Chhaayaageet #226 - "Kaisa gaana hai ye? Kahin full stop nahin hai."
“Can you come to Madras and write a few song lyrics for my upcoming film?”
Those words were still playing in the lyricist’s head, even though it had been a few hours since the call with the producer. The lyricist has worked closely with this producer for the last several films, and music has been a big differentiator. Plus, this newcomer actor has created a cult. The youth mass is totally behind him. If the lyricist accepts the Madras offer, every hour out of Bombay will cost him serious money in terms of lost business. But the relationship with the producer is also critical.
He calls the producer back. “Ok, I think I can make it, but I will come on an early morning flight and return to Bombay on the late evening flight.” The producer pauses when he hears that. Is that enough time? “Can you write all the songs in one day?” The lyricist is known for his speed in the industry. “Haan, mein likh doonga. Bas dhun ready honi chhaiye.” Yes, I will write them. The tunes have to be ready. The producer is relieved. “Haan, uski chinta mat karo. Ye ek Tamil film ka remake hai. Gaanon ki dhun wohi rahegi.” Yes, don’t worry about them. This is a remake of a Tamil film. The tunes of the songs will be the same.
He takes the early flight to Madras and shows up at the composer’s residence. The composer doesn’t speak any Hindi, so the pleasantries are exchanged in English. He is not surprised about that since it is Madras. The director is there as well. He speaks broken Hindi. That’s a surprise.
They get on with the songs, one after another. The composer plays the tune, the lyricist is there right behind him, dropping the lyrics like pearls. Music transcends all languages. Now, just the last song is left.
The composer decides to take a quick break along with the director. “Here is the tune to the last song. Take a listen, and we will be back soon.” The lyricist is almost mechanical at this point. His brain is wired to listen to the tune and immediately start scribbling lines.
The lyricist turns on the cassette player and puts his face down with his pen dangling. The tune is really catchy at first. He starts to enjoy and at the same time thinks of the lines that would make sense for the mukhda. He starts jotting them. Now he is waiting for the tune to slow down and come to the interlude between the mukhda and antara.
Waiting… waiting… waiting. But there are no signs of the tune slowing down. It just continues. “This is so weird”, he says to himself.
The composer and director come back into the room. They see the puzzled look on the lyricist’s face.
“Ye to chalta hi ja raha hai. Rukta hi nahin.” It keeps on going. Doesn’t stop. The composer doesn't get what the lyricist just said and looks at the director to see if he got it. The lyricist now turns towards the director. “Kaisa gaana hai ye? Kahin full stop nahin hai. Kaise lyrics likhoon iske liye?” What kind of song is this? There is no full stop. How do I write lyrics for this?
The director feels he needs to do a reset here. “Tune par itna dhyan mat do. Situation ko bhi samjho.” Don’t focus so much on the tune. Also, try to understand the situation. The lyricist is further confused. His brow lines become deeper.
The director tries to encourage the lyricist. “Issi tune par Tamil gaana likha hua hai aur woh super hit hai.” The Tamil song was written on the same tune, and it has been a super hit. This still fails to pacify the lyricist.
The director gets up and starts to pace slowly in the room. “Mein tumhari tarah likh nahin sakta hoon par tumhe situation acchi tarah se samjha sakta hoon.” Unfortunately, I cannot write like you, but I can narrate the situation very clearly.
He continues, “Ye jo heroine ka character hai, ye iss gaane mein apne pyaar ke baare mein bata rahi hai. Par ek farak hai. Woh iss gaane ko ek kahani ki tarah suna rahi hai. Jaise koi kissi se baatein karta hai.” The character of the lead female actor is trying to convey her love through this song. There is one difference. She is narrating this like a story. Almost like someone is talking.
The director has everything visualized inside himself. Also this is the second time he is doing this. He keeps narrating, and the lyricist keeps writing.
Sameer wrote the lyrics for the song Zara Zara Behakta Hai from the film Rehna Hai Terre Dil Mein based on Harris Jayaraj’s composition. The film was produced by Vashu Bhagnani and directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon. The playback for the song was provided by Bombay Jayashree. The song was picturized on Dia Mirza and R. Madhavan.
Rehna Hai Terre Dil Mein was a remake of the director's own Tamil film Minnale, which was released earlier in the same year and also had Madhavan in the lead actor role. This was Dia Mirza's debut film as well as Tamil actor R. Madhavan's official Bollywood debut film. The success of Minnale led to producer Vashu Bhagnani signing Gautham Menon on to direct the Hindi language remake of the film.
Vashu Bhagnani, along with David Dhawan and Sameer, had worked on a series of hits with Govinda over the last 5 years. When Vashu Bhagnani took on this film, he wanted Sameer to write the lyrics based on the same tunes that were successful in the Tamil version. Harris Jayaraj came in as a debut composer for Minnale, the Tamil version, but his tunes were suited for Tamil lyrics. Initially, Sameer had lots of issues adapting Hindi lyrics to those tunes, but with the help of Gautham Menon, he was able to bridge the gap.
Bombay Jayashree, whose actual name is Jayashri Ramnath, is a renowned Indian Carnatic vocalist and composer. She is called "Bombay" Jayashri because she spent her formative years in Bombay, where she received much of her musical training and began her career. The prefix "Bombay" was added to her name after she identified herself as being from Bombay during her early performances.
Harris Jayaraj won the Filmfare Award for Best Music Director – Tamil at the 49th Filmfare Awards South. Jayaraj broke A.R. Rahman’s 8-year-long Filmfare winning streak. Bombay Jayashree won the Filmfare Awards South for Best Female Playback Singer – Tamil for the popular song Vaseegara from the Tamil film Minnale.
Music: Harris Jayaraj
Lyrics: Sameer
Singer: Bombay Jayashree
*ing: Dia Mirza, R. Madhavan
Director: Gautham Vasudev Menon
Producer: Vashu Bhagnani
Film: Rehna Hai Terre Dil Mein (2001)