Bollywood

  The single characteristic that distinguished our master-lyricists A tragic situation exists precisely when virtue does not triumph but when it is still felt that man is nobler than the forces which destroy him.
from most word-spinners of today is that intangible ‘X’ factor, a quality that connotes the perfect He that loseth his honestie hath nothing to lose.
mix of elegant language, new thought, fresh phrases, simplicity and depth and a perfect fit with As to methods there may be a million and then some, but principles are few. The man who grasps principles can successfully select his own methods. The man who tries methods, ignoring principles, is sure to have trouble.
musical metres and phonetics. Sayeed Quadri has this ‘X’ factor in abundance, and his songs directly I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I’ve watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser Gate. All these moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.
connect with the listeners’ hearts. The 40-plus Sayeedbhai seems reserved but comes across as humble Time marks us while we are marking time.
and warm. He may be attired in jeans and shirts, but it is his work that separates this man from the A people is but the attempt of many To rise to the completer life of one; And those who live as models for the mass Are singly of more value than they all.
boys, as proved by his cream in Jism, Saaya, Murder, Zeher, Life In A…Metro and now The Train, Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and information is in the head of the receiver.
Anwar and Awarapan. Sayeed talks about his career in a candid chat with Screen. Excerpts. You began Seek worthy companions. Attend church faithfully. Never fail daily to seek for help through prayer. And I promise you that the way will be easier and you shall have a composure of mind and a confident attitude toward life and the future. You shall be warned of dangers and shall be guided through the whisperings of the Holy Spirit.
with the stunning lyrics of Jism-’Awarapan banjarapan’, ‘Shikayat hai’ and ‘Mere khwabon ka har ek The youth of today and the youth of tomorrow will be accorded an almost unequaled opportunity for great accomplishment and for human service.
naqsh’ in 2003, but it is said that you had come down to Mumbai in the 1980s. What had happened While bright-eyed Science watches round.
then? That is true. In the ’80s, I had come down to Mumbai from Jodhpur. I was straight out of As the Sandwich Islander believes that the strength and valor of the enemy he kills passes into himself, so we gain the strength of the temptation we resist.
college. I went straight to Mahesh Bhattsaab because I instinctively felt that he had a sense of It is the first duty of a hypothesis to be intelligible.
poetry. Bhattsaab, though enocuraging, did not have his own banner at that time. Another person who Daylight sky appears dark enough to see stars from bottom of deep well.
was encouraging was Anu Malik, but at that point he could not help me. I did meet other music Ordinary language is totally unsuited for expressing what physics really asserts, since the words of everyday life are not sufficiently abstract. Only mathematics and mathematical logic can say as little as the physicist means to say.
directors but nothing happened, and frankly I did not have the guts to meet the senior top names I’d horsewhip you if I had a horse.
like Laxmikant-Pyarelal, Kalyanji-Anandji and R.D.Burman because I was told that getting breaks with The trouble with most people is that they think with their hopes or fears or wishes rather than with their minds.
them was very difficult as they had their own teams. Maybe I should have done so, but in retrospect Let us put Germany, so to speak in the saddle, you will see that she can ride.
I simply think that it was in my naseeb not to reach anywhere then. So you went back home without Youth demands recreation, and if it is not provided in high places, whey will seek it in low places.
doing any song? No, I did get a small break with music director Kuldip Singhji in a small film Man must be prepared for every event of life, for there is nothing that is durable.
called Dhat Teri Ki. I wrote three songs, one of which, ‘Iss waqt paaon mein kaanta koi chubh jaaye’ I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, . . . and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. . . .
was sung by Asha (Bhosle)ji with Ashok Khosla, the well-known ghazal singer. The late composer A psychologist once asked a group of college students to jot down, in thirty seconds, the initials of the people they disliked. Some of the students taking the test could think of only one person. Others listed as many as fourteen. The interesting fact that came out of this bit of research was this: Those who disliked the largest number were themselves the most widely disliked. When we find ourselves continually disliking others, we ought to bring ourselves up short and ask ourselves the question: “What is wrong with me.”
