BAVRA MANN

His songs brought a certain freshness to Bollywood when it was struggling to think beyond clicheacute;s. Swanand Kirkire, lyricist of Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi, Parineeta, Lage Raho Munnabhai and Laaga Chunari Mein Daag, talks about the inspiration behind his poetry

It came to him in the middle of a busy Mumbai street, the words twirling into rhyme as his rickshaw jigged along. A song of dreams and the madness of desire: Bavra mann dekhne chala ek sapna/ Bavre se mann ki dekho bavri hain baatein/Bavri si dhadkane hain bavri hain saanse/Bavrisi karwanto se nindiya kyon bhaage/ Bavrese nain chahe bawre zarokhon se bavre naazaroon ko takna. Years later, in 2003, it wove itself into the narrative of Sudhir Mishra8217;s Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi. And Indian cinema found a poet in Swanand Kirkire.

As he lounges on a bench in Vidhu Vinod Chopra8217;s office in Mumbai, the restlessness of the 37-year-old bavra poet is apparent. His hands are always moving, grabbing a cushion in one moment and fidgeting with his laptop the next. In the four years since his debut, Kirkire has got critical acclaim for his lyrics in films like Parineeta, Lage Raho Munnabhai and the recently released Laaga Chunari Mein Daag. Up ahead is Sudhir Mishra8217;s forthcoming tribute to classic Bollywood, Khoya Khoya Chand.

A career in films was not what Kirkire had set out for. This commerce graduate and son of a bank officer from Indore went the conventional way, sitting for bank and railway exams and even selling vacuum cleaners. In 1993, however, he decided to opt out of the staid life by joining Delhi8217;s National School of Drama. Three years later, when he passed out, he started off modestly by assisting Manju Singh on the telly series Swaraj. Theatre, scripting, acting and assisting in direction kept him busy. But through it all, he held on to his dream of directing a film of his own. Bavra mann was a song written in those days of struggle.

8220;The song was never meant for a film. It was about the highs and lows of those days and that8217;s why it has a natural flight to it,8221; he says. The lines were a hit at private parties and gatherings of friends. When actor Kay Kay Menon chanced to hear it during the shooting of Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi Kirkire was assisting Mishra in the film, he recommended the song to director Mishra who promptly offered to use it.

The accidental lyricist got another break when music director Shantanu Moitra, with whom he went on to forge a creative partnership, asked him to sing the song at the recording studio as a demo. Kirkire didn8217;t even realise the song was being canned for the soundtrack. 8220;I am still struggling as a director but I am pampered as a singer. A slight mistake can be harakiri for professional playback singers, but in my case, everyone8217;s indulgent with my retakes,8221; he laughs.

Kirkire had begun his film career by reworking Mirza Ghalib8217;s lines: Hazaaron khwaishein aisi8230; In Khoya Khoya Chand, he returns to quote another Urdu poet, Majaz8217;s famous 8216;Jee mein aata hai murda chand tare nochh loon, is kinare nochh loon, us kinare nochh loon8230;8217; in the antara of the film8217;s title track Kyun khoya khoya chand ki firaq mein udas hai dil8230; Gulzar late in his career had taken off from Ghalib for his version of Dil dhoondta hai Mausam, justifying it as 8216;Misra Ghalib ka hai aur kaifiyat harek ki apni apni8230;8217; the thought is Ghalib8217;s but its exposition can vary from poet to poet.

Swanand calls his use of Majaz as a tribute from a poet to a poet. 8220;It8217;s impossible in these times to reach that level of lyricism,8221; he says. 8220;Those poets didn8217;t write for the people. They wrote for themselves. Today we write for the market. The earlier generation of film lyricists hailed from traditions of poetry, which was handed over to them as a family vocation. They were progressive poets, who even in a small romantic song incorporated a bigger thought for the humanity. We have become lyricists more because of Hindi cinema,8221; says Kirkire, easily among Bollywood8217;s finest contemporary songwriters.

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Kirkire rates Shailendra, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Sahir Ludhianvi, Gulzar and Javed Akhtar among his favourite lyricists. 8220;But if I could be like one lyricist, then it has to be Shailendra for his simplicity. Unlike Gulzar and Javed sahab there8217;s no style to him. He so seamless 8211; it8217;s like writing what he is seeing.8221;

His next projects include Shyam Benegal8217;s Mahadev, for which he is writing the lyrics and Vidhu Vinod Chopra8217;s next magnum opus costume drama Talismaan, where he will do the screenplay and dialogues. An old dream is also on way to being realised as he debuts in the Mumbai theatre scene with his new play Aao Saathi Sapne Dekhein at the Prithvi Theatre Festival this November.

Kirkire is optimistic about the future of poetry in Bollywood. 8220;After Javed and Gulzar sahab, there was a dearth of talent. But lyricists like Jaideep Sahni and Prasoon Joshi have brought freshness to their songs. They have brought the contemporary language and life to their songs. Words like dil, jigar, mohabbat and lines like meri zindagi mein aaja8230; and mujhe tumse pyar hai8230; will become obsolete as nobody talks like that in real life.
Now, you have to think of a different way to talk about love.8221; You can bank on this poet to forge a new language of yearning.