Dev Kohli, a seasoned lyricist of Hindi film industry, passed away on August 26 at the age of 80. His antim darshan will be held from 2 pm onwards at his home in Lokhandwala Complex, Mumbai. The final rites will be conducted by about 6 pm at the Oshiwara Crematorium in Jogeshwari West on Saturday.
According to reports, his close friends in the music business, including Anu Malik, Anand Raaj Anand, Uttam Singh, and others, will pay tribute to the Pehla Pehla Pyaar song’s composer.
Dev Kohli, who was born in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, composed almost a hundred songs for Hindi movies. He wrote several well-known Hindi songs, including Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein, Maaye Ni Maaye, and Aate Jaate Hanste Gaate.
The lyricist’s career began in 1969 with the release of the movie Gunda.
He last wrote songs for Kangana Ranaut-starrer Rajjo, which had music by Uttam Singh.
Dev Kohli was born on November 2, 1942, in Rawalpindi, Pakistan and spent his childhood in Dehradun, after shifting there from Delhi in 1949.
Dev Kohli collaborated with composers from Shankar-Jaikishan to Vishal-Shekhar over the course of his career, which lasted from 1969 to 2013. He talked about his lengthy and accomplished career as a writer as well as his relationship with music composer Anu Malik in an old interview with Planet Bollywood. He had said, “The first song I wrote for him (Anu Malik) was Yeh Kaali Kaali Aankhein from Baazigar (1993), which became a huge hit. He (Anu Malik) used to call me often to write songs. He used to praise me a lot among his peers, particularly about my ability to write songs very fast. He used to compose the mukhda in 2-3 minutes.”
Dev had also opened up about ‘writing songs very fast’. He had said, “I would always write the song in the studio itself. I would never take a tune home to write the verses. I have written most of my songs at one go. In fact, by the time I went back home, I would forget what I had written just a couple of hours ago.”