespeare's tragedies—"Maqbool" (Macbeth), "Omkara" (Othello), and "Haider" (Hamlet). But it was Badr who first recognized the composer in him. "I was a musician in those days and he recognised that in me... I had no interest in literature. I was a very bad student. I never thought that I would have anything to do with Shakespeare. But you opened any book by Gulzar and Bashir Badr and I could recite the whole page. I had such a memory about these two poets. And at the subconscious level, my grooming happened because of Bashir Badr."
Even today, Bhardwaj said if he forms a genuine bond with someone, he gives Badr's book as a gift. He bought over 50 copies of Badr's collection years ago. "Whenever I love someone and I have to give them a gift, I give them a book of 'Culture Yaksan.' And if you received the book from me then that means you have my genuine love because when you read something so beautiful, you want to share the most beautiful part of your life."
Even when life grew busier, they never missed meeting each other whenever they were in the same city. When Bhardwaj shot "Maqbool" in Bhopal, Badr would stay with Bhardwaj's family. The filmmaker also accompanied the poet to mushairas across Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. "When I came to Bombay, he used to come to my house and stay. We have so many memories of Gulzar sahib and him together, they would discuss poetry for hours. They both were big fans of each other's work."
Badr was most happy with the success Bhardwaj achieved in the Mumbai film industry. "Even when I was struggling, he would tell everyone, 'I'm Bashir Badr and you have to trust me when I say that this boy is very talented.'" Bhardwaj described Badr as "a saint, a beautiful saint. All poets are saints, but Bashir Badr was a saint of some other level." Bhardwaj will attend a memorial for Badr on June 4 at Ravindra Bhawan in Bhopal.
