You have to change with time: Sameer

Lyricist Sameer Anjaan talks about recall value of today’s Bollywood’s songs, working with new age music directors and hosting a show on FM

Lyricist Sameer Anjaan, who has been penning songs for more than 25 years, has had a long and eventful journey in Bollywood. Sameer started his career with Dil (1990), went on to write the lyrics for a horde of hit songs in the ’90s, and currently holds the world record for writing the highest number of songs. The lyricist, who is currently hosting the second season of Safarnama for 91.9 FM Radio Nasha, says his journey has been full of “ups and downs”, but hard work has been his key to success. Excerpts from an interview:

How would you describe your journey so far?

It has been a long and exciting one. My first film was Dil, starring Aamir (Khan) and Madhuri (Dixit), and then Aashiqui (1990) was second; the ’90s were totally dedicated to me. I think during that period, I worked with almost every music director. When I started off, seniors like my father late lyricist Anjaan, (late) Bakshi (Anand) sahab, (late) Majrooh (Sultanpuri) sahab, Javed (Akhtar) sahab, and Gulzar sahab were still around, and I felt hesitant [to work] as they were seniors. I tried my best and worked with [music directors like] Laxmikant-Pyarelal, (late) RD Burman, Kalyanji Anandji, Bappi Lahiri and whoever was around at that time. After that, other people entered [the industry] and I began working with NadeemShravan, Anu Malik and Jatin-Lalit. Now, as I’m a senior lyricist, I’m facing the senior and junior problem again (smiles).

What’s working with modern composers like?

I’m trying to keep up with them and I’m enjoying it. I always believe that you have to move with the times. You should never think you are legendary. I’m trying to work with all the new composers. I wrote lyrics for the film called F.A.L.T.U (2011). When I met Sachin-Jigar for it, my biggest challenge was that they were completely new, and they were worried too, because they respect me as a senior. They were like, ‘How can we work with you sir? We can’t make suggestions to you’. But I made them [feel] so comfortable that now they can talk to me about everything. I believe that if you want to work for a long time, then you will have to change according to time.

You also hold a record with the Guinness Book of World Records for writing the most number of songs. Did you ever think about making a world record while you were working?

When my name was registered in the Guinness Book of World Records, even my children asked me, ‘Daddy how did you get it?’ I told them that there is no other way to achieve your goals than hard work. I was initially not aware about it. One day, this guy called Viswaas — he keeps the record of everyone’s work in the music industry — came to me and told me that I have written the maximum number of songs and created a record. I didn’t believe him, but he was serious and said, ‘We’ll now have to approach Guinness’. I told him that I didn’t know anything about it and if he wanted to, he could send them a mail. He sent the mail, and then people from Guinness did their research. They got all the data and suddenly one day I learnt that I have set a world record. It was in 2015.

A lot of people feel that the songs of yesteryear have a strong recall value compared with today’s songs. Do you also think so?

It [the change] is not happening only in the music industry, it is happening everywhere and it’s reflected in our society as well. Nowadays, there is no stability or depth to anything, not even relationships. And things are going to deteriorate day-by-day. So you can see that impact in this industry as well — in songs, films, everywhere. Earlier, a film would run in a theatre for 75 to 80 weeks. Now, a film does crores of business in a week’s time and it is off-screen. The current generation doesn’t want to stay; they want to move forward. I have also written songs for films such as Rowdy Rathore (2012) and Housefull 2 (2012). Par un gaano mein isliye thehrav nahi hai kyunki un filmo mein thehrav nahi hai; unki characters mein thehrav nahi hai. That is the only reason why newer songs don’t have a strong recall value. But now, things have come full circle; people are now fed up. In a year’s time, you will see things changing drastically.

Who are your favourite lyricists from the current generation?

I always talk about two people from the last generation — the late Majrooh Sultanpuri and the late Anand Bakshi. And from the present generation, I admire Irshad Kamil and Amitabh Bhattacharya. I don’t include Prasoon Joshi’s name in the list because he is a little old now.

Can you tell us about your new show on the radio?

I thought about this show, because I realised that people are curious to know about the story behind the songs. So I came here [to the Radio Nasha office] and told them about the idea. They were excited about it and said, ‘Yes sir, let’s do it’. In the first season of the show, I talked about my songs and the story behind them. But for this season, I felt that I should call my colleagues over and talk to them about how we worked together and created the song. My colleagues are keen to be a part of it because they are very good friends of mine. Anand Milind, Anu Malik and Nadeem Shravan, among other music directors, will be a part of the show. And from the singers, Sonu Nigam, Kumar Sanu, Udit Narayan and others will be coming. We will talk about things that we have never discussed with anyone before.