One heartbreak; “Agar Tum Saath Ho” and “Bekhyali” is played on loop, missing your lover; “Pee Loon” and “Tumse he” tops the list, “Sadda Haq” plays on the streets of protest and if its party time “Swag se Swagat”, “Baby ko Bass Pasand Hai” and “Tune Maari Entriyaan” would be heard on high volume. This is Irshad Kamil for us. The one who wittily pens down the lyrics of songs of all genres for Bollywood movies.
Rarely a person’s name matches his personality. He is one such person whose name is in sync with his passion and profession. On asking him about the story behind his name during his recent visit to the city, he says “My mother had come across the phrase Kamil- e- Irshad, from where I got my name. It literally means ‘we will be obedient’”. He had also shared how his bond with mother was a huge reason behind his inclination towards writing and that he has started a scholarship in her name; Begum Iqbal.
Kamil is an avid reader of books and poems alike. He does not necessarily read ‘filmy’ things, but looks at the world beyond that. “I like Russian poet Rasul Hamzatov while I also like reading Tagore. I like Bashir Badr and Wasim Barelvi, I like Japanese poet Kazuko Shiraishi as well, I like German poet Rilke too. From the Punjabi poets, Shiv Kumar Batalvi and Surjit Partar is someone whom I love reading. I like Hindi poets Asad Zaidi, Nirala, Manglesh Dabral, Kumar Ambuj,” shares Kamil. According to him, whatever touches heart is good poetry.
Though he was always inclined towards Bollywood and wanted to be a part of it, preparation for the same took some time. He did not want to struggle as he was faring well as a Hindi journalist, but it was a good experience for him to have entered Bollywood only after full preparation. “I went to meet Lekh Tandon in Chandigarh, and from there our association started. He got me to Mumbai and I wrote dialogues for his serial Kahan Se Kahan Tak,” reminisces Kamil.
It is poet and lyricist Irshad Kamil’s mantra of “deep thoughts and simple words” that makes his songs stick with the audience. “Main halke mein baat karta hoon, par halki baat nahi karta hai,” confirms Kamil. There are a few albums which are really close to his heart. Chameli is very special as that was his first work. He enjoyed writing songs for Rockstar as well as he experimented with a new style of writing. Kamil beautifully noticed how journalism had made him a factual person while literature brought him close to the emotions.
Cinema today create many songs that are meaningless and nonsensical. The reason behind that is “Listeners do not listen to good lyrics,” says the first Indian lyricist who has won the Pushkin Price and many other awards. The popularity of bad music and bad lyrics is not because of its creator but because of its consumer. He ends on a deep note ‘Pyaar bhi de aur pyaar ke gum bhi de Maula, hum shayar insse hi sher banate hain.’
