Like a breath of fresh air, here’s a young lyricist whose poetic and wise words keep us rooted. He is always searching for new metaphors and tweaking old ones to give them new meaning. Here’s Irshad Kamil, whose collaboration with Imtiaz Ali has always been successful, in conversation with Soumita Sengupta
Tamasha is doing well in cinemas. What kind of response are you getting for the songs? And is it any different from other films?
I always give 100 per cent to whatever I do, and I have always received special feedback after every film I work on with Imtiaz because the music of his films is very soulful. Whether Rockstar, Highway or Love Aaj Kal, the music has always clicked before the films’ release. But, with Tamasha, it is the first time I am receiving reviews after the film’s release, maybe because the songs are very situational.
Which song has brought you your best feedback?
Safarnama has grown really well.
What was the brief Imtiaz Ali gave you about the situation of each song?
Imtiaz Ali did not brief me about any situation on where he wanted to place a particular song. We were both in Delhi for a film festival, when he asked me to meet him over tea. When we met, he narrated the basic crux of his story. ‘Har insaan dohri zindagi jee raha hai. This boy is the same but he travels, meets a girl in a different country, and strikes a deal. Back in their own country, they meet again, and the girl makes him realise that, back home, he is someone else, not the guy she had met abroad.’ At the time, he had only these few lines and later stitched the entire story around the film.
On your collaboration with Imtiaz Ali, can you tell us how it works?
We started working together on Socha Na Tha and this is our seventh film together. It is always a pleasure to work with Imtiaz as he gives you space. A director looks at a film from his own perspective; then, as a lyricist, I get into his vision and live every character he has sketched so that I can do justice to the film. If I don’t live those characters as well, I will not be able to accurately write the lyrics for the songs that I have to build around those characters.
And AR Rahman?
With Rahman, it is a beautiful experience. He doesn’t compose a song; he creates music. The best thing about Rahman is he never builds a song on a situation; he creates a song for the entire film. He creates a musical piece keeping the situation in mind. Sometimes, we create words for that tone and, sometimes, I create words and he creates the dhun. It’s teamwork. He is a magician. I have worked with so many composers but he connects with a film completely. When you work with him, he invariably teaches you so many things. He doesn’t create music for a film to sell and he works without fear. When we meet, we jam, we discuss music, the film and the characters.
‘Tu koi aur hai…’ the lyrics aptly sum up the character Ranbir Kapoor plays in the film. How do you write words that are apt for the film and for every situation?
It is very important that I understand the character I am writing lyrics for. So, before I started penning the lyrics, I myself became Ved, the character Ranbir plays in the film. I myself became Tara to understand Deepika’s emotions. To be true to the film, I have to play those characters or else I will write only randomly. Tamasha has many layers. On one level, it’s a love story but when you look deeper, it’s a story about a boy finding himself; it’s about a girl who is not able to come out of a feeling.
We have made the film which takes a step forward through the songs. When the Wat wat wat song plays, that’s when Ved realises he is being someone else but he wants to do something else. There is a line in the song that goes, ‘Udat chidiya ke haldi ragad ke lagawat’. It’s a phrase in Bhojpuri that I have used in the song, that means ‘is it possible to apply turmeric to a flying bird?’ So the line talks about doing something that is actually impossible to do. Another line, ‘Jaan gayal ke surkhi kajra tep taap ke, Latke jhatke maar tu humka phasaave’ touches upon how life offers you lucrative packages (salary) and makes you run after that (money) and forget who you were, once upon a time.
‘Heer toh badi sad hai,’ How did you create a sad song in a happy way?
With Imtiaz, I have always been able to create something new. When we created the lyrics, ‘Chor bazari do naino ki, pehle thi aadat jo hat gayi, pyar ki jo teri meri, umar aaye thi woh kat gayi,’ it was a break-up song but who dreamt that a song about breaking up could be so soulful and happy? When we think of break-ups, we think of sad songs. But in real life, even when you are heartbroken, you are not crying all the time; you’re trying to cope with the situation. So I am not taking the pain of Heer away from her but the song is happy. ‘Heer toh badi sad hai…’ But she is also living life. It’s the first sad song in a happy situation. Also, every song in Tamasha is contemporary and the youth have easily connected with the music and meaning of the lyrics.
Which is your personal favourite?
Chali kahani. It’s a very intelligent song. It took me a long time to write it but it sums up the crux of the film in just four minutes. Every line is linked to take the story forward. And the crux of Tamasha is ‘why always the same story?’
Then there’s Safarnama… We always associate ‘morning’ with a new day, a new beginning. But sawera utna hi purana hai, jitna sooraj hai. Why do we associate ‘morning’ with ‘new’ and ‘sun’ with ‘old’? So when you present a simile in a new way, you can come up with a new way of saying something. I believe if we write something from the heart, it stays with the audience.
