Noted poet Nida Fazli dead

Mumbai, Feb 8: Condolences poured in for noted Hindi and Urdu poet Nida Fazli, who died here on Monday. He was in his late 70s. Fazli’s daughter confirmed the poet’s demise, a member of the organising team of upcoming Urdu festival Jashn-e-Rekhta told IANS. Fazli was a key guest at the festival. Sanjiv Saraf, founder of Rekhta Foundation, said that Fazli’s death has “left a space that can never be filled”. “Nida Fazli gave expression to the angst of the common people in simple but aesthetically powerful and nuanced language. His dohas enjoyed great popularity,” Saraf said. Filmmaker John Mathew Matthan, who directed “Sarfarosh” — the movie which featured “Hoshwalon ko khabar kya” penned by Fazli, told IANS: “It’s a great loss for this film industry. He was such a renowned poet. Coincidentally, today is also Jagjit Singh’s birth anniversary and I have worked with both of them in my film ‘Sarfarosh’.” Fazli and Jagit Singh also collaborated on the 1994 album med “Insight”. On Twitter, a string of film celebrities condoled Fazli’s death and recounted some of his works. (IANS)