Chhaayaageet #249 - "Koi bhi do antare chun lo."
Select any two stanzas.
A big film is on the floors. The music sittings have begun. The crew is excited to start working on the song. At one sitting, the lyricist arrives and tells everyone he has an assignment for them.
He has a notebook with him. He tears few pages of paper from the notebook and gives everyone a couple of blank pages. He asks them to find a pen.
“Mein jo bolta hoon woh likho,” he instructs. Write down what I tell you. The lyricist has taken on the persona of a school teacher.
The filmmaker, his son who is going to direct this film, the composers, a few senior musicians, and a few senior members of the production house, all are unsure about this exercise. But they fall in line like obedient students in the classroom. Everyone finds a table, or a corner of the room with something to write on.
The lyricist begins. He starts reciting the lyrics of the song - first the mukhada, and then one antara after another.
The students look at him as they listen closely and start writing down the verses on their individual pieces of paper. This should be a quick exercise. After all, how many stanzas will the song have? Two, may be three? Why the fuss?
The lyricist has something else in mind. He recites two stanzas. They are long stanzas as the song is a duet. He now moves to the third stanza. The students look at each other. They are not used to writing anything.
But they have no choice. As the lyricist orates, the crew keeps writing. They need extra pages. Their hands hurt. But there is no stopping.
Everyone has a giant question mark on their mind. Has the lyricist lost his mind? Why does this song have so many stanzas? Who writes like this? And why is he making them write all this? He is the one getting paid to write, not them.
Over an hour goes by. They are still writing. They are now up to 20 stanzas. The lyricist turns the page. Number 21, he announces. The rest of the team is in disbelief. What the what?! 21 stanzas?! Are they going to do just this much in today’s sitting? Is this going to end? Or are there more?
Number 22, the lyricist announces.
Number 23.
Number 24.
Number 25.
After reciting the 25th stanza, the lyricist closes his notebook. He looks at them. His students have blank expressions on their faces. Any questions they had in their minds have evaporated. They just want this to end, and thankfully, now it has.
But the lyricist is still not done. In proper school teacher fashion, he tells them, “Ab aap sab ne jo likha hai woh mann mein padhiye. Koi kisise baat nahin karega.” Now look at everything you have written and read it in your mind. There is no talking with each other.
The lyricist continues, “In mein se koi bhi do antare chun lo, jo bhi aap ko pasand ho.” Select any two stanzas that you like.
The students cannot believe this exercise is not yet over. Obediently, they put their heads down, and start reading through the pages they have written. If they’d known they’d have to read their own handwriting, they’d have written more legibly.
Two hours go by. Selecting two stanzas of their liking seems to be harder than they’d anticipated. Every stanza, every line is so thoughtfully put together. They just cannot figure out which two stanzas to select. They keep reading and re-reading over and over again, flipping the pages back and forth, as they evaluate the stanzas in their mind.
Finally the filmmaker’s son raises his hand.
“Ab aap hi bataiye. Yeh to bahot mushkil hai,” the filmmaker’s son says exasperatingly. Please tell us. This is very difficult.
The lyricist is ready for this request. He puts the piece of paper in his hand in front of them.
“Yeh do antare rakho,” he says. Keep these two stanzas.
The song is finalized over a few more sittings. Everything is now in place. At the final sitting, the filmmaker approaches the lyricist and says something in Punjabi.
Filmmaker: “Woh munda aanda hai…phir shuru karanda hai.” The boy enters…then he gets started. “Mainu hero di entry nahin mil rahi.” I am not finding the hero’s entry.
The filmmaker has a problem. The song starts off with the hero singing an aalaap but the filmmaker hasn’t figured out how the hero enters the scene.
The lyricist looks at the cigarette in his hand. He brings it to his lips. He has a peculiar style of holding it, between his third and fourth fingers. He takes a long drag and looks into the distance.
The filmmaker keeps staring at his face, patiently, hoping for an answer.
After some time, the lyricist pulls his shorts up. He would always show up wearing shorts. He starts singing.
A beaming smile crosses the filmmaker’s face. The lyricist’s brainwave of having the female and male chorus sing a few lines would be a perfect way for the hero to be brought into the scene and start singing his alaap after the chorus.
Fast forward to the recording in the studio, Western Outdoor.
The male singer is rehearsing. Just then the female singer walks into the studio. Seeing her he stops dead in his tracks. He goes forward and touches her feet. He is excited to sing in front of her. Who wouldn’t be? But at the same time he is also nervous. Who wouldn’t be?
“Aap gaiye,” she tells him. You can go on and sing.
“Aap hain to aap ke saamne kaise gaa sakta hoon?” He responds nervously. How can I sing in front of you?
“Yeh duet mein hi gaane wali hoon aap ke saath. Lekin aaj mein sirf aap ko sunne ke liye aayi hoon ki aap kaise gaate hain,” she tries to explain. I am the one who will sing this duet with you. But today I have come to listen to you and know how you sing.
She calms the male singer, and after a few rehearsals, they record the duet.
Anand Bakshi wrote the lyrics of the song, Mehndi Laga Ke Rakhna, for the blockbuster film, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (DDLJ) (1995), written and directed by Aditya Chopra, and produced by Yash Chopra and YRF Studios. The music is composed by Jatin-Lalit. The song is sung by Udit Narayan and Lata Mangeshkar. Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol feature in lead roles.
DDLJ became one of the highest grossing films of 1995, and one of the most successful films of all time in the history of Indian cinema.
Aditya Chopra worked on the story of DDLJ for three years. He approached Yash ji to direct it, but Yash ji declined and asked Aditya to direct it himself.
DDLJ was Jatin-Lalit’s first film with YRF Studios. They were introduced to Yash ji by Asha Bhosle. When Yash ji asked them to sing some of their tunes, Jatin-Lalit sang the tune of Mehndi Laga Ke Rakhna, which Yash ji liked very much.
The soundtrack of DDLJ became the best-selling soundtrack of Hindi cinema.
The film also won a bevy of Filmfare Awards: Best Film (Yash Chopra), Best Director (Aditya Chopra), Best Actor (Shah Rukh Khan), Best Actress (Kajol), Best Male Playback Singer (Udit Narayan for Mehndi Laga Ke Rakhna), Best Supporting Actress (Farida Jalal), Best Comedian (Anupam Kher), Best Lyricist (Anand Bakshi for Tujhe Dekha To), Best Screenplay (Aditya Chopra), Best Dialogue (Aditya Chopra, Javed Siddiqui).
Lyrics: Anand Bakshi
Music: Jatin-Lalit
Singers: Udit Narayan, Lata Mangeshkar
*ing: Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol
Director: Aditya Chopra
Producer: Yash Chopra
Film: Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (1995)