Music of Gulaal: Where were you Mr. Mishra?
You have no right to do this to us, Mr. Mishra? First, we were told you were a gifted actor from NSD and we even liked you in a brief role in Dil Se. Your natural style of acting, a kind of hatke face capable of expressing intense emotions reminded us of a young Naseerduddin Shah or Ompuri. We saw you settle down as an actor in Maqbool where you held your own against Pankaj Kapur and Irfan Khan. We were even told that you wrote your own dialogues in the film. But even that was ok. No big deal! Before, the industry could slot you, you moved on to screenplay and complete dialogue writing for films like Legend of Bhagat Singh and then Yahaan. Now, as if that wasn’t enough, you turn around and create music for an entire film, write lyrics and sing your own songs and you do it with such fantastic results. Not fare, Mr. Mishra! One person should not be allowed to possess so much talent.
I am particularly struck by your dual ability to compose music and write lyrics. May be I am a layman, but these two skills appear very difficult to master. Unlike other skills such as acting or singing, where you can learn and develop, somehow I believe that composing music is only possible if you have the God given talent. And to write lyrics, you have to get poetry, right? And as far as I know, either you are a poet or you are not. Many of us who have tried poetry in college would testify to that. It’s just something you cannot develop as a skill. That’s why I am amazed that you did that with such proficiency. Where were you so far?
I don’t intend to write another review of your music in Gulaal as I don’t feel upto the task. Besides after such a well written review by Amanda and Tushar, I don’t think there is a need for another one.
http://passionforcinema.com/gulaal-music-review-lovepowerrevolution/
Now after listening to the music almost non-stop for 2-3 weeks (didn’t listen to anything else whenever I listened to any music during last 2-3 weeks), I am forced to write this post in bewilderment. That’s because when I look at the credits, it says Piyush Mishra as a Singer, Lyrics Writer and Music Director.
I think, you have raised some fundamental questions Mishraji.
Back in college, I had some friends who were natural sportsmen; genuine all-rounders. These buggers would excel at any sport. They would learn any new sport within days and beat the crap out of people who had been playing it for years. These people were genuine all-rounders, if there is such a thing in sports. Is there a genuine all rounder when it comes to performing arts? Are there some people who can be naturally good at every aspect of performing arts – writing, singing, acting, composing music, directing etc? Is that more common in theatre world as opposed to cinema? That’s the first question.
The second question – is this a trend, here to stay? Lately, we have seen some genuine players in one field cross over into another arena and create the same crisp quality of work as they did in their chosen field. Vishal Bhardwaj is a prime example. Vishal to me is the only other music director we have in modern times that can be called a genius. The other one being A R Rehman. But, no, being a genius music director wasn’t enough for him. He had to cross over and become a complete film maker and with startling results. Again, one person with so much talent, not fare!
When music of Dev D came out, I learned that a new music director had been discovered. Once I got hooked to the music, I went back and learned more about the creators. I saw that Amit Trivedi was also the singer and lyrics writer for most songs. In both cases, Anurag Kashyap was involved? Is that a coincidence or only he could have trusted these newbees with the music of his entire films. While writing this, it’s hard to forget the mega all-rounder of all time, Kamal Hasan. But Kamal Hasan has been acknowledged as a genius and he did venture into different fields but only over a period of time. I think, it’s extremely hard for a newcomer to make a mark in multiple fields at the same time. He would make so many people insecure at the same time.
That brings us to our third and final question – is this finally going to free up Indian music, the way cinema has evolved in recent years, with many new genres being produced and released. For too long, we have relied upon our films to give us majority of our music. That’s the only market that existed. Outside of films, we had a small market for Gazals and Bhajans, that’s it. Indie pop came up so many times but got stuck in mediocre music and below average sales in most part and music videos with half naked girls dancing in the background also didn’t help. In most cases, these pop artists had to either get into playback singing or fade away like many other before them.
Not that I have any specific problem with getting all our music from films, but it has been straight jacketed for far too long. You had to be a Shanker Jaikishan or LP or Kalyanji Anandji to compose music, a Kishore, Rafi or Lata to earn respect as a singer. Now all of these were once in a lifetime artists, but music is so vast that it was clearly under served for far too long. Also, most of the times, music is dependent on the type of films being made. For example in 80s, when most of the films were crappy, so was the music. In 90s when too many love stories were being made, we saw a deluge of love songs.
Why can’t we have music created outside of films like in the western countries? The problem was, typically our music wasn’t meant to be sold without the films. In fact in many cases, success of a song depended on who lip synched it on screen. But the music of Gulaal and Dev D is so different, that it’s not captive to a film that is using it. I think if properly promoted, music of this type can create its own market.
But for now, we must salute Mr. Piyush Mishra! Hats off to you, Sir!
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
Nice article…please correct ‘fare’ to ‘fair’. The typo appears twice.
and was Amit Trivedi involved with lyrics of Dev.D?
