(SATURDAY) Despite consumerism, good writing sustains: Lyricist Irshad Kamil (Interview)

Consumerism decides the fate of any Bollywood song, especially the popular ones, but it is good writing which always sustains itself, feels leading lyricist Irshad Kamil.

"Good writing always sustains, it may have to go through some difficult patches but finally it survives," Kamil told IANS in an interview here.

At the same time, Kamil, who has won acclaim for his yrics and several awards, admitted that lyricists also have to write according to the demands of the industry and the consumers.

"The lyricist has to frame songs as per as the demand of the character and the audience. It is consumerism in the end that decides the fate of any song," said Kamil, who recently visited Panjab University (PU) campus here where he had studied in the Hindi department. He also completed his doctorate from PU in 1996.

"Around 20 percent of a movie's marketing depends on the quality of its songs. It is the principal role of the lyricist and the music composer to weave the song in such a way that it effortlessly expresses the essence of the whole storyline. The music album of any movie is launched much prior to its actual release," he pointed out.

Kamil, whose family belongs to Punjab's Malerkotla area, who worked as a journalist in Chandigarh before moving to Mumbai and writing scripts for TV serials, encouraged students to make careers in the field of writing.

"Just a starting point is required. Budding writers should read the works of all writers instead of focusing on only one. If you get stuck with one form of writing or one writer, you may not be able to showcase the real you," Kamil pointed out to a group of aspiring writers.

"I have myself chosen some phrases from the past writings of famous writers. With their permission, I have transformed them into lyrics of the songs," he said.

Kamil has written lyrics for many hit songs in films like "Jab We Met" (Mauja hi Mauja), "Chameli" (Bhaage re Mann), "Love Aaj Kal" (Ajj din chadiyya), "Rockstar", "Highway", "Aashiqui-2", "Ranjhana", Once upon a time in Mumbai (Pee loon), "Wednesday" and several others.

Kamil feels that the objectification of women, which has been done for centuries, can be avoided.

"Women have been objectified from ages since the time of Kabir and Surdaas. It is actually the choice of the people who promote such things. To avoid such objectification, the audience should keep a check on their choices instead of blaming the writers or composers for it," he pointed out, adding that lyricists and writers sometimes face "commercial pressure" to write in a particular way.

Kamil recently launched his maiden book "Ek Maheena Nazmon Ka", the main theme of which is contemporary love.

"This book is a compilation of 31 poems - one for every day of the month. Before every poem, there is a window of thought that takes the reader into the realms of romance and beauty and it eventually makes it close to everyone's heart regardless of his age," Kamil, known for his rich vocabulary of Hindi and Urdu poetry, said.

(Akanksha Sharma can be contacted on akanksha.sharma9821@gmail.com)