Gulzar saheb inspired me to write a book: Sameer

Lyricist Sameer Anjaan released his Hindi language anthology ‘Sameeran Geet’ at an event held at the Uttar Pradesh Urdu Academy’s Urdu Auditorium on Saturday.

Sameer, a Guinness world record holder for writing upwards of 4,500 songs, the most number of songs written in the Hindi language, has made the book a tantalising read by filling it with nazms, ghazals and geets on an array of themes.

The prolific songwriter says, “Some of the verses are about themes like love, destruction, depression and sadness while other parts contain political satire. It’s a spectrum of thoughts distilled into a single book.”

The occasion was graced by a number of distinguished panelists including ‘Chitchor’ actress Zarina Wahab, Great Indian Laughter Challenge fame comedian Ehsaan Qureshi, ‘Chandrakanta’ actor Shahbaz Khan, BJP leader Quamar Ali, director Aslam Khan, writer Mahe Talat, lyricist Sunil Jogi, PHDCCI cochairman Mukesh Bahadur Singh and bureaucrat Pawan Kumar. Dedicating his first anthology to his mother, Sameer said, “This book was brought to reality because of the encouragement I received from Gulzar sahab. He advised me to take time off writing lyrics for films and start imprinting my verses in a book for posterity. Even so, it took me a while to get over the reservations that I had against writing for non-filmic ends. I used to think that writing for literature and writing for films are two different things; I’ve recently discovered that they’re not.”

Praising Lucknow for its vibrant culture the author said that he held the launching ceremony here because he is especially fond of the city. Uttar Pradesh Artist’s Association vice-president Wamiq Khan orchestrated the event and concluded it with a vote of thanks to all panelists and guests. Meanwhile, Anjaan’s book was distributed to everyone present with the author personally signing some of the copies for his fans.

Sameer announced that the Urdu translation of Sameeran Geet will be released shortly at the same venue in a separate ceremony.

I used to think that writing for literature and writing for films are two different things; I’ve recently discovered that they’re not SAMEER ANJAAN LYRICIST

HT PHOTOS Sameer during the book launch and comedian Ehsaan Qureshi taking a selfie with actors Zarina Wahab & Shahbaz Khan