Jaidevji liked my poetry and I was signed for his Shagun, but the film was not completed. I guess it This very moment is a seed from which the flowers of tomorrow’s happiness grow.
was kismat, as I said. From there to 2002 was almost two decades. Were you in touch with poetry all Speak clearly, if you speak at all; Carve every word before you let it fall.
along? Likhna to meri fitrat hai. Even in my college days I would participate in radio and True politeness consists in being easy one’s self, and in making every one about one as easy as one can.
television shows, in mushairas and publish my poems in newspapers. I had got married, had two Only learn to seize good fortune, for good fortune is always here.
daughters and a son and became an insurance agent, which I continue to be even today. But this phase Nothing travels faster than the speed of light except for bad news, which obeys its own special laws.
and all the pain and rejection that I felt before I quietly left Mumbai for Jodhpur has probably Whence comes war and fighting, and factions? Whence but from the body and the lust of the body? Wars are occasioned by the love of money, and money has to be acquired for the same and service of the body.
added to my poetry. My verse is a lot about moments in my life. In that respect I share common Don’t walk in front of me, I may not follow; Don’t walk behind me, I may not lead; Walk beside me, and just be my friend.
ground with Sahir Ludhianvisaab, who is my idol. In fact, Sahirsaab once wrote something from his And last of all an Admiral came, A terrible man with a terrible name,— A name which you all know by sight very well, But which no one can speak, and no one can spell.
heart that applies a lot to my life: ‘Duniya ne tajurbaat-o-hawadishq ke shakla mein/Jo kuchh mujhe The great creative individual . . . is capable of more wisdom and virtue than collective man ever can be.
diya woh lauta rahaa hoon main’, which means that I as a poet am only returning to the world what it Why is it that our memory is good enough to retain the least triviality that happens to us, and yet not good enough to recollect how often we have told it to the same person?
has given me. So all along, I would keep writing my shaayari in my diary and storing it. ‘Diary’ The last thing a scientist would do is cling to a map because he inherited it from his grandfather, or because it was used by George Washington or Abraham Lincoln.
and shaayari are rhyming words that were used by Gulzar in a song in Jaan-E-Mann.How comfortable Everyone alters and is altered by everyone else. We are all the time taking in portions of one another or else reacting against them, and by these involuntary acquisitions and repulsions modifying ourselves.
would you be with English words in songs, as is the trend today? I have no issues with this if the Their silence is enough praise. —Tacent, satis laudant
situation and characters demand it. Kar lenge.(Smiles) One standout quality of your lyrics is the Shed no tear – O, shed no tear! The flower will bloom another year. Weep no more – O, weep no more! Young buds sleep in the root’s white core.
perfect fit of metre and phonetics. How comfortable are you about writing to a tune, especially when The holy passion of Friendship is of so sweet and steady and loyal a nature that it will last through a whole lifetime, if not asked to lend money.
your lyrics have never been inelegant? I am perfectly comfortable writing to a tune because by the The lady across the hall tried to rob a department store . . . with a pricing gun. She said, “Give me all of the money in the vault, or I’m marking down everything in the store.”
grace of God I find it very easy to do so. In fact, I try not to use my poetry in songs and prefer O sleep! O gentle sleep! Nature’s soft nurse, how have I frighted thee, That thou no more wilt weigh mine eyelids down And steep my senses in forgetfulness? Why, rather, sleep, liest thou in smoky cribs, Upon uneasy pallets stretching thee, And hush’d with buzzing night-flies to thy slumber, Than in the perfum’d chambers of the great, Under canopies of costly state, And lull’d with sound of sweetest melody?
to write according to the story, situation and character. In fact, except for ‘Awarapan’ (Jism) and My only fear is that I may live too long. This would be a subject of dread to me.
‘Zindagi iss tarah se’ (Murder), all my songs have written after the tune was composed. Another INDISCRETION, n. The guilt of woman.
tradition in this industry is writing songs at a sitting. How comfortable are you at this? There are Genuine beginnings begin within us, even when they are brought to our attention by external opportunities.
certain things that I will not do, and this is one of them. I have this clear-cut understanding with You can’t judge a man by watching him live. . . . I personally watched Babe Ruth at bat three times, and he struck out every time. But at the very time that I was watching him strike out, the record said that he was the greatest home-run king who ever lived.
my producers, directors and composers: I will not provide words there and then! I attend the Now I began to realize what adversity really meant. I felt ashamed to meet anyone. Some of those persons who had courted our society when we were flourishing in business, now that adversity had overtaken us, would pass us by without recognition. I began to learn the hollowness of so-called “society.”
sittings and the discussions and then take the CD on which the music director has recorded the When we’re deluded there’s a world to escape. When we’re aware, there’s nothing to escape.
approved tune. I then sit alone and listen. When my song is ready - very often I give choices as The underlying attraction of the movement of water and sand is biological. If we look more deeply we can see it as the basis of an abstract idea linking ourselves with the limitless mechanics of the universe.
well - I inform them by reciting on the ‘phone or meeting them. You have worked with Anu Malik, I can see why fans don’t like to watch pro basketball. I don’t, either. It’s not exciting.
