Chhaayaageet #176 - "Where is this song going?"
The head of the production house summons the film's dialogue writer. This is her second film. She is a writer but for this film she is only doing the dialogues.
"Dekho humne lyricist decide nahin kiya hai film ke liye. Music composers milke kuch jam kar rahe hain, tum kuch dummy lyrics likh do", the producer tells her. See we have not yet decided the lyricist for the film. The composers have gotten together to jam something. You give them some dummy lyrics.
The writer isn't familiar with the term dummy lyrics. "Woh kya hota hai?", she asks innocently. What are those?
"Kuch bhi nonsense words, uska koi meaning nahin hota. But because you know the situation, you what the thing is, so you have the feel. Jab lyricist decide hoga to lyricist likh dega. At least the music director will get help to create something", he explains. Some nonsense words, they have no meaning. But because you know the situation, you know what the thing is, so you have the feel. When the lyricist is decided the lyricist will write. At least the music director will get help to create something.
So the dialog writer sits down with the jamming composers. She has no music sense, by her own admission. She writes something for them.
Later in the day, the producer summons her again. He has the piece of paper in his hands, the one she had written the dummy lyrics on.
"Ye kya likha hai?", he interrogates her. What is this you have written?
Her heart sinks. She wonders if she couldn't even write dummy lyrics properly.
He continues, "Ye dummy lyrics nahin hain. Ye lyrics hote hain. You are a lyricist." These are not dummy lyrics. These are proper lyrics. You are a lyricist.
She protests. "No I am not."
He knows she is. He doesn't listen to her one bit. "You are. Now get out of my room. You are writing the lyrics on this film."
All the songs are written and composed. Fast forward.
The studio is packed. It's the day of recording. The filmmaker, the star son who is the hero of the film, his star mother, the heroine, the bigwigs of the production house, everyone has descended upon the studio to hear the song being recorded.
The young singer is a bit nervous. She is also feeling a lot of excitement at the same time. It is her first recording at this studio owned by a prestigious production house. They have rehearsed the song before, but still, to record in front of all these people is different. Suddenly she is not sure of herself. It is not an easy song.
Her mind races back to the rehearsals the music composers and the male co-singer have done. It's like last minute revision before an exam, except in addition to the subject being difficult, a whole host of people have assembled to see how you answer the questions. She recalls the male singer also remarking how tough this song is.
She replays the rehearsal and the music composer's instructions in her mind.
"Dekho is gaane mein bahot utaar chadhav hain", the composer had said. See, there are many highs and lows in this song.
"But it should not look like that. It needs to be effortless", the composer continues.
"Jhatka nahin lagna chahiye. Aisa nahin lagna chahiye ki suddenly chabuk maar diya", more instructions from the composer. There should not be any jerks. It shouldn't feel like suddenly like a whiplash.
"So it has to go up smoothly and come down smoothly", the composer continues to direct the two singers.
"Isko bahot pyaar se gaana hai", he alternates between English and Hindi. It has to be sung with a lot of love.
"You can't scream", he is back to English again.
The young singer is new to the industry. To get a chance to sing for one of the leading composers of the time is a great opportunity. She is a trained classical singer, but with an unconventional voice. After moving from Jamshedpur to Mumbai to pursue a career singing in films, for three years work only came in the form of ad jingles. A few recommendations paved the way for her to sing two film songs. Both songs were received very well earning her praise. But work does not come by automatically.
So acing this difficult song is important. But she is not sure if she will be able to do it. Her voice has to hit the higher octaves and lower octaves without any space to breathe between the words.
She recalls the instructions about the antaras, which are a level above in difficulty than the mukhda. Even technically, musically it goes off in a different direction and then comes back. The young singer recalls thinking, "Where is this song going?" The interlude music pieces seem to go off on one tangent after another. But somehow it all connects back to the mukhda.
The young singer recalls marveling at the way the song has been composed. It is a very unique composition. She thinks to herself this song is going to last the test of time as one of the most beautiful songs.
The young singer snaps back to the current moment by the buzz in the studio, her mental rehearsal interrupted. In a short time they will be ready to record the song. She takes herself back to the rehearsal.
The last few lines of the song are very challenging. She goes over those lines again and again. She remembers taking a long time to get those right.
The song is recorded and when it is released, everyone wants to know who is the female singer who has given playback. She is on the scene.
Shilpa Rao and KK sang the song Khuda jaane in the film Bachna Ae Haseeno (2008), lyrics by Anvita Dutt Guptan who also wrote the dialogues of the film, music by Vishal-Shekhar. The film is directed for Yash Raj Films by Siddharth Anand, with Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone in lead roles. Vishal Shekhar have composed a fantastic tune.
This was Deepika's first film after Om Shanti Om, and Ranbir's first after Saawariya. Both were early in their careers and also in love with each other off-screen. That explains their on-screen chemistry which is through the roof. This was Siddharth Anand's third film as director for YRF after Salaam Namaste and Ta Ra Rum Pum. Anvita Dutt Guptan credits Aditya Chopra for discovering her talent as a lyricist.
The film is shot in exotic locations, the gondolas in Venice, white sand beaches in Italy, and so on. In one shot, Deepika is supposed to have a lot of pigeons flying around her. She was given bird feed in her hands prior to the shot. And a lot of pigeons would gather and sit on her arm and when Siddharth Anand called "action", she had to swirl around and have the pigeons fly away. Deepika got quite a few bruise marks on her arm from the pigeons moving on her arm. In another shot, Ranbir is seen on a high tower only about 3 feet by 3 feet wide and he had to stand and pose with arms outstretched. It was unnerving for him to do this because of suffering from vertigo, and going up and down the tower was equally challenging.
KK and Shilpa Rao sang this song beautifully. They both move up and down the scales effortlessly, and modulate their voices so well. Shilpa Rao had sung Tose naina laage in Anwar before this song, which is a very beautiful song. But Khuda jaane put her on the map.
Shilpa Rao singing on Indian Idol.
KK singing live. What a tremendous loss it has been to lose him.
Music: Vishal-Shekhar
Lyrics: Anvita Dutt Guptan
Singers: Shilpa Rao, KK
*ing: Deepika Padukone, Ranbir Kapoor
Director: Siddharth Anand
Producer: Aditya Chopra
Film: Bachna Ae Haseeno (2008)