Wasn’t it Amitabh Bhattacharya alone?
Maybe, Anurag may have given his suggestions.
Now that people have again* warmed up to movies other than the usual fare(correct spelling?), we should be soon there when a Maqbool or a Gulaal becomes a super hit.
* Wasn’t there a time in history when films with awesome characters, story and all un-star-dependent cinema were only well received.
I share you sentiments A Singh.
I have a special affection towards multi-talented people like Vishal, Clint Eastwood et al.
I was astonished once knew about him after listening to Gulaal’s song.
I traced it back and recalled that He wrote the very beautiful song for credit rolls of Black Friday( Are ruk ja re bandey). It is one the best credit rolls I have seen.
Somehow I feel PM’s attitude is apparent in this pic.
http://www.hindujobs.com/thehindu/mag/2002/07/14/stories/2002071400330400.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piyush_Mishra
Swanand Kirkire is also of this cadre, Lyricist, singer, actor. Love to see more from him.
Oh so Vishal Bharadwaj is a genious and then AR Rahman? Vishal Bharadwaj gave very good music in Omkara. and so he has done music for like what 5 films in last 20 years? and you compare him to AR Rahman? – ridiculous. Then Ismail Darbar is a genious too by the same logic.
Soon you guys will put Amit trivedi in the same league as Rahman too.
It’s like comparing a cricketer that scored a brilliant centuries in one match/series to someone like Sachin.
@ vivek
don’t waste your anger. It’s common practice here.
@a.singh,32,vivek: piyush mishra is a man of immense talent, no doubt. but he is not the next best thing or watever; nor is vishal bharadwaj. just a few movies cannot make them as good as ar rahman or beyond. sehwag can hit a flashy double/triple century, but it will take him 20 yrs of dedicated cricket to make 12000+ runs. i hope u get the comparison.
piysuh mishra and vishal are great talents and have to be used judiciously, but u cant expect them to give music like jodha-akbar or rangeela. while ar rahman can do a legend of bhagat singh, 1947-earth, water on one hand; and he can give us a jaane tu… and ghajini on the other hand
Very surprised after these review of educated peoples.What the hell is problem, if vishal/Piyush Mishra compared to Rahman, ?Yes,Rahman is a legend,but piyush Mishra & Vishal also doing their job superbly.We need people like Mishra,for the revolutionary lyrics & music.If Piyush cant give music like Jodha-akbar & jaane tu…,then rahman is also not able to create exact “GULAAL” flavour ,both are from different genre & both are genius on its own.
5 years or 20 years,time span is not important,important is the quality & appeal in lyrics & music & singing.Even “Ringa-Ringa” from slumdog is the copy of Choli ke peeche (KHALNAYAK)…anyways hats off to Piyush Mishra & team for revolutionary lyrics/music & singing.
Vishal Bhardwaj is a genius because he does so many things, and all of them with near perfection. music, lyrics, direction, script and all.
Rehman is a genius because he does one thing at a level very few would even think of.
No comparison between the two.
There was a saying in CCTC – “I am not afraid of the thousand moves that you have practised. I am afraid of your one move that you have practised thousand times.”
the most important thing about this post, which is in fact quite true, is that Piyush Mishra is an immensely talented person.. i hope that he gets the recognition from the whole film fraternity that he truly deserves…
@ Inder, a.singh,32,vivek
Where is the need to compare Mishra to Rahman, or Bharadwaj to Rahman?Why is the need to find the “next” Rahman?
Every one of them have done some tremendous work over the years and continue to make our mundane life much more colorful becuse of the “GOD’S GIFT” and the hours they have put to hone thier skills.Even if we call these ridicolously talented people “Genius” or not- its not gonna make an iota of difference to their quality of work.
Lets try and enjoy their amazing depth and variety.Lets try and create some of our own.
I am sure they are well above our leagues and “adjectives” dont matter to them at all.
A really good article. Liked it.
Saurabh,
Yes, it should be fair, not fare. Thanks for correcting.
Vivek, Crzyrals, Inder Mohan,
You all have a point. May be i went too far as I am a big fan of Vishal’s music. But his range is amazing – Machis, Satya, Omkara, No Smoking, Filhaal, Hu tu tu, Maqbool, all of these films have outstanding music. Now, I have no idea why we see or hear so little of Vishal.
ARR is 24X7 a muscian. How can his name be used to drag Vishaal Bhardwaj down?
VB is not only musician. He is writer+ director also and utilizing major portion of his energies in creating films. Music is only one part of his over all creative personality.
Irrelevant and unfair trial to compare two odd entities.
RK,
I wasn’t comparing VB with ARR. I was calling Vishal a genius musician, but couldn’t help without mentioning ARR as the only other musician, this tag can apply to.
@A Singh,
my comment was not for your post but on a comment above where person has tried to use ARR to drag down VB.
wow,its a big community.
