He is the man behind the unforgettable lyrics “Dil cheez kya hai” from the 1981 classic “Umrao Jaan”. Urdu academician and poet Akhlaq Mohammed Khan ‘Shahryar’ has stayed away from film music for years and says he can never write for today’s songs as they just provide instant gratification.
“The songs that are being made nowadays – I can’t write such songs. It’s not that I am against those songs but I know I can’t write like that. That is why I am not writing for films any more. When a film is being made where my songs would be suitable and needed, then I will definitely write,” Shahryar, now 73, said in an interview.
Th lyrics of songs from “Umrao Jaan” like “In aankhon ki masti” and “Justuju jiski thi” still continue to find fans, but the poet who penned the words refrained from being active in Bollywood soon after his first outing as a lyricist.
Asked the reason, the poet said: “After ‘Umrao Jaan’, I did write lyrics for more films. One of them was ‘Anjuman’ made by Muzaffar Ali and many more that unfortunately could not release due to certain circumstances.”
“Then there was one called ‘Habba Khatun Zuni’. All the songs got recorded; in fact the film also was almost complete, but because of the Kashmir issue it got shelved. Then there was one called ‘Gaman’ that also got shelved.
“Another reason for my absence from the Bollywood scene was that I don’t consider myself a professional lyricist, plus I don’t live in Mumbai,” he added.
Shahryar, who lives in Aligarh, was awarded the 1987 Sahitya Akademi Award in Urdu for his poetry collection “Khwab Ka Dar Band Hai”. He retired as chairman of the Urdu Department at the Aligarh Muslim University in 1996.
The poet, who likes the works of lyricists like Sahir Ludhianvi, Majrooh Sultanpuri and Kaifi Azmi among others, says that songs made today are not evergreen, unlike the ones in earlier decades.
“Nowadays songs are not evergreen. They are being made on ‘throw away’ culture. One day they are the most famous songs but after a month nobody listens to them. This is because most of them lack melody,” said Shahryar, who has come out with poetry collections like “Ism-e-azam”, “Satvan Dar” and “Hijr Ke Mausam”.
“Also, it’s a myth that people today only like music made in today’s times. One should go to the music shops…it will become clear that old songs and ghazals witness massive sales. People are going to buy such music as well,” said the poet, who was in the capital to participate in the Shankar-Shad Mushaira.
Asked how important a place music has in society, he said: “The foundation of society is laid on art, music, culture and poetry. You can’t call a man educated if he is not exposed to at least any one of these…This exposure is very important.”
