Bhopal didn’t give Asad Bhopali his due: Nusrat Mehdi

Bhopal: The songs penned decades ago by Asad Bhopali, are sung at various platforms by some of the top singers of Bollywood today and the youngsters hum them with equal pride, but the shayar of evergreen numbers like ‘Aay mere dil-e-nadaan’, ‘Hum tum se juda ho ke’, ‘Woh jab yaad aaye bahut yaad aaye’ and ‘Hasta hua noorani chehra’ wasn’t celebrated in his hometown, said director of Urdu Academy, Madhya Pradesh, at on online event organised to celebrate the birth centenary year of Asad Bhopali.

The programme titled ‘Pyar baante chalo’ was streamed live at various social media platforms. Mehdi, who also conducted the event, said, “Through such programmes, we are trying to crate awareness about the man, who gave such memorablesongs to Indian film industry. His works need to be appreciated, especially by the youngsters today because despite writing for films, he didn’t allow the standard of his poetry to fall. Bhopal didn’t give Asad his due, but as we celebrate his birth centenary year, we want the world to know about him and cherish his works.”

Speaking on this occasion, well-known shayar, professor Atiqullah, said, Urdu Academy deserves accolades for organising the event as people of Bhopal had almost forgotten him. He contributed a lot to track the cultural history of Bhopal and put the city Indian map with his writings.

Well-known film director and writer Rumi Jaffery, who also participated in the programme, said, “The list of shayars who promoted Urdu post independence, will never be complete without Asad Bhopali’s name in it along with Sahir, Kaifi Azmi etc. He was a shayar who gave a chance to many music directors and that says a lot about him.”