@Shreyans- i was replying to Vivek/32/crazyrals etc post ,that why do comparison between ARR & VB & PM,but if some one doing so(who started ?),then why take pain ? All these people are our precious asstes,BTY,dont mind to call them “genius”,like if Rahman is now academy winner,but he is in our hearts, before get this award.
A.singh- i m also a big big fan of vishal & now also of Piyush.what a class effect ,classic combination of lyrics & singing ,jo dimag ko jaga de.I am afraid as ,i want to listen more & more Piyush & Vishal.
over all i am very happy that,ther’s so many fans of Piyush & Vishal.
Rk: u cud have directed ur comment towards me, not a prob. regarding vishal multi-taskig, well he started out as a music director and then he discovered other talents as well…something like farhan akhtar.
i was not the one comparing, the post dragged rahman into this. i have given due credit to vishal and piyush for wat they have done. i was just not comfortable with the ridiculous comparison and was setting the context right.
i have all the respect for vishal, loved his music in machis, betaabi, satya, no smoking; who else can take up shakespeare’s works and indianize it.
anyways, if the post had stuck to its agenda and not made the uncalled for statement, it wud not have resulted in my comment
The music of Gulaal is by any musical canon – popular, classical, transgressive – POOR. The poetry a lot worse.
@crazyrals,
I did not need to direct comment towards you because
(1) I had not read your comment before and now I have read it
(2) such comment was present before your first comment also and I read now that few people after you also have made comments in similar manner
…..
Your doubts, fears etc are baseless and may belong to self creations.
I must assure you that Universe, whole or partial, is not conspiring against you
Lovely article ( except VB’s & ARR’s genius part – where I beg to differ ).
I also wonder where was PM all these days
Good post. Some valid questions are asked liked whether there are more multi faceted people in theatre then in Cinema. It may be due to various reason such as medium, scope, commercial aspects, audience maturity level etc.
It seems every discussion here become person (s) specific rather than subject specific. It’s pity that subject of ARR vs VB here has taken preference of multi facted people.
Sorry a typo above –
It’s pity that subject of ARR vs VB here has taken preference OVER multi facted people.
zamaane ne diye zakhm itne
ki khoon behta chala gaya
kabhi sar se bahi dhaar
to kabhi aankhon se ro diya
keep it flowing… Piyush Mishra
KC – but this is genuine bakwaas poetry!
with a wannabe name like “mohan awara” you must be the right guy to judge Piyush Mishra’s poetry.. can we sample some of yours..
Maestro – don’t get upset!8-) Piyush is almost a bad poet and most definitely a poor composer. This has nothing to do with what kind of poetry I ‘live’. (I don’t write any, incidentally)
Problems with Piyush’s poetry are: a) it is cloyingly pre-modern b) it is a kasba-big-city ham c) it is a poor man’s Rabbi clone – Rabbi is a much better poet and a compposer.
d) His radical intent is terribly forced hence false – almost always – your ‘are ruk ja re bande’ being a clear case in point
e) His music is a confused cross between proscenium and street theater. He is clearly in the wrong professional space.
“O re Bismil” – bad poetic address.
“kaash aate aaj tum hindustaan” – bad desire.
” mulk saaraa yuuN Tashan meN, thrill meN hai” – this is no sarcasm, no irony, no tongue in cheek humor. This is a plain collapse.
“aaj ka launDaa ye kehtaa hum to ‘Bismil’ thak gaye” – aaj ka lauNDaa Bismil ko kuchh nahiN kehta meri jaan.
“apnii aazadii to bhaiyyaa launDiyaa ke til meN hai” – completely out of sync and once again poor poetry.
Next two lines are bad regressive and insensitive to those who are physically impaired. Mr Mishra has done this once before vis-a-vis his castist verse.
And as for “chaddii bhii siltii englishoN kii mill meN hai” – apart from being humorously inane,
Mr Mishra needs to know that the Englishon ki mill had long since outsourced its chaDDi production to Taiwan, Hongkong & even India.
Incidentally, I admire the courage with which you fearlessly named Narendra Modi and Raj Thackray and called their communal bluff on TV.
“zamaane ne diye zakhm itne ki khoon behta chala gaya kabhi sar se bahi dhaar to kabhi aankhon se ro diya” Nazm ka metre Theek kar lo pehle.
mohan awaara –
maaf kar dijiye humein …..
HEY BHAGWAAAN, your standards of poetry are definitly very ‘high’
pls go ahead and tell us ur opinions on -
jinhe naaz hind par woh kahaan hai
mera kuch saaman tumhare paas pada hai
badlon se kaat kaat ke
hum na samjhe they baat itni si
wahaan kaun hai tera musafir jayega kahaan
zindagi ke safar mein guzar jaate hai woh makaam
pls educate us how these songs are bad/vulgar/ poor poetic/humorously inane/ out of sync/ terribly forced hence false/ bakwaas poetry, if ofcourse in your opinion they are that is.
