Chhaayaageet #202 - "Likh bhi diya? Itni jaldi?"
Evergreen Hotel in Khar, a suburb of Bombay, has a unique reputation. Young people who come to Bombay with the hopes of making it in the Hindi film industry have found the Evergreen Hotel to be a resting place during their days of struggle. The establishment has housed big names, the likes of SD Burman, Sahir Ludhianvi, Iftekhar, and given them a roof over their heads.
So when a 22 year old young man from Dehradun comes to Bombay, he knows one place where he can go, Evergreen Hotel in Khar. The daily routine is predictable. Wake up in the morning and make the rounds of the various music studios, try to get an introduction to somebody, try to catch the attention of bigwigs as they make their way in or out. It requires patience and the ability to keep the dream alive amidst the frustrations of the day. The Evergreen Hotel is patient with its patrons, too. Things take time. Many dreamers have to struggle to make ends meet. But our young man, an aspiring lyricist, is lucky that his family sends him money every month and helps him with his finances.
Finally one day a big time music composer duo decide to give the young man some air time. They have heard about him from someone else, this young man can write lyrics very speedily. They ask him to recite some of his poetry. They love it. "Sardar sahab, aap mein to badi fire hai. Kitna achha likhte hain aap. Aap ka kam to yahan zaroor banega," they tell him. Sardar sahab, you seem to have a lot of fire in you. How well you write. Things will definitely work out for you here.
They ask him to stay in touch and if they have anything for him they will let him know. Polite words that have very little value. Stay in touch. Sure. It's the lingo of the industry. But for a 22 year old young man those words are everything.
Yet, two years go by. The young man has by now gotten very familiar with the Evergreen Hotel, perhaps a little too familiar. The daily rounds of the studios are continuing. He has not given up on the dream. Come hell or high water, he stays determined.
One day he goes to the same studio and meets the same composers. He tries to catch their attention. But they can't remember him. He tries to jog their memory. It's been two years, but do you remember that poem I recited and you had liked it very much. You called me Sardar Sahab then. One of the composers shows signs of remembering, or at least pretending that he is remembering.
"Sardar sahab, kya aap tune pe sahi meter mein lyrics likh sakte hain?" the composer asks the young man. Sardar sahab, can you write the lyrics to a set tune in a specific meter?
"Ji aisa to maine kabhi kiya nahin. Shayar hoon, shayari karta hoon, nagme likhta hoon," he confesses. Sir I have not done anything like this. I am a poet, I write poetry.
The composer explains the situation in the film to the young man and gives him the tune that they have in mind for the song. "Dekhiye koshish kijiye", he says to the young man. See if you can try. Saying this, the composer steps out of the studio.
This is it. This is the moment. This is the golden opportunity. So what if this is something you have never done before? Thoughts like these race through the young man's mind. His brain goes to work.
The composer returns back in a short time. He is surprised to see the young man still there. The composer had expected him to go away with the assignment and come back another time.
"Ji maine mukhda likh diya hai," the young man tells the composer. Sir, I have written the opening lines of the song.
"Likh bhi diya? Intni jaldi?" the composer is surprised. Wrote it already? So quickly?
The young man recites the four lines of the opening of the song. The composer is thrilled with the result. He asks the young man to write the rest of the song.
There is only one singer who could sing this that the composers have in mind. He is requested to come in for a sitting and recording. The singer looks at the words and he is full of praise for the young man's work.
"Yeh jo shabd hai 'waada' is par zara wazan dekar gaana," the composer tells the singer. This word, 'waada', sing it with some emphasis.
"Main poora gaana waise hi gaunga jaise aapne bataya hai, lekin ye 'waada' shabd mein softly gaunga, aur uske baad awaaz badi karunga," the singer has his own thoughts about how he wants to sing the song. I will sing the entire song just the way you want me to, but this word 'waada', I will sing it softly and then raise my voice for the following words.
"Theek hai, lekin hume pasand nahin aaya to aap ko dobara gaana record karna hoga," the composer accepts. Ok, but if we don't like it you will have to record it again.
The recording commences and duly gets over. The singer steps out of the recording booth. He looks towards the composer in the mixer room. What does he see? The composer is crying and having a tough time holding back his tears. The composer walks up to the singer and gives him a hug. "Aap ne jo expression is gaane mein dala hai, mein woh zindagi bhar nahin bhooloonga," he says to the singer. The expression that you have put into this song, I will never forget in my lifetime.
As for the young man, the song gets him some recognition, but not much additional work. It would be 17 more years for him to get his real break as a lyricist.
Dev Kohli wrote the lyrics of the song Geet gata hoon main for the film Lal Patthar (1971), music by Shankar Jaikishan. The song is sung by Kishore Kumar and filmed on Vinod Mehra, with the rest of the cast of the film - Raaj Kumar, Hema Malini, and Raakhee.
Vinod Mehra, Hema Malini and Raakhee were all relative newcomers in the industry at this time. This was the first negative role essayed by Hema Malini, and that too, in only her third film after Johnny Mera Naam (1970) and Andaz (1971). Shashi Kapoor suggested her to take the role even though it was a negative one. Raaj Kumar told her to not reject the role before she had seen the original Bengali language film.
Though Geet gata hoon main became a huge hit, Dev Kohli found no work coming his way, even though he was regarded as a lyricist who could write songs very quickly. It was not until Maine Pyar Kiya (1989) for which Dev Kohli was a lyricist that he actually made a name for himself. After that there was never a dearth of work, and Kohli wrote the lyrics for popular songs like Yeh kaali kaali aankhein (Baazigar) and many others. Kohli has worked with many generations of music composers including the relatively new age composers like Vishal-Shekhar and Pritam.
Lal Patthar was one of the last films for which Shankar Jaikishan scored the music for. Jaikishan passed away in September 1971 before Lal Patthar was released in December of that year.
Lyrics: Dev Kohli
Music: Shankar Jaikishan
Singer: Kishore Kumar
*ing: Vinod Mehra, Raaj Kumar, Hema Malini, Raakhee
Film: Lal Patthar (1971)