Irshad Kamil, connecting hearts through his pen

Irshad Kamil

A big name in the Bollywood industry, Irshad Kamil, from Punjab, has written numerous songs for the many Hindi movies. He was in the city recently to promote his newly written book

The job of a lyricist isn’t successful unless the listeners connect themselves to it. Hailing from Punjab, lyricist Irshad Kamil is one of the renowned names in the list of song writers, who has penned down a myriad number of super-hit Hindi songs and has managed to connect those with the listeners. His kitty encompasses of blockbuster flicks like ‘Rockstar’, ‘Jab We Met’, ‘Aashiqui 2′, ‘Highway’ and ‘Happy New Year’ etc.

He believes that romance has faded away from the life of the youth. On his visit in the city lately, Irshad promoted his newly-launched book ‘Ek Maheena Nazmon Ka’, which is a compilation of 31 poems written by him. He claims that this book which is a gift to lovers would surely help the young love-birds to express their feelings to each other, on this Valentines.

Irshad realized his flair of writing poetry when he was in fifth standard. He then wrote ‘Mere Babul Main Raat Ko Nahi Aaungi, teri galiyan hai bahut sooni, main aate aate ghabraungi’ at the back of his notebook. Since then, he was fascinated by the literature and art and kept cultivating in him. Professionally, he made a debut with the movie ‘Chameli’ in the year 2003. He shifted to film city in 2001 but still, he claims that he misses the ‘apnapan’ of Punjab- its ‘khushboo’; ‘makki ki roti and saag’ and the ‘dosti’ of Punjabi people.

On asking him about the less credit given to song writers than on-screen people, he disagrees, “I don’t believe in this. Song writers are too given equal credit. But yes, lyricists has to work a little harder and consistently to connect with the audience so that they remember us through out. I’m blessed enough that the youth of nation loves me as a lyricist as I have given them a couple of beautiful romantic numbers.”

You have written songs for almost every B-town blockbuster. As you hail from Punjab, you never tried for Pollywood. What is the reason behind this? To which he replies, “Punjabi directors or producers didn’t approach me for this. They are just into making comedy flick. There is no sincerity in songs. They project love objectively but love is always subjective. I have written the song ‘Pataka Guddhi’, but that was in Hindi movie. Punjabi cinema is lacking that creative and original expression.”

For future, listeners would get to listen another good numbers from his forthcoming movies namely Tamasha starring Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika Padukone and another Prem Ratan Dhan Payo starring Salman Khan and Sonam Kapoor.

Note: The article was originally published in The Times of India supplement Jalandhar Times.