Also pls give us examples of ‘good’ poetry that (needless to say) you love
OMG!!! this is hilarious!
Mohan aawara ji,
Please do enlighten us with your supreme knowledge of poetry.
I adore Jinhe Naaz Hai. I think Gulzar is overrated – his ‘Jai Ho’ is embarrassingly bad poetry. I don’t like Mera kuchh saamaan.
Wahan kaun hai tera is a pleasing song and just about ok poetry. I like the ‘zindagi ke safar mein’ song but not the lyric.
I absolutely adore Sahir, Majrooh, Shailendra, Pash, Rabbi Shergill. Prasun could have made it but his decline has already set in.
Neeraja ji – your sense of hilarity is obviously not very taxing. Don’t know what to make of that!
BTW, I loved Oye Lucky Lucky Oye music. That girl is amazing.
I also loved labh Janjua’s Heer in Dev D.
Sir, since you are kind enough to reply to our queries, would you please list a few hindi poets who have great poetic talent according to you?
But Emosanal Atyachar was a blatant lift from Om Dar-b-dar. Besides, the lead singer’s voice resembled Panchjanya’s Tarun Vijay’s.
Raghubir Sahay, Manglesh Dabral, Asad Zaidi, Anamika… and many many more.
I forgot Katyayani – serious ommission.
hmmmmm and still you talk about meter in what KC posted?
What I don’t understand is how can you take the sarfaroshi song so literally? For instance do you really think “O re Bismil kaash aate aaj tum hindustaan” represents poet’s desire to bring bismil back to life to the modern india?
Has Prasoon Joshi ever written anything that comes remotedly close to Piyush Mishra’s work in Gulaal?
Piyush Mishra a clone of Rabbi Shergill?! How? Rabbi Shergill’s work is predominately in Gurmukhi. Also majority of his songs are cover songs or reprise of folk tunes. Is Piyush Mishra’s work like that? They both are good.
No Prasun has never written anything like his. You are making a bad comparison: comparing two different genres. This is confusion of logical types.
If you must, compare his poetic skills(?) with those of Rabbi Shergill.
In purely canonical terms, Prasun is miles ahead of Piyush.
In defense of Prasoon Joshi, he hasn’t got a work like Gulaal yet. He did something contemporary in Rang De Basanti, but that wasn’t a political film like Gulaal. And if given.. i reckon, he would come up with half decent… Kaala Bandar.
Can you describe Rabbi’s poetry skills?
Honhaar Goonde ji, you are completely off the mark. Rabbi’s Jinhe Naaz is in Hindi. It is NOT a cover version.
We were speaking of poetry skills here, so I thought the use of ‘Gurmukhi’ was an apt choice. Cos you were unable to spot the difference between Punjabi and Hindi. Perhaps, you think Punjabi is a Hindi Dialect. Anyway..
Obviously, you haven’t heard Paghri Smabhal Jatta and NI Ballo track!! Why isn’t Jineh Naaz cover version? He has lyrically updated the original song…
And since you know next to nothing about Punjabi Folk – Gurumukhi is a script not a language – you should not give opinions on Rabbi’s compositions.
part freom Chhalla in his latest Avengi Ja Nahin, there isn’t a single track which addresses the Punjabi folk.
There is no confusion. RDB could have had songs in the same genre as Gulaal.
RDB songs were good. I loved them but most of them had the same mood and idea from khalbali to rubaroo to the title song. He could have done much more with the kind of subject he had in his hands.
I think, pessimistic lyrics or dark lyrics in Rang De Basanti would not have worked. Different subjects.
In his previous album too, there isn’t a single track that follows the conventional folk melodies – not even when he sings Heer.
What do you exactly mean by poetic skills. The flair in language or the ability to convey the thought effectively?
TZP title song had brilliant words and imagery but it was repetitive.
For me thought that a poetry conveys(and how effectively it does that) is more important than the imagery and millions of metaphors.
Prasun is a superior poet and much better read than Piyush who comes across as viscerally desperate.
Maybe you should compare Piyush with Safdar Hashmi’s pre-1984 songs. That may be a useful exercise. Safdar is far more impassioned.
I regretfully do not agree Neeraja ji. Don’t write poetry if you can’t weave a haunting image. Bertolt Brecht, in fact, is the bane of contemporary theatre in this respect.
He completely destroyed the possibility of resonance in radical poetry. Even Mao was better than him.
Thanks for the ‘useful exercise’.
By the way he does weave a haunting image in ’shehar’ song.
And Lorca was an absolute darling.
Let us not question the ability of Mohan Awara. It is of no use…we don’t even know who he/she is. If he/she feels Piyush’s poetry is bad, then he has every right to say.
We who felt Piyush’s work can support it, with analytical comparisons and examples, rather than personally attacking Mohan Awara. Mohan Awara, likewise need not provoke someone else by telling that You know nothing’…because we hardly know each other
It is not a good attitude to snub a person’s opinion by demeaning remarks on personal taste.