M.M.Kreem, Pritam and Mithoon. What are the individual qualities that you have liked about them? All Much Madness is divinest Sense — To a discerning Eye — Much Sense —the starkest Madness —
I can say is that they all have their own distinct colour. I got to learn a lot from each of them, A politician is an animal which can sit on a fence and yet keep both ears to the ground.
which is good for me because I am getting better. Kreemsaab and Pritam are not very strong in Hindi The power of man’s virtue should not be measured by his special efforts, but by his ordinary doings.
but ensure that they know the exact meaning of what I have written - Kreemsaab even writes the I respect a man who knows how to spell a word more than one way.
meaning in his own language. Mithoon comes from a musical family and is very open. Anuji is very We seldom speak of the virtue which we have, but much oftener of that which we lack.
relaxed and cool and it is a pleasure working with him. I am very lucky that I have had a great Without libraries what have we? We have no past and no future.
rapport with each of them. You have had a consistent record, with terrific highs even after Jism in If we slide into one of those rare moments of military honesty, we realize that the technical demands of modern warfare are so complex a considerable percentage of our material is bound to malfunction even before it is deployed against a foe. We no longer waste manpower by carrying the flag into battle. Instead we need battalions of electronic engineers to keep the terrible machinery grinding.
Saaya, Paap, Zeher, Kalyug, Fareb, Gangster, Woh Lamhe…, Anwar and now Life In A…Metro and The For fast acting relief, try slowing down.
Train. But while your songs are chartbusters and also appreciated, your name is hardly known. Kya The world of ideas which it [mathematics] discloses or illuminates, the contemplation of divine beauty and order which it induces, the harmonious connexion of its parts, the infinite hierarchy and absolute evidence of the truths with which it is concerned, these, and such like, are the surest grounds of the title of mathematics to human regard, and would remain unimpeached and unimpaired were the plan of the universe unrolled like a map at our feet, and the mind of man qualified to take in the whole scheme of creation at a glance.
kare? (Smiles) I have always been low-profile. Maybe I should change that. But I have never asked Without faith a prayer has only form. Without faith a prayer has not heart or flame.
for work. I owe a huge debt to Bhattsaab, who is like an elder brother. I am happy that I am getting Said one man to another: “When I have my liquor I feel strong enough to knock a house down.” “Through my leaving off my liquor, I have been able to put two houses up,” came the disquieting reply.
a lot of outside films as well, though I admit that most of my films so far have come through It has been said that if the opening phrase of a classical menuet can be fitted to the words “Are you the O’Reilly who owns this hotel?” then it was composed by Haydn; if they can’t then it wasn’t.
Bhattsaab’s associates who began working outside. Right now, I am working with Ananth Narayan It was the best place to be, thought Wilbur, this warm delicious cellar, with the garrulous geese, the changing seasons, the heat of the sun, the passage of swallows, the nearness of rats, the sameness of sheep, the love of spiders, the smell of manure, and the glory of everything.
Mahadevan, Raju Khan and T-Series, none of whom have their roots in Vishesh Films. It is generally Wherever your life ends, it is all there. The advantage of living is not measured by length, but by use; some men have lived long and lived little; attend to it while you are in it. It lies in your will, not in the number of years, for you to have lived enough.
said that good lyricists have their base in a combination of life’s experiences and imbibing classic His light spreads out and this operation expresses nothing other than the ordered unfolding of His attributes over the non-being. What is called “the possibles” are those things which show themselves capable of receiving that light and those which are called “the impossibles” are those which are unable to receive the light. It is to just this that the Prophet — upon Him be Grace and Peace! — alluded when He said, “Allah created the creatures in the darkness, then He sprinkled them with His light. Those who were touched by some of this light are on the good way; and those who failed to be touched by it are astray.”
literature and epics, whereas the superficial pen-pushers do a recycle of the hits of the That seems to be the way of things. Everyone takes, everyone gives. Life is like that.
master-lyricists. Since your work has strong substance with simplicity, what has been your creative Fear . . . is forward. No one is afraid of yesterday.
nucleus? I have never read much of the great sources of literature and I am sure you will admit that Our wrangling lawyers . . . are so litigious and busy here on earth, that I think they will plead their clients’ causes hereafter, — some of them in hell.
none of my songs have any elements borrowed from a particular lyricist. I have been inspired by life Samuel Taylor Coleridge was involved in a discussion about religion. The other person believed that children should not be given formal religious education of any kind. They would then be free to select their own religion when they were old enough to decide. Coleridge did not bother to debate the point, but invited the man to see his rather neglected garden. “Do you call this a garden?” asked his visitor. “There are nothing but weeds here.” “Well, you see,” said Coleridge, “I did not wish to infringe on the liberty of the garden in any way. I was just giving the garden a chance to express itself and choose its own production.
and this world, and probably refined by my experiences. I think that in my own small way I have There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why. I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?
revived poetry. I try to see that my thoughts and concepts are fresh, that the language is simple You are the supreme Brahman, infinite, yet hidden in the hearts of all creatures. You pervade everything.
even if the thought is quite deep. Also the thought should not be just new but also bada A good heart is better than all the heads in the world.
