Sahir Ludhianvi's notes found at scrap shop!

Sahir Ludhianvi

A bunch of handwritten letters, diaries and black-and-white photographs of legendary Urdu poet-lyricist Sahir Ludhianvi were found at a scrap shop in Juhu. The priceless stuff has been bought by an NGO for just Rs 3,000, for preservation.

Mumbai-based Film Heritage Foundation, a not-for-profit NGO, found these items recently amid old newspapers and magazines at the shop, and now plans to preserve and exhibit "the archives".

"The diaries found have details of his daily routine, like where he would be going for song recordings, and other personal life happenings. The notes are related to his publishing house, Parchaian," said Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, founding-director of Film Heritage Foundation. "There are letters addressed to him from prominent people of the time, like music composer Ravi, his friend and poet Harbans. Some of the letters are in English, and some in Urdu," he said.

"Then there are his photographs, some with sisters and friends, and some of his home in Punjab. The foundation's experts are analysing the poems and finding out which are the ones that have not got published," he added.

"This is reminiscent of a scene from Guru Dutt's Pyaasa [1957]where the protagonist's poems and writings are found at a scrap shop," Dungarpur recollected. "He had written songs for the film, now considered a cult classic. Several situations in the film, whose protagonist played by Dutt too was a poet, were based on Sahir's life.Our team is always on the lookout for such film-related works. We once found original film reel of Guru Dutt's Bharosa and Sadhna's items in similar condition," he added.

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