FADING LYRICISM IN HINDI FILMS !
There was a time when poets like Sahir ludhianvi , Neeraj Ji , Shakil BAdyauni , use to write for Indian songs , And now their is a time when any one XYZ -ABC can give lyrics to the songs !! I know, for being a lyricist there is no proper qualification but at least the poet or a lyrics writer should have knowledge of the proper meter, the words and for God sake the right diction!! (Please stress on the last one, I just went for a recording and met a lyricist apparently the most popular in Indian sub continent, who could not pronounce his film name properly)
What’s happening to the Indian lyricist??? Have all the poets died or are they only meant for ghazals and mushairas?? Every song lyrically has started looking the same, there is no variation, and there is no new thought!! The meaning, the words, the language everything is gone for a toss!! I remember reading biography of Sahir ludhianyi (I will mention about him more as I really like his work) He apologized on the front page and asked audience to read a particular part of the book where he has written Hindi film songs, thinking that he wrote the following songs for the film and not as a poet, so to do justice to the character at certain places he has used certain kind of language! But now, all the characters in the films suddenly have become sophisticated, all sing and talk the same language!! Mr. .Malhotra who is a Punjabi in film will sing in the same tone as Mr. .Iyer with same words and diction! Excuse me, is it possible!!!! A Hindu character who has never been to mosque will compare his girlfriend to “Quran ki aaytein “Is it??? A cop and thief share the same lingo !!
Actually , lyricist becomes great if he writes number of song and his name is seen in every film but previously it was their thoughts that made them great !! Kabhi kabhi mere dil mein khyaal aata hain , Chookar mere mann ko , pal pal dil ke paas, this kind of poetry is missing in the films, and now its juts like cut copy job , with five words deewana parwana, mastana, fizayein , dil and ishq !!!
If not that half of the lyrics are written in English and poor Indian audience of they don’t understand the lyrics but only enjoy the music..!!!
Being in the industry I have observed, it never happens that a music composer calls a lyricist for work, it’s always Lyrics writer who is struggling!! He calls and requests the lyrics writer hundred times…Kya khyal music ke aage kuch ahmiyat nahi rakhta??? Tell me something, has anyone even taken pains to see the lyrics writer name or give him the promotion?? It’s always, music director who gets the better deal, when without good words his music will not make sense!! Please minus from this list Javed Akhtar’s and Gulzar of the world; they got their share because they were associated to the cinema in other ways too. And talking about Sameer, A man who writes for every film is bound to be known (I am not saying famous)…
From People who wrote Kagaaz ki kashti, baarish ka paani to Phoolon ke rang se, where are they??They are counting last days of their life without money, without anyone supporting them, not even the people who earn lots by singing their songs…!!
I have met so many lyrics writers who have created history by writing some marvelous thoughts but no one has ever turned back and asked them if they are fine!! Why don’t we give them any credit?? Have they not contributed to Indian cinema??
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Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
Good post Ritika and a very relevant one at that too. Something I will discuss at lenght with my new friend in Mumbai, Rakesh Bakshi, who also happens to the son of prominent lyricist of yesteryears the late Anand Bakshi.
Lack of attention to lyricists and writers is the main reason for damp squib movies
dear ritika
Food for thought really…. Partly i agree to it. But some how i feel there is an another side to it too. Market pressure, the need of being succeessful, survival, must have forced many to strangle their abstract-ness of thoughts and stick to deewana parwana ishq vishq. i think we should spare a thought for the penners, as u and i boh know that anyone who at all dares to venture in this field has a certain amount of sensibilities around him.Its just being compromised for conformity. To think of, being a writer itself requires a bit of maturity. So when the opporunity arises, here comes GURU or Refugee, or Black. Till then its rhyming dil with til, pyar with iqraar and so on… wut say? :-?
a right & relevent analysis of indian films lyricist.
i like the way u commented :- parwan, diwaana etc
it’s true.
Feel for a lyricist ? Havent heard of this for a long time, must be some antique piece, or a piece in a Museum. Some of us, like you and me – no wonder we feel out of place amidst these cine-corps (read corpses). Heartening to know that these lamps are still flickering…
u have done deep analysis of hindi lyrics. i am absoutely agree with u . it is the tragedy of hindi lyrics that lyrics is based only on modern music.
i am also newcomer lyrics . i have wrote 40 miscellaneous lyrics . please see on
(www.newlyricist.blogspot.com) pleasae give your valuable comment and your contact mail and address . please thanx
Hi,
Yes i strongly agree to this post. Well we are facing the same problem. Lot of people write lyrics but they just shuffle the words and try to rhyme words. But lyrics has to be a potrayal of connectivity, feeling and so on..
Well i represent a band named dhwani. My friend Mr Mayuresh Kelkar is a very good composer and a music arranger. He owns a professional studio in Kalyan. We often jammin and are also working on our new album project. As we are upcoming we lack a good lyrics writer who is young and enthu to work on our songs. If our wavelength matches we would be associated with him for all our future. My name is bhanu and my cell number is 9967690011. My email id is bhanu.karan@gmail.com.We stay in Mumbai, preferably on central side.
You can also listen to our first composed song and recorded and mixed. kindly visit http://bhanutashan.blogspot.com.
Waiting for responses, Thanks bye…
I agree with your general thought and idea but I don’t think your proofs are coherent.
At one point you mention how a poet’s thoughts used to make him great and then you question why a Hindu character who has never been to a mosque compares his girlfriend to ‘Quran ki aayatein’. If one understands the song you mention, it is a metaphor for his devotion to the girl and love in general, therefore the use of the word ‘tarah’.
Why should poets have to keep in mind different dialects and different religions when expressing an idea or thought about a general matter? I have all respect for Saahir as a lyricist but I do not think that just because he took to a certain concept of writing differently for ‘different’ people, it is the universally ideal one. A Bihari would feel the same euphoria in love as a Tamilian would, much the same as an Afghani, Kiwi, Argentinian, Texan, Greek, etc would.
And all generalities aside, if a Punjabi & Sikh lyricist/film maker could think about Quraan ki ayaatein, I don’t see why an All-India Radio journalist cannot be expected to.
dear bhanu
iam a good hindi songs lyricist and also in search of new comer music composers.so i would like to work with u and ur band dhwani.we can be very successful together
MY EMAIL..KHANTINKU@YMAIL.COM
CELL NO…09861077092
I loved your thoughts. I myself, have grown up on some beautiful songs of the yesteryears. My mom was very particular about the lyrics of each song. Although she is a Gujarati by birth. She is fluent in 7 languages. She understands Urdu well and would interpret many words for me. She would sing along with the radio. So here I am, I love lyrics and poetry to distraction. I too miss the beauty of poetry in Hindi songs.