Vishal Bhardwaj recalls when Doordarshan asked Gulzar to replace the word ‘chaddi’ in Jungle Book song: ‘He said your mind is filthy’

“Gulzar saab called me the next day. We had to make it on Sunday, record it on Monday and give it to DD on Tuesday. But on Tuesday evening, we got it back from DD with a feedback. They said, ‘Gulzar saab, chaddi theek lag raha hai kya? (Gulzar saab, is underwear okay?)’ They said make it pant or lungi. Gulzar saab said, ‘Gandagi tumhare dimag mein hai, aur koi problem nahi hai (He said there is no other problem, your mind is filthy).'”

Vishal Bhardwaj shared that Gulzar believed that this was Mowgli’s image. “Voh chaddi pehen ke hai aur phool ki tarah lagta hai (He is wearing an underwear and he looks like a flower),” Vishal said. Since Gulzar believed it wholeheartedly, he told Doordarshan that either they can take these lyrics, or he won’t give it to them. “Gulzar saab ne bola ya toh chaddi pehen ke hoga ya toh nahi hoga. (Gulzar said either it will be chaddi or nothing at all.)” The song became a big hit and is still considered one of the most popular songs of that era.

Gulzar and Vishal recently collaborated in the filmmaker’s latest film Khufiya, which released on Netflix.