Neither Piyush, nor Mohan Awara are our blood relatives or those whom we are indebted to. Let us be objective in replies and comments
The comments should be on the article in question, now it has become a discussion on Piyush’s work quality, Mohan’s and a few others knowledge and skill. Please write a post…with all your knowledge. PFC might surely publish if the material is good.
agree wholeheartedly with ram
may i request mohan to post an iview ?
Ram ji the point you make is good. But who decides if the material is good?
No one will decide..Just present your analysis. If something is blatantly bad …it will expose itself…if something is somewhere there in the brink between bad and good, people will decide with their acquired sensibilities and sensitivities. You will have a divided opinion.If its really good, and someone is needlessly trying to malign, the analysis again will not stand good. Thats it…Present your analysis, leave the judgement to the readers…You cannot force anything on anyone…
Besides, the points about Piyush were made within the context of what I consider to be radical cinema. The challenges are accordingly far greater.
I said it is equally important to effectively convey the thought.
If you write a poem on ‘excreta’ with a hell lot of imagery, metaphors, word jugglery etc. it does not imply that you wrote a great poem. So yeah the ‘thought’ is also very important but I am sure having read likes of Raghuvir Sahay and others you mentioned you know that.
“Besides, the points about Piyush were made within the context of what I consider to be radical cinema. The challenges are accordingly far greater.”
I agree with you here. Yes the challenges are far greater but I think it’s a good start. As Piyush Mishra puts it ‘aarambh hai prachand’
Quite a lot of critical discussion going on here…I’m not qualified to comment poetry…But would say one thing…The first impact of a song is important…& the first impact of Aaarambh was phenomenal…something I hadn’t experienced in ears…
errata: in years…
Jeetaditya – I loved your mistake. Ears, in fact, was better. Neeraja ji, your reference to ‘excreta’ is ‘wah! kya kehne!’. You should read Diwan-e-ChikiN
Oops errata: “Diwan-e-Chirkin”.
wah…superb mohan awara…anurag pfc is meant to share an opinion…y getting offended?
Take heart Brave Heart – I’m not offended. In fact I was about to suggest to Anurag to seriously take up Diwan-e-ChirkiN to create a new Indian allegory.
Diwan e chirkin milega kahan Mohan ji? maine suna hai woh out of print hai saalon se?
I confess that i don’t have much knowledge of Hindi poetry,but i feel that music is universal and I love music of Gulaal..
@mohan…i meant anurag was getting offended when you commented on piyush’s work
Anurag, Brave Heart, is a darling! Don’t worry about him. It is just that he is weighed down by too many cinema related hassels.
I truly want him to take up ChirkiN much like Rabelais did during Renaissance and use scatalogy as an effective means to create a modern Indian allegory.
Or maybe, he should do a film on Nalbandi – now that Varun Gandhi has invoked his father’s pet project. Such a film can be absolutely devastating.
As for Piyush, he is a genius on stage. Absolute fire! In the field of poetry and music – especially film music – he is a bachcha, if not exactly bachkaana.
The ChirkiN film or the one on Nalbandi film should be mounted as a dark comedy. That’s the test of a genius. I’m sure Anurag can carry it off with aplomb.
Piyush Mishra’s music lyrics and performance in Gulaal is dazzling. For me he is the star of the film, in all aspects. He made the movie work for me, he was the comment, the face and the helpless everyman who was the target of dirty politics that Gulaal speaks of.
Neeraja and Tushar have spoke eloquently about the power of his poetry in their posts. Yet, I feel the need to say that having listened to his songs continuosuly for a month, they still succeed in moving me with their pathos, emotion, adrenaline and pain. Be it the haunting nature of ‘Aisi Sazaa’, scary pathetic-ness of ‘Sheher’, wistful pain of ‘Duniya’, tongue-in-cheek nature of ‘Ranaji’ or the thumping ‘Aarambh…’
Such immensity of talent coupled with such intensity of emotion is overwhelming.
It will do good Mr Awara if you take your reservations elsewhere. This man should be getting much more than he has got till now. Lets just rave about him and keep the ‘informed’ discussions of his metre for some another web space.
Elsewhere? Where elsewhere? Do I hear you saying that this is YOUR forum and any critical comment about Piyush Mishra is unwelcome? If that be the case, I will stop posting right away.
I honestly believe Poetry and lyrics are a form of art and art is totally a relative perception. So Mohan ji you are free to have an opinion/perception but what hurts is the way you would want to bring down an artist.
