Chhaayaageet #131 - "Aapke gaane ne bataa diya hum kyun pachees hazaar ke liye apni chaati par goli khaate hain."
The composition is ready for review. The filmmaker calls the lyricist as well as the composer to finalize the song.
Since the beginning, he has been very specific to them. This is not a regular song. “He is lying on the battlefield bleeding to death. He has maybe 10 minutes of his life left. Nobody knows what is going on in his mind. What is he really feeling? I want the world to know through this song. Also no jingoism or any of this uber patriotism. Are you both clear about what is expected here?”
The lyricist is really intrigued and feels challenged by the situation. “If the soldier has 10 minutes left, how long should the song be?” The filmmaker thinks for a few moments. “Yes, it can’t be too long. Let’s plan for about a couple of minutes.”
On the way back home, the lyricist is still thinking about what he just heard. Just a couple of minutes long. The mukhda itself will take up a minute. He gets himself together and comes up with some powerful lyrics. He sends the lyrics to the composer and filmmaker. He has a flight to catch for London.
There is a promotion planned for his book. This has all his poetry that couldn't make it to the films. He has gone through so much personal transformation to reach this point in life. Even decided to pick up a pen name which was an Urdu word. Pretty much blasphemy for someone from a Hindu Brahmin family. He can blame it on that Urdu book that he bought for 2 rupees near the Masjid. The rest is history.
The jetlag has been bothering him. It’s not even 4am here in London and he is already up. Can’t get any sleep. Once you get used to Mumbai's traffic noise, the hot weather, and the breeze with the ocean smell, London’s quiet neighborhood with its posh surroundings do not cut it. He finally decides to get up and go for a walk.
But wait. The phone is ringing. Who could that be at this hour? He picks up the phone very cautiously and awaits for the other side to speak first.
“Were you sleeping? Did I wake you up?” He recognizes the voice. It is the filmmaker on the other side. “I want to have a quick chat with you. Do you have some time?” What can the lyricist say? “Haanji paaji, I have time. It's early morning here in London.”
The filmmaker has excitement in his voice. “Remember the lyrics that you wrote for a short song. That really touched our hearts. We want this extended to a proper song with more powerful lyrics.” The lyricist is ecstatic to hear that and anxious to start working.
The whole setup in London is making the lyricist feel homesick. He is feeling emotions about missing his India, his country, his watan. Now that he hears that he can extend the song longer, words just start flowing out of his pen.
The soldier’s desire is to be one with the motherland and be around his beloved, his mother, and his friends in different forms. He wants to be part of nature, the field, the rivers, the gardens, the village roads, the sun, the moon, the works. He is dying but still more alive than ever. The words just keep flowing. And so do his tears.
The song is complete. And soon the film is released.
The film enjoys reasonable success. The lyricist is getting used to all the appreciation and accolades coming his way. He is sitting at home deep in his thoughts. Suddenly the phone rings.
“Kya aap wohi sabib bol rahe hain jinhone hum faujiyon ke liye ye gaana likha hai?” Are you the same writer that wrote this song about us army people?
The lyricist gets so many calls like these in a day but always puts on his best behavior, especially for men of service. “Haan, bilkul sahi farmaaya. Main wohi bol raha hoon. Bataiye main aapki kya seva kar sakta hoon.” Yes, you are exactly correct. I am the writer of that song. How can I help you?
The caller breathes a sigh of relief knowing that he got the actual lyricist himself. “Humse bahut log poochte hain ki pachees hazaar ke liye kahe apni chaati par goli khaate ho. Hamare paas iska jawaab nahin tha. Aapke gaane ne bataa diya hum kyun pachees hazaar ke liye apni chaati par goli khaate hain.” A lot of people ask us why we are taking bullets for a 25,000 rupees salary job. We could never answer them why. After listening to your song, we can now tell them why we take bullets for a 25,000 rupees salary job. The tears start flowing again.
Manoj Muntashir wrote the lyrics for the song Teri Mitti in the film, Kesari. The music was composed by Arko Mukherjee, written & directed by Anurag Singh, and playback singing was provided by B Praak. The main cast of the film included Akshay Kumar and Parineeti Chopra. The aim of the song was to reflect a dying soldier's last thoughts in the film's final scene. It follows the events leading to the Battle of Saragarhi, a battle between 21 Jat Sikh soldiers of the 36th Sikh Regiment of the British Indian Army and 10,000 Afridi and Orakzai Pashtun tribesmen in 1897.
After the film's lead actress Parineeti Chopra was discovered to be constantly humming the theme tune to the film during its promotions, a proposal from music supervisor Azeem Dayani led to the making of Teri Mitti in her voice.
Anurag Singh was passionate about having a song that could communicate what goes through the mind of a soldier in the last few minutes of his life before he bleeds himself to death. He was very much inspired by Kar Chale Hum Fida from the film Haqeeqat. He wanted to make something similar as a grand finale to the film. Akshay Kumar had previously worked with Arko and Manoj in his film Rustom and was very impressed by both of them. He introduced them to Anurag for this epic song. The rest of the songs in Kesari were written, composed, and performed by other artists.
Manoj Muntashir (originally known as Manoj Shukla) grew up in a farming family in Gauriganj, Uttar Pradesh. He finished his college and decided to move to Mumbai. During the initial part of his career, he struggled to get the right break. He spent several years in television starting off as a script writer for the TV show Kaun Banega Crorepati. After that, he got a break in films writing lyrics and struck success with his song Galliyan in the film Ek Villain. After that, there was no looking back. He gave incredible lyrics in films such as Kapoor & Sons, Rustom, Kesari, and Saina, and then went on to write the dialogs for the dubbed version of Bahubali. He was always fascinated with other script/lyrics writers such as Gulzar, especially their pen names, and hence decided to adopt a pen name for himself called “Muntashir".
Manoj Muntashir was nominated for the Filmfare Best Lyricist award but the winner that year went to Divine and Ankur Tewari for the song Apna Time Aaega from the film Gully Boy. Hearing this Manoj vowed never to attend award shows again. His argument was how come a song with words such as Ghanta and Nanga ends up winning the award as compared to the lyrics of Teri Mitti which screams out the emotions of a dying soldier and makes every listener’s eyes wet. B Praak did win the National Award for Best Male Playback Singer for the song Teri Mitti.
During the COVID-19 pandemic in India, a reprise version of the original song Teri Mitti was created as a tribute to the health workers.
Music: Arko Pravo Mukherjee
Singers: B Praak
*ing: Askhay Kumar, Parineeti Chopra
Lyrics: Manoj Muntashir
Director: Anurag Singh
Film: Kesari (2019)