Amazing interview. Gulzar is truly one of the all time legends of Indian cinema.
Warm Regards ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Vinayak theregoesanotherday.blogspot.com On Thu, Mar 5, 2009 at 10:10 PM, Vithur <vith...@gmail.com> wrote: > Full circle > -A <http://www.screenindia.com/news/full-circle/430313/#> > *+A<http://www.screenindia.com/news/full-circle/430313/#> > * > Font > *Rajiv Vijayakar > <http://www.screenindia.com/columnist/rajivvijayakar/>*Posted: Mar 06, 2009 > at 1449 hrs IST > Print > <http://www.screenindia.com/story.php?id=430313&pg=-1>Email<http://www.screenindia.com/static/story-email/> > NewsletterPost > Comments<http://www.screenindia.com/news/full-circle/430313/#postcomm> > RSS <http://www.expressindia.com/fesyndication/screen.xml> > > *He began his affair with movies by writing a song. And after almost five > decades of also writing stories, screenplays, dialogues and poems and > directing films, his career comes full circle when the Oscar statuette > unexpectedly came knocking for another song. How does it feel? Gulzarframes > candid answers > * > > *A cliched query that you must be answering a zillion times a day - but it > has to be asked: How does it feel to be an Oscar awardee?* > Well, I don’t mind because the question is very natural under the > circumstances! (Smiles) It feels very nice. It is like a topping of a nice > big cherry on your career. I do not know whether this is a plateau or a > peak, or how I will fare in the coming years and whether I will maintain my > success or not, so it’s lovely to live the feeling, especially since it is > for the first thing I did in Hindi films ever - write a song! (see Box) > > *Are the press reports true - that you did not go to the ceremony because > there were procedural glitches in your travel plans?* > Well, the real reason was my shoulder - I injured it while swinging my arm > during tennis and I am still under treatment. I have just returned from a > session with my physiotherapist (the interview happened three days after the > Academy Awards). It was terribly painful, and though I may have managed with > medicines I thought that if I go there I should be in top health. > Yes, I am terribly sorry and am upset especially for my daughter Meghna and > son-in-law Govind who were really looking forward to being there that > evening. Rahman himself is pretty upset - he complained, “I am left alone!” > so let me say “Sorry” to him through the columns of Screen! And I agree that > the best thing about this award is that it is for a song composed by him. I > would even say that this award was possible only because of Rahman. > > *We would like to know how Jai ho was conceived and created.* > We made Jai ho like any other song, in the way Rahman works every time. He > usually offers one or two compositions for each situation, with ideas and > suggstions thrown across on the angles of the situation. It was a song of > victory after a struggle - the struggle of romance and love. So as usual, I > wrote the words and phrases starting with the obvious phase Jai ho. Then > Sukhwinder Singh, who was present, sang the line I wrote and it was he and > his exquisite voice that actually created the magic. Rahman and I have won > the Oscar but Sukhwinder truly deserves mention for the song as it has > finally turned out. > > *Despite being for a foreign film, did you imagine the song reaching this > far?* > How could I? (Smiles) Rahman never told me that it was for a non-Indian > film. When I asked him, he was very vague and that did make me very > suspicious. But that’s something I think about when I look back. Because we > made it in the same normal way in which we have been working all these > years. Only this time the director wasn’t around. > > *Rahman isn’t conversant with much Hindi and Urdu. So could you describe > this way of working?* > Rahman’s compositions are a challenge - because he is innovative and > unconventional. His music talks to you and work becomes easy. In the past > too, I have written my songs after fixing key phrases first, like Chal > chhaiyya chhaiyya (Dil Se...) and O humdum suniyo re (Saathiya). Besides > inspiring me with his composition, Rahman is such a good soul that I never > feel that I am at work. The atmosphere is very conducive to creativity with > ideas being bounced across. There is so much give-and-take and actual > exchanges of thoughts and images. And Rahman is making a lot of effort at > his Hindi now and is improving - like he sent me this message after getting > his awards that said, “Shukriya, huzoor!” > > *Do you recollect your first meeting with Rahman?