Maya Govind is no more with us

Popular lyricist of Hindi cinema Maya Govind passed away on Thursday morning at her residence. Maya Govind, who was in controversy for a long time over the song ‘Gutur Gutur’ from the film ‘Dalal’, breathed her last in the lap of her son Ajay at the age of 82. Maya Govind was brought home by her son Ajay in February after a long treatment in the hospital. According to Ajay, he died at around 9.30 am on Thursday. The last rites will be performed at the Pawan Hans crematorium in Juhu at around 4 pm. Born in Lucknow, Maya Govind was a master of Kathak. She also made her name on screen and on stage as an actress and also won many awards. Famous actress and dancer Hema Malini’s dance ballet ‘Meera’ is written by her.

Born on 17 January 1940 in Lucknow, Maya Govind did her BEd after graduation. The family wanted him to become a teacher but his interest was more in acting and theatre. Maya, who was a disciple of Shambhu Maharaj, practiced Kathak a lot. He also did a four-year course in singing from Bhatkhande Sangeet Vidyapeeth, Lucknow. She has been a Category A artist of All India Radio. In the year 1970, Sangeet Natak Akademi Lucknow gave him the Hindi version of Vijay Tendulkar’s play ‘Khamosh! Awarded for Best Acting in Adalat Zaari Hai. Later she also came first in the All India Drama Competition held in Delhi. He also acted in the film ‘Tohfa Mohabbat Ka’.

Maya Govind, who has been writing poetry since the age of seven, was a big name for poet conferences and mushairas. People used to come from far and wide to listen to him in the poetry conferences held in the country and abroad. Maya Govind, who gave place to the expressions of makeup and separation in her poems, also got a lot of popularity for her verses composed in Brij Bhasha. Maya Govind, who started her career as a lyricist in 1972, wrote songs for around 350 films. The song ‘Kajre Ki Baati’ sung by Yesudas and Sulakshana Pandit in the movie ‘Sawan Ko Aane Do’, released in 1979, brought him a lot of fame. Producer director Atma Ram gave him his first break as a lyricist in his film ‘Aarop’. Songs like ‘Nain Mein Darpan Hai’ and ‘Jab Se Tum Bansi Bajai Re’ from this film made Maya Govind famous overnight. After this, he wrote songs for many big films like ‘Bawri’, ‘Dalal’, ‘Gaj Gamini’, ‘Main Khiladi Tu Anari’ and ‘Hafta Uoli’.

His career resurfaced in the era of television. He wrote many songs, couplets and verses for the serial ‘Mahabharata’ which was aired on Doordarshan. Apart from this, ‘Vishnu Purana’, ‘Kismat’, ‘Draupadi’, ‘Aap Beeti’ etc. were his famous serials. Even in the era of satellite channels, the title songs written by Maya Govind were very popular. He wrote the songs of the superhit serials ‘Mayka’ and ‘Phulwa’. Maya Govind made a lot of company with the legendary singers of his era. He has composed the song ‘Param Artha Gita Saar’ by Anuradha Paudwal. Anoop Jalota has sung his bhajans in his albums ‘Bhajan Yatra’ and ‘Krishna’. Even in the era of indie pop, Maya Govind did not lag behind. Falguni Pathak’s superhit song ‘Maine Payal Hai Chhankai’ is written by him.

7 April, 2022, 3:26 pm