Roja Lyricist P K Mishra, 65, dies in Chennai.* CHENNAI: Lyricist P K Mishra, who wrote the catchy song Chhoti si aasha of Mani Ratnam's Roja, died at a city hospital on Wednesday. He was 65 and is survived by his wife and two sons. Mishra, a long-time Chennai resident, was admitted to the hospital's intensive care unit on December 19. The end, due to mutli-organ dysfunction, came at 11.45 am. The Rajasthan-born Mishra wrote lyrics for many popular Hindi films of the 1990s when a number of Tamil films were being remade in Hindi. It was the time of music director A R Rahman's dream run in Bollywood and the two teamed up in many movies after first coming together in `Roja' (1993). According to industry insiders, Mishra was so confident of his skill that he left the question of remuneration open when approached to write the lyrics for Roja . The songs, including Chhoti si aasha and Bharat humko jaan se pyaara hai went on to become chart-busters, and he became a regular in many films in which A R Rahman was the music director.
Recalling his association with Mishra, director Mani Ratnam said, "We will miss him. He was a very easy person to work with, and he had the ability to maintain the original flavour in his lyrics, while conveying the same in Hindi with a freshness.'' Not a mean tribute for a man who left his family behind in Sujangarh and moved to Mumbai chasing fame in Bollywood. However, he found it difficult to break into mainstream cinema there. Mishra then moved to Chennai and began conducting Hindi film song shows. His shows and his felicity with Hindi and Tamil got him the break in Bollywood via Roja . He also worked with music directors Ilayaraja and Karthik Raja, and his list of films include Hindusthani , Humse Hai Muqabla , Saza-e-Kalapani , Duniya Dil Walon ki , Vishwa Vidhata and Love Birds . Mishra will be cremated in his ancestral town on Friday. .. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Roja_lyricist_Mishra_dies_in_Chennai/articleshow/3891981.cms * -- regards, Vithur
