Urdu Poet, Lyricist Naqsh Lyallpuri Dies at 88

Naqsh was born as Jaswant Rai and after his first break in 1952, he went on to write lyrics for many films.

Naqsh Lyallpuri (Photo Courtesy: Twitter/@imbhandarkar)

Renowned Urdu poet and lyricist Naqsh Lyallpuri died at his residence here this morning, family sources said. He was 88.

His daughter-in-law Tina Ghai said the lyricist did not open his eyes since Saturady after 7 pm and could not recognise anyone, except his daughter.

"He was in pain. In March and October his hip bone was fractured so he was in hospital. He had become a little disoriented and weak, his body at this age gave up," Tina told PTI.

His funeral will take place at the Oshiwara crematorium in the evening.

He still had the desire to read Urdu poetry and had a backlog of stuff to read through. His one eye had stopped working, but he still wanted to read and was yearning for it.

Tina Ghai, Naqsh Lyallpuri’s Daughter-in-law

Naqsh was born as Jaswant Rai in the town of Lyallpur in Punjab (now in Pakistan). He first got break in the 1952 film Jaggu with the song Agar Teri Aakhon Se Aakhein Mila Doon.

He went on to write lyrics for films like Chetna, which was his first big break, followed by Aahista Aahista, Tumhare Liye, Gharonda among others.

He also wrote lyrics for the 2005 film Taj Mahal – An eternal love story and Yaatra in 2006, whose music was composed by Naushad and Khayyam respectively.