EXCLUSIVE: Irshad Kamil on romance, Saiyaara and why Main Vaapas Aaunga’s 1st weekend numbers left him “depressed” initially; says, “The film’s success is like a case study”
Irshad Kamil has been one of the most prolific Hindi film lyricists since over 20 years. The first film he signed was Imtiaz Ali’s debut Socha Na Tha (2005) but his first release turned out to be Chameli (2003) where he wrote the famous track ‘Bhage Re Mann’. Although he specializes in deeply emotional tracks like ‘Agar Tum Saath Ho’ and ‘Kun Faya Kun’, he also has some of the dance numbers like ‘Tune Maari Entriyaan’ to his credit.
Kamil has recently been in tremendous form with back-to-back successes in the form of Saiyaara, Tere Ishk Mein, Dhurandhar, Ikkis, Dhurandhar The Revenge, Krishnavataram – Part 1: The Heart, Main Vaapas Aaunga and Cocktail 2. In an exclusive interview with Bollywood Hungama, Irshad Kamil candidly spoke about writing songs for the aforementioned films, his specialization in deep romance and the effect of the unexpected success of Main Vaapas Aaunga.
You have written memorable songs for over two decades. How do you look back at your journey so far?
I am very satisfied, considering the variety of work I got to do, the variety of characters I got to work with and the variety of music directors I got to work with. It is a rare opportunity for anyone. Not everyone gets such opportunities. The kind of opportunities I got and what I did with them, I am very satisfied. I am too happy till now.
You have specialized in songs about romance and the longing that comes with it. How do you do it so well and so consistently?
(laughs) Maybe, I am a romantic person at heart. While you are writing for a character, you have to find out a very particular emotion, so that you can reach out to the audience. It is important to find that point. Maybe I try to find that point. From recent examples, the song ‘Tere Paas Main’ from Main Vaapas Aaunga has that romance and longing, which you just mentioned. The song has been quoted and reels have been made on it. People sang and even choreographed it. This is romance and it also has a longing in memory. The characters that come to me help me write such words, which is romantically appealing and also has longing.
From your recent works, the title song of Saiyaara stands out because it plays a very important role in the film. The pre-climax and climax wouldn’t have been so appealing if the song wasn’t this great. What was the process behind writing this one? How challenging was it?
Every song is a challenge for a writer before writing. But once you go into that process and start enjoying it, the results are very different. This was a very important song for the film. So, me, Mohit Suri sir and Tanishk (Bagchi) must have done 7 to 10 long sittings on this song. When you are working together with 2-3 people, you know that everyone is trying to work towards the product. I am really happy that people loved this song, after the kind of hard work we all did. Also, Mohit picturized that song so well. Even the singer Faheem Abdullah did well and also Shreya (Ghoshal), who sang the female version.
I read somewhere that the female version was thought about much later by Aditya Chopra.
No, it was planned from before. In fact, when we were working on the song, we had also worked out its female version. The director had this vision that he wants to show in the film how this song became so popular. So, we had simultaneously made both the female and male versions.
Dhurandhar is about terrorism, gangsters and politics. And amid this, we get a deeply romantic song like ‘Gehra Hua’ from you. What type of discussion did you have with Aditya Dhar for this song?
Aditya Dhar is a very sorted director. He has a lot of clarity in his vision. There was less screen space for romance to dwell in the film. So, Aditya wanted the kind of a song which shows how far their romance has gone and how romantically and emotionally entangled they have become with each other. ‘Gehra Hua’ was romantically sophisticated but also a deep song that expresses the internal emotions also. In a way, it also gives a slight hint about a film through the words – Tu Chand Hai Ek Dhadakta Hua, Chori Se Mujhko Hi Takta Hua, Seene Se Lag Ke Chamakta Hua, Meri Jannat Ka Rasta Tu Hi Toh Hua. It’s like saying – through you I want to go ahead. It was the demand of the situation to say this poetically, so that their romance appears strong.
This year you also had Krishnavataram – Part 1: The Heart. I think it’s your first devotional film with all songs revolving around Lord Krishna.
I had never done a devotional film before Krishnavataram. Secondly, I am very fascinated by the character of Krishna ji. There is everything in his character. There is romance, strategy, war, idealism wherever necessary; there is everything. I find it very interesting. Director Hardik Gajjar approached me and said Prasad S is doing the music and they are depicting Radha, Rukmini and Satyabhama in the film. I got excited. I like reading, so I have read some of Krishna’s literature. Because of this, I found doing Krishnavataram easy and I also enjoyed it.
You have written songs for each and every Imtiaz Ali directorial. What type of personal relation do you share with him?
I think this is not the first time (that a lyricist and director have worked a lot). Earlier, Shailendra wrote songs for a lot of Raj Kapoor’s films. So, it is not rare. When you start working with someone, then through each other’s understanding, you get to know each other’s thought process and gain confidence in each other. So, there are a lot of directors with whom I have worked more than once. Imtiaz is surely one of them, there’s Ali Abbas Zafar, Aanand L Rai, etc. When you realize that there is a confidence level and a quality is also maintained, then you keep on working again and again.
Main Vaapas Aaunga didn’t do well in the first weekend. But later it picked up and kept on attracting audiences. What was going through you and others in the team when the film wasn’t doing well initially?
Thankfully, I was not in India at that time (laughs), else I would have been depressed. I was in the US but I was depressed there as well. Depressed in the sense that I felt this is such an honestly made film with hard-work. An attempt has been made to make an honest cinema by the director. An honest music album has been attempted by the music composer and lyricist. The actors did very well; Naseer sahab (Naseeruddin Shah) has done so well.
But despite this, if the audience don’t go to see the film, it breaks your heart, no doubt about it. We don’t work to praise each other’s work. We want appreciation from the public. And the public appreciates only when they go to see a film and when they listen to a song. So, after doing all the hard-work if nobody goes to see the film, I am not able to understand what can be the reason. But this film proved that mouth publicity is the biggest marketing. No matter what all tactics you carry out, if the public likes something, it takes it to some other level. Suppose, initially only 10 people see the film. But those 10 people tell 20 others that they saw the film and they found it very good. We want a genuine effort to be genuinely appreciated.
We, as human beings, are not corrupt; we are genuine people. But we also understand the difference between a genuine effort and a pseudo effort. So, when the people realized that this is a genuine effort, it slowly started getting support. This is very rare. It opened at around Rs. 1 crore. When that happens, you feel it will end at Rs 10-12 crores. But public is public. The film’s success is like a case study. Just last Friday someone told me that it was going houseful in 2-3 places. In today’s times if a film completes 50 days, it is like completing 50 weeks during the earlier times. Today, 4-5 films are released each week.
Which are the upcoming films for which you are quite excited?
I am always excited for all my films (laughs). I have Rajkummar Rao’s film Raftaar. I also have Sajid Ali’s Heer Ranjha. There is also Force 3. I have also written songs for Ali Abbas Zafar’s next.
Any closing thoughts or message for your fans?
I wish to tell all music lovers to listen to good music and appreciate good lyrics. When you like a song, at least have a look at the credits to see who has written, composed and sung. What happens is that generally when we like a song, we don’t know who are the people behind it. They should at least take that effort. This is my request to all the friends.
The post EXCLUSIVE: Irshad Kamil on romance, Saiyaara and why Main Vaapas Aaunga’s 1st weekend numbers left him “depressed” initially; says, “The film’s success is like a case study” appeared first on Bollywood Hungama.