Gulzar in one of his songs wrote “Millon se din chod aaye, saalon se raat leke chale”. I dont think this even confines in the realm of poetry/lyrics or whatever you may want to call it. This one line and may be the song “raah pe rehte hain” by gulzar can tell you what I mean. This is not poetry but a feeling that resonates and echoes over ages, words are just a means that are used. Many times I have felt prasoon is inspired by Gulzar and to that, i am sure, you wont agree. Its not just the dexterity on literature that matters, what matters is how the poet captures the soul of a feeling. Why should anyone confirm to established norms of poetry. How can anyone define the limitations of art. Art is an expression of freedom. Throwing around some heavy names wont prove your point either. Poetry is a feeling that you can’t feel it from the guidelines of education or acquired literature… you’ll need heart and mind to “feel” it.
mohan why don’t you write a script on nalbandi.. you show the way i will surely do it.. i neither have the info nor the perspective on that yet.. as far as chirkin is concerned i have been a fan of him.. i loved his poetry and even use to improvise some of it on my own.. but left it behind .. grew out of it.. would love to revisit it.. saying all that i still believe what Piyush has written was fantastic much in the tradition of Dhumil and Dinkar and also Paash..
Well, well, well, Mr. Mohan ‘hindi kavita ke svayambhoo samalochak’ Awara ji-
“Piyush is almost a bad poet and most definitely a poor composer. This has nothing to do with what kind of poetry I ‘live’. (I don’t write any, incidentally)”
- You can’t possibly write follows from the first line itself. Unlike sciences etc, writing poetry at least is a cultural construct, and so if your taste is drastically different from the standards that we have grown and envisaged- then basically you do not belong to the readers, let alone writers, of this particular genre.
“Problems with Piyush’s poetry are: a) it is cloyingly pre-modern b) it is a kasba-big-city ham c) it is a poor man’s Rabbi clone – Rabbi is a much better poet and a composer.”
-Even if they are pre-modern, why cloyingly? And I suspect you call them pre-modern as they do not fit into your comfort zone of westernized xbox and ccd modernity. Grow up dude.. this is the ‘job’ of a literatur to see things in perspective. And this ‘poor man’s rabbi’ thing is so utterly hypothetical that I can only suggest you to check your facts first.
“d) His radical intent is terribly forced hence false – almost always – your ‘are ruk ja re bande’ being a clear case in point”
- Showing anguish without using curse words(or death metal)is an art, my friend.
“e) His music is a confused cross between proscenium and street theater. He is clearly in the wrong professional space.”
-Too many conclusions here, without explanation. I bet even his fiercest critics would refrain from such generalizations.
“O re Bismil” – bad poetic address.
-In case you didn’t notice, the song was a play on ‘Sarfaroshi’ by Bismil.
“kaash aate aaj tum hindustaan” – bad desire.
-Already abroad or planning for GRE?
” mulk saaraa yuuN Tashan meN, thrill meN hai” – this is no sarcasm, no irony, no tongue in cheek humor. This is a plain collapse.
-of somebody’s grasp I guess.
“aaj ka launDaa ye kehtaa hum to ‘Bismil’ thak gaye”
- Ever heard of Metaphor? Lakshana in Hindi.
“And as for “chaddii bhii siltii englishoN kii mill meN hai” – apart from being humorously inane,
Mr Mishra needs to know that the Englishon ki mill had long since outsourced its chaDDi production to Taiwan, Hongkong & even India.”
- Mr. Awara needs to know that Brandname is still Jockey.
“zamaane ne diye zakhm itne ki khoon behta chala gaya kabhi sar se bahi dhaar to kabhi aankhon se ro diya” Nazm ka metre Theek kar lo pehle.
- So here comes meter now. Dead Poets’ Society, anybody?
I think Gulzar is overrated – his ‘Jai Ho’ is embarrassingly bad poetry. I don’t like Mera kuchh saamaan.
- And justify why should we care about lots of I’s here.
“lead singer’s voice resembled Panchjanya’s Tarun Vijay’s.”
-So???
Finally, I should say that though enjoying poetry, music, art in general is a personal experience, they also reflect our understanding of the evolution of art form in general. And if we manage to call ourselves a connoisseur, we must be ready to provide a discourse on the relationship of our tastes with the status quo.
Neeraj Gheywan yours was a good post. The Gulzar you cite is indeed moving. I agree that Prasoon is influenced by Gulzar. I do not agree with your estimation of my ‘mind’ and ‘heart’.
1. “Writing poetry at least is a cultural construct”. It is but it is also laden with existential anxiety. Not mere subjectivity but also the fragility of being.
2. True, therefore, I’m ‘out of standard’ and a ‘non-belonging reader’.
3. ‘Cloying’ – his reference to ‘blood’ is too direct, too generalized and therefore to ineffective in its radical intent. Close to a dysfunctional ghazal.
4. The charge about “westernized xbox and ccd modernity”. Where, on earth, did you get this idea? Raghubir Sahay, Manglesh Dabral, Paash… you find them western?
4. My facts about Piyush and Rabbi are impeccable to the extent possible. So have no worry on that count.
5. “O re Bismil…” is bad poetic address precisely because it is made in reference to “Sarfaroshi Ki Tamanna…”
6. We can let your comment about GRE pass in peace unless you absolutely insist that I addressed it.
6. “Brandname is still Jockey” – a damn good observation!
