‘Saawariya’ – Sameer’s ode to wagging tongues
When maverick moviemaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali roped in lyricist Sameer for “Saawariya”, it surprised his critics who had accused him of writing vulgar songs.
“This is my answer to all those who think I don’t have it in me to write great poetry,” said Sameer, who has penned eight songs for “Saawariya”.
He has beaten some of the biggest names in the business of word-wizardry.
“I was in Hyderabad writing something for Sonia Gandhi-ji for a Congress event when Sanjay-ji’s assistant called. When I met him Sanjay-ji was so nice. He told me that after thinking about it for one month he decided he only wanted me to write the lyrics.
“He told me he had been listening to only two contemporary Hindi songs — ‘Tumse milna baatein karna’ (‘Tere Naam’) and ‘Mohabbatein lutaoonga’ (sung by ‘Indian Idol’ winner Abhijeet Sawant).
“The simplicity and the honesty with which he approached me bowled me over. I never even knew I was being considered. I had written one song for Sanjay-ji in “Devdas” – the Ras Leela song because his lyricist Nusrat Badr in ‘Devdas’ probably couldn’t get the right feel into the lyric.
“I never in my wildest dreams thought I’d actually get to do a whole movie with Sanjay-ji. I heard so many reputed lyricists were being considered.”
Sameer throws some light on the quality of music being attempted in “Saawariya”.
“It’s a very innocent, very pure love story. No one can even imagine what sort of music Sanjay-ji is attempting in ‘Saawariya’. Only he can do what he is doing with the music in this film. Only he has the conviction to go completely by what he believes in without bothering with the commercial potential.”
All the eight songs have been recorded.
“We have already recorded all the songs. I can’t wait for this score to be out. It will silence my critics who still wonder how I write so many lyrics, why I write so much and why I’ve survived for so long.”
Bhansali, who has worked with Majrooh Sultanpuri in “Khamoshi: The Musical”, Mehboob in “Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam”, Badr in “Devdas” and Prasoon Joshi in the theme song of “Black”, says that Sameer has churned out beautiful love songs which smells of innocence and purity that suits the characters in his film.
“Each one has given me the quality of poetry that I wanted. It has been a satisfying experience to move musically through the beautiful words that these poets have created.
“Now Sameer in ‘Saawariya’ has given me the simple and innocent words that my protagonists needed to express love. It couldn’t have been abstract poetry. It had to be very basic and very heartfelt. Sameer has given me that.”
— IANS
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