Veteran songwriter Abhilash, who penned down the song ‘Itni shakti hame dena daata’ from the 1986 film ‘Ankush’ died at 74 at his home in Goregaon, Mumbai, due to stomach illness. He was cremated at 4 am on Monday. Unfortunately, his daughter and sonin-law residing in Bengaluru were unable to attend their father’s last rites. Abhilash is the recipient of the Kalashree Award by former President Giani Zail Singh. His song, ‘Itni shakti hame dena daata’ became very popular since the film’s release. It has been translated in to eight languages and is played as a prayer song across schools, nationalized banks and prisons in India even today. Actor Nana Patekar rose to fame as the lead in ‘Ankush’. The film also starred Ashalata Wabgaonkar, Nisha Singh, and Madan Jain. Besides writing songs, Abhilash has also written screenplays and dialogues for several films and television shows.