(substantial). I try to see that everyone from the man who dines at the 5-star hotel to the guy who Scents bring memories, and many memories bring nostalgic pleasure. We would be wise to plan for this when we plant a garden.
drives an autorickshaw can understand the meaning and the sub-layer. The right word at the right The world is moving so fast these days that the man who says it can’t be done is generally interrupted by someone doing it.
juncture can make one sense the meaning of some term or phrase that you have never heard before and You can’t test courage cautiously.
thus enrich your language. But the words should not be so complicated that every time one hears a We don’t live in Disneyland. We live in blood and in time, not in Fantasyland. We live in a tragic world.
song one has to rush to a dictionary or a language specialist to even understand what I have Courage is the finest of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees all others.
written! I also try to lay stress on the sound of the words that I use. Bhattsaab, in print, has We are a spectacular, splendid manifestation of life. We have language. . . . We have affection. We have genes for usefulness, and usefulness is about as close to a “common goal” of nature as I can guess at. And finally, and perhaps best of all, we have music.
stated that I have proved that shaayari is not for the 35-plus age group but also for young people. What is there in thee, Moon! That thou should’st move My heart so potently?
I look at human emotions and relationships and try and portray them with simplicity. With all these Know then this truth, enough for man to know virtue alone is happiness below.
setbacks and your creative fount being from life’s barbs, do you think that you will be good at Aristocracy and exclusiveness tend to final overthrow, in language as in politics.
writing light songs? I am sure that I can. I am learning every day and it is not as if Life has been It is with life as with a play—it matters not how long the action is spun out, but how good the acting is.
bad. My children are doing fine, I have a secure job, I am happy that my film innings is also We achieve everything by our efforts alone. Our fate is not decided by an almighty God. We decide our own fate by our actions. You have to gain mastery over yourself. . . . It is not a matter of sitting back and accepting.
shaping well. I have a good grasp of the technicalities. I have great faith in the Almighty, which Most of our obstacles would melt away if, instead of cowering before them, we should make up our minds to walk boldly through them.
inspired me to write of my most-appreciated songs, ‘Har taraf har jagah har kahin pe hai haan ussika Beginning today, treat everyone you meet as if they were going to be dead by midnight. Extend to them all the care, kindness, and understanding you can muster, and do it with no thought of any reward. Your life will never be the same again.
noor/ Roshni ka koi dariyaa to hai haan kahin pe zaroor’ in Saaya. This is a devotional song that Tell me something, my friend. Ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?
transcends religions - you can call it a Hindu devotional, a Catholic one as the sequence was shown {While meditating} I sit quietly and rest in the nature of mind; I don’t question or doubt whether I am in the “correct” state or not. There is no effort, only rich understanding, wakefulness, and unshakable certainty. When I am in the nature of mind, the ordinary mind is no longer there. There is no need to sustain or confirm a sense of being: I simply am.
in church, or even about Allah. And I must mention that Bhool Bhulaiyan is a comedy directed by No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude and humility. All that we suffer and all that we endure, especially when we endure it patiently, builds up our characters, purifies our hearts, expands our souls, and makes us more tender and charitable, more worthy to be called the children of God . . . and it is through sorrow and suffering, toil and tribulation, that we gain the education that we come here to acquire and which will make us more like our Father and Mother in heaven.
Priyadarshanji. You have also rewritten a lot of songs with original lyrics by Pakistani poets. Yes. Limbs of a dismembered poet. —Disiecti membra poetae
I find writing to tunes easy as I said, and since the Bhatts like their songs, it is important that Minds that are great and free, should not on fortune pause: ‘Tis crown enough to virtue still, her own applause.
the words must fit the film’s context. In fact ‘Woh lamhe’ (Zeher) was the song that introduced me “At the time Gothic cathedrals were designed, most people lived in dark huts, so just walking into a space vastly larger than what they were habituated to, lit by stained glass windows, was literally awe–inspiring. Today, we’re not as impressed by big buildings, so we have to go to very large mountains to experience that ‘diminutive effect.’
to Mithoon, who remixed the original tune. Screen India  

Original post by sonia