“Main Rooh Ki Baatein Liye Dehleez Pe Khada, Tu Jism Ke Makan Se Bahar Nahin Aata.” In times when Hindi film music is tilting towards sound, these lines from Irshad Kamil seem like a call to bring the listener back to verse. “It is an industry of demand and supply. I am not too concerned about the taste of public,” says Kamil in the midst of a conversation on the quality of film songs. What he is sure about though, is that sound cannot replace lyrics in film songs. “Lyrics can’t be replaced. I am not saying this because I am a lyricist. I would have said that even if I was teaching.” He could well have considering Kamil has a Ph.D in Hindi poetry and has written two books including the immensely popular “Ek Maheena Nazmon Ka”. “The part of the song that touches your heart is the lyrics,” he reasons. “The base of guitar, the thump of dholki and the kayda of tabla don’t touch your heart.”
Most lyricists often lament about lack of situations in today’s films that demand deep poetry. “Yun na milne ke sau bahane hain, milne waale kahan nahin milte,” Kamil answers through Qamar Moradabadi’s couplet. His work with Imtiaz Ali and A.R. Rahman prove what he is talking about. From “Aaj Din Chadhya” in Love Aaj Kal and “Kun Faya Kun” in Rockstar to “Agar Tum Saath Ho” in Tamasha , Kamil has constantly blended quality with popularity. All along he didn’t shy away from using words that have become rare in our vocabulary. Like Matargashti in Tamasha . Kamil grew up in Malerkotla in Punjab and came to the industry when Punjabiyat in Hindi songs was reduced to a liberal sprinkling of shaava shaava and Mahi vey. “Apart from Anand Bakshi and Gulzar, Punjab has not been used by Hindi film lyricists properly,” remarks Kamil. “The first thing I did was that I tried to get rid off the clichés of Punjabiyat. Words like Sohni and Shaava. I cleared the ground for serious and academic Punjabi in films.”
The three-time Filmfare Award winner feels bad that this generation is becoming conversant in English but, in the process, is losing touch with Hindi and Urdu. “If we lose our language we will be left with nothing. I try to add at least one word to the vocabulary of youngsters. I see it as my duty. And most of the times these words are irreplaceable.” At times they have no meaning as such. Take for instance, his latest chartbuster “Baby Ko Base Pasand Hai” from Sultan . “If you listen intently, the song starts with ‘lakdhak lakdhak jaatni ke’. Instead of words like pataka, I have used lakdhak lakdhak because its local phonemics signifies the vivacious nature of the girl,” says the lyricist who gave us ‘Pataka Guddi’ in Highway . The song, he says, goes with the narrative. “Sultan is a desi wrestler who loves dhol-dhamaka while Aarfa is an educated girl who likes contemporary songs which are high on base and beats.”
Do films like Sultan offer a challenge? “Of course. Khaali kagaz aapko daraata hi daraata hai. (blank paper always scares you),” he quips. “It is not that Sultan doesn’t require shayari,” he clarifies. “The difference is here the similes are simple. In a song like ‘Jag Ghoomya’, the wrestler talks about love but his metaphors come from his fields, the change of seasons, the colours of dawn and dusk.”
But then in tent pole films the music album is fast becoming like a multi-starrer –– a song each by Sukhwinder Singh, Mika Singh and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan followed by Mohit Chauhan and Papon. So many voices for one actor and that too when he is playing a wrestler! “Singers are also cast these days. One song is like one short film and you should know which singer will make the right connection according to the mood, scale and situation of the song. As for the voice texture, I think a wrestler’s voice is like that of any common man.” Having said that, Kamil reminds that there are still filmmakers and composers who believe that only one playback singer can do justice to the album. “In Rockstar , Mohit Chauhan sang nine songs.”
Up next is Madaari , where Kamil has moved away from his romantic stream to embrace the political with “Dama Dam Dam”. The explosive song talks about the state of democracy. It comes after Udta Punjab which commented on the drug problem in Punjab. “We are living in a free country. Every Indian is free to express himself. It depends on the public what it chooses and what it rejects,” notes Kamil.
At times this freedom of expression leads to abusive language in songs. “It depends on the character and his state of mind. As a lyricist one has to be careful. Abusive language should not be a short cut. It’s like fast food took root because we stopped cooking at home. That’s why now we are having so many lifestyle diseases,” observes Kamil. There was a time when film songs captured the mood and reflected the cultural taste of the society. Today, it seems, there is a section, which considers insult as aspirational and makes fun of songs like ‘Prem Ratan Dhan Payo’,” which was written by Kamil. “Let the cycle take its course. Time will tell the health of culture. The repercussions won’t take more than a decade to unravel. Also, don’t forget Jagjit Singh kept singing ghazals till his last breath and there was always an audience to applause.”
