Gulshan Kumar Mehta

He died on 7 August 2009 at age 72 at his Pali Hill residence in Mumbai.

Almost half of his songs have been with R.D.Burman. His last release was Zulmi (1999) and his last hit was "Le pappiyaan jhappiyaan paale hum" for Haqeeqat (1995), which landed him in his only controversy - of writing a vulgar song. His films in the '90s include, besides Haqeeqat and Zulmi, Qurbani Rang Jaayegi, Tehkiqaat, Laat Saab, Maidan-E-Jung, Indrajeet and Chor Pe Mor.

He wanted to come into films and applied for a job with the Railways. He was posted to Kota, Rajasthan, but when he arrived there, the vacancy was filled. His next call was luckily that for the post of a clerk at Mumbai and he arrived in the city in 1955. Gulshan struggled to get a film break, initially keeping his job on. Kalyanji (of Kalyanji-Anandji), then on his own as Kalyanji Virji Shah, gave him his first opening in Chandrasena (1959) in the song "Main kya jaanu kahan laage yeh saawan matwala re", sung by Lata Mangeshkar.

Gulshan Kumar Mehta, popularly known by his pen name Gulshan Bawra (literally: "Gulshan The Mad") (12 April 1937 – 7 August 2009), was an Indian songwriter and actor in Hindi cinema. In a career spanning 42 years, he has to his credit about 240 songs, he collaborated with noted music directors like Kalyanji Anandji, Shankar Jaikishan, and R. D. Burman. He composed almost half of the songs in films like Khel Khel Mein (1975), Kasme Vaade (1978) and Satte Pe Satta (1982). Apart from R. D. Burman hits, he is most remembered for his songs like 'Mere Desh Ki Dharti" in Upkaar (1968) and "Yaari Hai Imaan Mera" in Zanjeer (1974), both of which got him the Filmfare Best Lyricist Award. The latter also topped the Binaca Geetmala annual list of 1973. As a character actor, he also appeared in a small number of Hindi films.