From Rangeela to Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and Ponniyin Selvan-1, lyricist Mehboob Kotwal has penned some of the most iconic songs in the Indian film industry for over three decades. After taking a backseat for a few years, the veteran lyricist has returned with a new single called Naina Chhalke’ — a Purbi musical that seamlessly blends classical and folk Qawwali influences. The song is crooned by veteran singer Kunal Ganjawala and composed by Ishwar Kumar. In an exclusive conversation with News18, Mehboob talks about his new song, why he prefers composing entire albums in films, how uncertainty is killing the music industry, and explains that despite having a rich music history, it isn’t giving enough due in films.
You haven’t been very active in the past few years. Any particular reason for it?
I always write the lyrics of the entire film or I don’t write at all. It’s rare that I have written one or two songs in a film and that too is because some filmmaker who has been a friend for many years would approach me and I would oblige. I recently wrote the lyrics for Ponniyin Selvan-1 and before that I did Heropanti-2. Before these two films, I took a small break due to a health issue. Now I wrote the lyrics of Naina Chalke which is a single. Singles have been a trend recently so I decided to do a single.
Tell us about your new single Naina Chalke
This song is about one-sided love. I had written this song for a film, but a different song was put in that film. So, I had the lyrics of this song and then I asked Ishwar Kumar to compose the music of this song. He composed it very beautifully and then I thought of shooting the song. This is how Naina Chhalke came into existence. I decided to go with Kunal Ganjawala because he is like a family to me. We have collaborated on many occasions in the past so as soon as the song was composed both the composer and I thought of Kunal’s name for this song as his voice would give a different approach to this song. The song is written in Purbi, something that Kunal hadn’t attempted before but he did a brilliant job. We have received positive feedback and people are appreciating this song.
Over the past few years, there has been a trend where multiple lyricists and composers are working on one film. How do you look at it?
I am not very happy with this kind of working environment. You spoke about films from the 90s and the songs from that era and before that also are still so fresh. People still remember the lyrics of the songs from the 70s, 80s, and even the 90s. It was all because everyone who collaborated on a film worked like a family. The director, composer, lyricist, and other important people would sit together, listen to the entire script, and then decide which song would fit in a particular situation.
I recall Sanjay Leela Bhansali calling me over for lunch to discuss the Nimbooda song in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. He explained the situation and during that time I also made him hear Ankhon Ki Gustakhiyan. He loved it and decided to use it in the film as it was a perfect fit in the film. We were all very passionate. Our gurus had a dream combo like RD Burman and Majrooh Sultanpuri or RD Burman and Gulzar, Laximkant-Pyarelal, and Anand Bakshi, and their songs are still so popular. Today, the songs are ready before the film and they are just randomly introduced in a movie. I understand that times are changing and we also need to change with time but I still genuinely feel that there should be a single lyricist, single composer on a film. I miss that era when we would all sit together and work as a family.
There have been times when a lyricist, composer, or even a singer doesn’t know whether his song is going to be retained in the film.
This uncertainty is the worst thing that has happened to the music industry. All lyricists, composers, and singers work hard but we are not sure whether it will be presented to the audience. There have been times when the singer is changed without informing the person who has already sung a song. There has to be confidence in a singer who has been originally chosen to sing a song.
Also, do we have songs in our films today? Half of them are played in the background or there is one antara or one mukhda which is a part of a film. You can hear the entire song online or on a music streaming platform but all songs are not used in a film. The songs from the past are still alive because there is a lot of hard work that went into them not only while we were writing or composing but also because they were a part of the film and filmmakers took the pain to shoot them.
Please continue…
The Hindi film industry is known for its songs and music. Our music culture is so strong that we have songs for every occasion from the birth of a child, marriage, divorce to even death. We have a rich history of music but of late we aren’t giving it any kind of importance. I understand changes are necessary but not at the cost of losing your identity.
What next?
I will be coming up with a few more singles. I am also working on a few projects which will be announced soon.
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