* > It’s been 11 years since Dil Se...happened. I first met him at his old > studio and whether there or at his current studio, the atmosphere is very > pious. You have seen how Bal Krishna looks - dark and with long tresses and > Rahman reminded me in those days of some chhota bhagwan with that child-like > innocence. Now of course he keeps his hair short, but the innocence remains. > (Laughs) > I remember when Lata (Mangeshkar)ji sang for the first time for him in that > film - Jiya jale - she told me that she felt very lonely in the singer’s > cabin!! That was because the studio’s design was such that the singer and > those sitting at the recording console could not see each other and could > only converse through the machine. Lataji found that very disconcerting and > so I suggested to Rahman that I would sit in a particular corner so that she > could see me while she was singing. > Of course his current studio is built in the conventional way! But there’s > a beautiful tradition that he follows that few know about, because he is a > very religious and spiritual person. > > *And what is that?* > The moment his singer stands in front of the microphone, Rahman lights a > candle outside. And that candle burns on for hours. So whenever I want to > ask him when he is planning to start the recording, I jokingly asked him, > “Mombatti kab jalaaoge (When will you going to light the candle)?” > > *Do you always go down to Chennai for sittings?* > I usually do. But Rahman does record occasionally in Mumbai at Ranjit > Barot’s studio. He even comes to my home sometime - and when he does, the > case is very different from how other music directors do, like he does not > use the harmonium. It’s him, his Blackberry with his voice and me. So I > always say that we are three people here - Rahman, his mobilephone and me - > making music! He stores his ideas and tunes and even records his voice on > that. > > *How have you seen Rahman evolve over the years?* > He seems much more at ease now, more at home with the Hindi film mijaaz or > temperament. When I was doing Dil Se..., he had mostly done the dubbed Hindi > versions of his South Indian films. He has of course grown internationally > for the last few years and recorded abroad too. In short, he has spoken in a > language of music that has grown beyond the boundaries of human languages > and speech to communicate with the world. > > *Essentially, Jai ho is an “item” number. Whenever there is virtually no > situation, how do the words come to you?* > Obviously, it is the composition that inspires again, along with the script > and the director. I will give you an example - Saathiya’s O humdum suniyo > re. Shaad Ali wanted this song during the credit titles. People criticised > me for what they called ridiculous images like Nange paao chand aayega, but > I was using the moon to symbolise the hero’s character. The hero and heroine > are secretly married and he goes stealthily to her house every night. The > song was the storyline in a nutshell. > > *You have always resonated more with music composers who broke convention > - like R.D.Burman, Vishal Bhardwaj and Rahman.* > Yes, I feel closer to their compositions as they give me scope to write > blank verse, which is the form I like the most. > > *R.D.Burman and A.R.Rahman are the reigning icons of GenerationX, often at > the cost of injustice to contemporaries. How would you compare them > personally and professionally?* > You cannot compare creative people. But yes, they had a common attitude to > work - they were both bold enough to experiment and to look for something > new and different.For them, music was not about just business but also about > expanding horizons. > I worked with Pancham mainly in the films I directed, or at least scripted. > He expanded all his horizons and kept himself clued on to what was happening > in Western music and in the world, like Rahman does. He too recorded abroad > but times were different then, Hollywood had not opened up and Pancham > recorded abroad only for occasional albums, whereas Rahman has got to do > films. So you could say that Pancham was the breeze and Rahman is the wind - > the difference being the velocity! > Interestingly, both were also rooted in folk - Pancham in Eastern folk with > its Baul and Bhatiali and Rahman in Southern folk. > > *Trends and times, as you rightly say, dictate even innovation.* > True. Pancham then could not break the mukhda-antara structure, but he > weaved in the Bengali tradition - sanchaari - by adding verses in-between in > place of interludes in some songs. For a children’s song in my Kitaab, > Pancham had even played on tables of different heights instead of the tabla. > Similarly the way Rahman uses the sarod or the guitar is so different from > the way others use them. > > But having said that, and with all due respect to Rahman, there are other > music directors today who are also hugely talented, like Vishal Bhardwaj, > with whom I am doing completely different music scores in Kaminay and > Ishqiya and Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy. Then there is Ilayaraja, with whom I had a > great time reuniting 25 years after Sadma in the forthcoming film SRK. > > http://www.screenindia.com/news/full-circle/430313/ > -- > regards, > Vithur > > > > >
