Muqtida Hasan Nida Fazli popularly known as Nida Fazli (Urdu: ندا فاضلی; Hindi: निदा फ़ाज़ली) is an Indian Urdu poet.

Early Life

Nida Fazli was born on 12 October 1938, in Delhi, India into a Kashmiri family and attended school in Gwalior. His father was an Urdu poet. During the partition of India, his parents migrated to Pakistan, but Fazli decided to stay in India.

Career

While still young, Fazli was passing by a Hindu temple where a bhajan singer was singing a composition of Surdas about Radha sharing her sorrow with her maids at being separated from her beloved Krishna. The poetic beauty of the Pad, relating to the close rapport and bonding between human beings, inspired Nida to begin writing poems.

During that period, he felt that there were limitations in Urdu poetry. He absorbed the essence of Mir and Ghalib to express what he intended. He was fascinated by the lyrical mood of Meera and Kabir and widened his knowledge of poetry by studying T.S. Eliot, Gogol, Anton Chekhov and Takasaki.

Bollywood

He moved to Mumbai in search of a job in 1964. In the early days of his career, he wrote in Dharmayug and Blitz dialects. His poetic style attracted the notice of filmmakers and writers of Hindi and Urdu literature. He was often invited to Mushairas, the prestigious recitation sessions of one’s own poetry.

He became known among readers and ghazal singers for his elegant presentation and exclusive use of colloquial language for ghazals, dohaas and nazms, while avoiding ornate Persian imagery and compound words to simplify his poetry. He wrote the famous couplet: 'Duniya jise kehte hain jaadu kaa Khilona hai Mil jaaye to mitti hai kho jaaye to sona hai'. Some of his famous film songs include Aa bhi jaa (Sur), Tu is tarah se meri zindagi mein (Aap To Aise Na The) and Hosh waalon ko khabar Kya (Sarfarosh).

Uneven Career

He wrote essays critical of contemporary poets of the sixties in his book Mulaqatein which outraged poets including Sahir Ludhianvi, Ali Sardar Jafri and Kaifi Azmi. As a result, he was boycotted in some poetic sessions.

His career improved when Kamal Amrohi, a filmmaker, approached him. The original songwriter Jan Nisar Akhtar working on the film Razia Sultan (1983) had died before completing the project. Nida wrote the final two songs and attracted other Hindi filmmaker.

His celebrated lyrics were also used in Aap to aise na the, Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin (1996) and Gudiya.
He wrote the title song of TV serials like "Sailaab", "Neem Ka Ped", "Jaane Kya Baat Hui" and "Jyoti". The composition "Koi Akelaa Kahaan" is another popular composition sung by Kavita Krishnamurthy. His ghazals and other compositions are sung by notable artists of the day. He teamed up with Jagjit Singh in 1994 to bring an album named Insight, which got appreciation for its soulful poetry and music.

He recently wrote columns for BBC Hindi website on various contemporary issues and literature.

Mirza Ghalib's works often get mentioned by him.