8. Unfortunately, the cinema – mainstream, radical and avant-garde – still likes to create melodies around metric vakroktis. Not my fault!
9. Why should ‘I’ “justify” and why should you “care”?
10. “Tarun Vijay” – I thought that was a masterstroke!
11. “Ever heard of Metaphor? Lakshana in Hindi”. Metaphor in Hindi is roopak. Lakshana is Sanskrit is connotation just as abhidha is denotation.
12. Kavya vakrokti isn’t possible without vyabhicharibhava. Thats your day’s homework.
13. Svayambhoo – literally means ‘born of one’s own’ (self). You project me as some sort of a biological anomaly. Thanks for such a polite abuse – atyant tiraskrut vaachya.
I dunno somehow I get a feeling that Mohan Awara has some personal enmity against Piyush Mishra…or is too eager to show off his knowledge by naming some other poets…
One might not like something..and criticize the same…but the way you trash it makes the entire thing look fake…
even the staunchest critic would agree that it’s not such a trash that you would like people to believe…
Your feeling is wrong. I adore Piyush as an actor. He is brilliant. Absolute ‘fire’ as I said earlier. For me he does not add up as a musician and as a poet.
And yes I do not want to ‘make people believe’, I’m merely expressing my opinion.
And I find it truly amusing to see a blog overflowing with such euphoria for Piyush getting so hurt by a single dissenting mail. Amazing!
roy – DO NOT ARGUE! do the homework!
Oh but you didn’t get any. This is unfair!!!
@Mohan
Interesting observation about nalbandi, but it doesn’t make a good movie in my opinion. It doesnt evoke emotion. Plus if the congress come back into power or worse sit in the opposition, it just wont clear the censor board.
Gulaal is set in an imaginary world, nalbandi is too dark a reality of the past. Why dnt you do the research..script it. It was a real bleak episode to be honest, and to be honest the impact is kinda lost now, afterall overpopulation of the planet is a grave problem, and nalbandi in a twisted way was an attempt to address this problem. Some people might even revisit the idea. I know of one gene dat needs to be nipped in the bud..its a certain critic who has alot of time to research and no poetry to back it
I was under the impression its called Nassbandi though…Nalbandi sounds like plumbing jargon.
kaun kisko ka homework de raha hain?…
Anurag ji ChirkiN is only a point of beginning or even a point of departure. The story could possibly be a group of women, mostly middle aged, full of eros, energy and ribaldry on a pilgrimage.
Narrating stories, challenging, enticing, profane in a way similar to Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. In a way, this could be a road film where the ‘vyabhicharibhav’ unfolds.
The highway of the haunted mazars, devalayas, dhaabaas, hitch-hiking sex workers, pilgrims, runaway children.
It can be the first truly ribald film of India. I cannot think of anyone other than you doing it. Music: Vishal/the OLLO girl/the Dev D boy.
Lyrics: the OLLO syndicate of poets.
The Nalbandi film will have to have a Muslim boy and a Hindu girl on the run till they run out of space. A love story – grim and darkly humorous.
The Muslim boy and the Hindu girl would initially be running separately and for different reasons. The running out of space will be quite literal.
“but it is also laden with existential anxiety. Not mere subjectivity but also the fragility of being.”
–and the language in which exhibits itself is the one that has evolved as the most pressing in the particular subcult.
“reference to ‘blood’ is too direct, too generalized and therefore to ineffective in its radical intent. Close to a dysfunctional ghazal.”
–May be that is the prize to be paid in making the song as far reaching and lyrical as possible. Nobody is calling him Muktibodh anyways.
“Raghubir Sahay, Manglesh Dabral, Paash”
–Ah, you meant progressive. So what if the lyrics do not fall into progressive genre, it was well suited for the film.
“the cinema – mainstream, radical and avant-garde – still likes to create melodies around metric vakroktis”
–the lines in the song are put in as a monologue. And metre, etc. are the instruments not benchmarks. Like in a nazm.
“Tarun Vijay”
–so what if the voice resembles is precisely my point.
“Metaphor in Hindi is roopak. Lakshana is Sanskrit is connotation just as abhidha is denotation.”
–agreed. my fault.(10 years since last grammer text read)
“Kavya vakrokti isn’t possible without vyabhicharibhava”
–Kavya srijansheelta ke uss sopan ko kahte hain, jahaan vicharoon ki pratidhvani laybaddh ho jaati ho. Pratham to ham yahaan kavya charcha nahi, Piyush ji ke ‘geeton’ ki tulnatmak vivechnaa kar rahe hain. Vyabhicharabhaav ya anya koi bhi kavyatmak anubhav cheshta ka nahi, nishpatti ka naam hai. Kavya ki mahatta uske pratham drishtaya shilp se nahi, uske saamyik sandesh se bhi prakat ho sakti hai (tower me ghus jae…); uske garimamay uddveg se prakat ho sakti hai(bande vs. dirt by alice in chains). Sambhavtah ye kehna adhik uchit hoga ki kavya vakroti ki poornta paathak ke vyabhicharibhava me hai.
