Chhaayaageet #189 - "Darling, feel free to feel the pressure."
It is the lyricist's first time working with this studio production house. The filmmaker is known to be very precise in what he wants his team to deliver. They need to be in lock step with his vision. The lyricist is a bit nervous.
At one of the earliest sittings on the film, the filmmaker, composers, and the lyricist are talking about songs.
"No album is complete if you don't have a soothing love song," the filmmaker tells the team.
The composers get to work. The lyricist is lost in thought. She has an interesting habit. When she has to write the lyrics of a song, she tears a page out of the book and starts to fold it into halves until the page is folded into a small piece.
The filmmaker looks at her. "What are you doing?"
"Oh," says the lyricist. "I prefer to fold the page into a small piece. I don't like to stare at a large blank piece of paper if I haven't written anything. The blank page puts pressure on me." She adds further.
The filmmaker responds to her, "Darling, this is a Karan Johar love song. Feel free to feel the pressure."
Over the next few days, the composers keep working on different tunes.
At the next sitting, they are not much further along. The lyricist has some words. The composers have four or five tunes.
They play the tunes for the filmmaker. "Really? This is the song you guys came up with? Looks like you listened to my brief very well. How many times have I given you my brief?"
Everybody knows his brand of sarcasm.
A good amount of time goes by with everyone heads down on their tasks.
The filmmaker approaches the lyricist. "I want you to fit these words into the song," he tells her. He tells her three words. She doesn't quite know what to do with those words.
The composers get wind of this suggestion. They hear the three words. They also struggle to see past the words.
"You realize these are just different words that mean the same thing, right?" they ask the filmmaker.
The filmmaker nods. "Yes, I want you to figure out how to use them," he adds.
"Where did you come up with these words? And what do they even mean?", they ask him again.
The filmmaker regales them with a story.
"I was reading something about a guy eve-teasing a girl. And other people on the street gang up on this guy and beat the shit out of him. And this guy says these three words, as a way of showing that he is not just teasing her, that he is truly in love with her," he shares the origin of those three words.
"Ishq wala love hai apna - the guy said to the people beating him up," the filmmaker gives them the scoop behind those three words.
"They are not just different words for the same thing. Ishq wala love is different. It is a higher form of love," he tells them and asks them to get back to work.
The lyricist finds her pen writing itself, "Hota hai jo love se zyada waise wala love. Ishq wala love."
Anvita Dutt Guptan wrote the lyrics of Ishq wala love for the film Student of the Year (2012), story and direction by Karan Johar, music by Vishal-Shekhar. The song is sung by Shekhar Ravjiani, Salim Merchant and Neeti Mohan. The song is filmed on Alia Bhatt, Siddharth Malhotra, and Varun Dhawan, all of them making their debut with this film.
Neeti Mohan had been singing in bands and ads, when one day, she got a call from Vishal Dadlani saying they wanted to check her voice. She came to the studio and they asked her to sing the antara of the song. They told her she can go and they will let her know. She did not know the name of the film, or the rest of the song, or that it was a Karan Johan film or who was in it. Vishal-Shekhar called her back. This was her launch as well. This is the only song she has sung in the film, and the way she has sung the antara was loved and appreciated. At the Filmfare awards, Neeti received the RD Burman Award which recognizes new and upcoming talent in the Hindi film industry.
Student of the Year was a commercial success with praise for its technical direction, cast performances and music. Varun Dhawan and Siddharth Malhotra were both nominated for the Best Male Debut Filmfare award, while Alia Bhatt was nominated for Best Female Debut.
Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan and Siddharth Malhotra performing the song live on stage at the Filmfare Awards.
Neeti Mohan and Salim Merchant performing the song live.
Neeti Mohan performing the song live.
Lyrics: Anvita Dutt Guptan
Music: Vishal-Shekhar
Singers: Shekhar Ravjiani, Salim Merchant, Neeti Mohan
*ing: Alia Bhatt, Siddharth Malhotra, Varun Dhawan
Director: Karan Johar
Film: Student of the Year (2012)