“Svayambhoo”
–is also used to mean self proclaimed. Svanaamdhanya might have been a better term maybe.
Svayambhoo means self proclaimed…I don’t think Svanaamdhanya can be used in that sense…it is used in a more positive sense…
Medhaavi chhaatra SatyaVrat mahodaya, you get A minus for your efforts! There are problems but it deserves ‘honorable mention’.
Dear Cliff, Sanjay Gandhi, and now his son Varun Gandhi, prefer the imposition of the more organic form of ‘castration’ – viz nasabandi.
But the political class in resistance and pitched against the Emergency preferred a more socially relevant term – viz nalabandi.
It addresses a larger human condition while remaining disturbingly visceral. It is also somewhat ecologically nuanced.
BTW, the word ‘banda’ carries a sense of enclosure – of being fatally contained.
Thanks for the smiling face, anyways! The message reached its destination.
And the gene is indeed ‘nipped in the bud’. Adieu!
@Mohan
The episose was horrific I’m sure, but what is the impact of telling this story? AK is a great director, but that doesn’t mean he shud take up every dark subject and turn it into a movie. that in my opinion is overkill, stories still need to connect…AK cant find enuff people to back his work becoz of this very reason. N no im not talking abt masala movies, but even twisted humour needs to connect. film noire is not limited to portraying the underbelly of society. The nalbandi episode does not have enuff social impact, hell alot of ppl might even think it was the right thing to do, the archaic execution might be questionable, but the intent wasn’t. You notice how the gandhis follow the hum do humaare do family plan to the tee? I think it was a noble idea…the execution fell short. Its jst not a great movie. Sorry to say that….I understand your excitement, but it just isn’t a great movie.
@Mohan Aawara, your criticism of Piyush’s music hangs on verge of sounding like personal bias! That takes off the credit for whatever little right you may have posted above!
May be you don’t realize that arguing relentlessly on “what is GOOD poetry as per metres etc.” and indecent show of your indeed impressive Poetic knowledge… you are making a fool of yourself.
As often repeated above, Poetry is an art and art can’t be restricted… as it is mental projection of uncountable facets of human emotions and lives.
Piyush’s lyrics may have faltered at VERY few places, but the IMPACT (it agree it sounded theatrical), presentation leaves a lasting impact.
The only minus is had someone not seen the film, you may not like music soooo much! But once you experience it in film… it resonates in soul loud and clear. So indeed Piyush deserves the credit… for powerful words, impactful music binded with so much finesse.
Mohan Awara, believe it or not, I stumbled on this page after googling “Mohan Awara,” when I saw your comment in a blog in outlookindia.com it flashed to me that this dude must have a longer rant somewhere, it turned out to be here!
Like, Kartik Krishnan suggested, we would love to see a critique of all modern lyricists and I would personally like to see what you think of Javed Akhtar’s lyrics. :-)
Nothing personal!
PS:Roopaka is from Samskruta too.
Ghalib, Momin, Majaaz, Faiz, Firaaq, Sahir, Makhdoom, Mir, Zauq, Daag… in sabkon thoda bahut humne bhi padha hai Mohan Awaaraji, aur mujhe yakin hai, yahan likhnewale kaafi khairkhaaon ne bhi. Kavita aur Sher-O-Shayari har kisi ke bas ki baat na sahi, par har woh shaqs jo usme ruchi rakhta hai woh usko samajhne ya phir mahsoos karne ki taaqat toh rakhta hi hai. Your refinement and grasp of the subject comes through very clearly in your posts Sir, but I wish I could be as sure of the integrity behind it all. For one, I do not understand your obsession with meter at all; in fact by clinging on to that archaic principle, in one stroke you may have damned some of the most beautiful verses written in the last century. Frankly Sir, your long denouncements still tell us precious little about how Piyush’s poetry suffers by comparison with X, Y or Zee.
Pardon me for being strident / sentimental about this, but Piyush’s outpouring has been one of the most original and fresh renditions one has heard in Hindi cinema in a hell of a long time. If the lyrics must be faulted they have to be done on the fact that most of it probably ends up evoking the same dark, sombre imagery in song after song. (Though some credit for that has to be claimed by Gulaal’s brooding theme too.) I am not one for complaining about it though.
Don’t get me wrong Mohan Awaraji but that’s probably why some of the posts out here equate your comments to a case of personal animosity. (And yes, we are only discussing Piyush’s poetic not his acting abilities that you have praised here.) The more I read your rants I am reminded of the song Do you Mr. Jones? Remember Dylan’s (Bob, not Thomas) lyrically acerbic whip lash on the uncomprehending critics of his time?
Vistasp
Hats off to you,Mishraji