Javed Akhtar on the decline of poetry in cinema: ‘An artiste can only go as far as the given art’ - Exclusive

The wordsmith with the simple elegant touch never fails to give us much food for thought. His vivid images culled from Nature come in sharp relief to treacly love lyrics. There’s much more to Javed Akhtar than a glib tongue. Witticisms flow out of his mouth like popcorn from a vending machine. It’s time to butter the corn with Javed once again, as he enjoys a candid cup of conversation with us.
Here are the excerpts from the conversation:
Your two lyrics ‘So gaye hain kho gaye hain’ and ‘Door kahin ek aam ki baghiya’ in ‘Zubeida’ are among the best we have heard. Where has the ‘aam ki baghiya’ gone from our songs?
“You know, when Lataji wrote the lyrics of these two songs in her own hand I kept the paper on which she wrote these two songs, as a memento. I have kept them away among my special things.”
Why are some of your other recent lyrics not as special as ‘Zubeida’?
“An artiste can only go as far as the given art. A song is a part of the film’s narrative and has to therefore speak the language of the narrative. I have to match the intellectual level—if I may use this term—of the film. For instance, a street urchin cannot be made to sing a Ghazal. Or a rustic character cannot be made to sing a very sophisticated song. Even in earlier times, the sophisticated character sang poetry like ‘Jaane woh kaise log thhey jinke pyar ko pyar mila’ while the guy on the street sang ‘Sar jo tera chakraye.’ In today’s cinema where are the characters like the poet in ‘Pyaasa’ for me to write poetry?! Or a university professor who falls in love with a colleague? Now that’s where poetry would come in. In ‘Silsila’ and ‘Saath Saath’ the protagonists were poets. So I could write poetry for them.”
Did ‘Zubeida’ inspire the poet in you?
“Since it was a period when culture and etiquette mattered, I was able to write ‘Door kahin ek aam ki baghiya’ which you liked. Tell me where in today’s average film would this song fit in? What to do?
Does this lack of poetry in today’s cinema frustrate you?
“Yes, quite often. As a matter of fact, I do refuse offers to a point. When I feel the given situation is too crude, or the story is regressive, then I decline the offer.”
Which are the films that offered you the most satisfaction as a lyricist?
“I’d say ‘Silsila,’ ‘Saagar,’ ‘Saath Saath,’ ‘1942: A Love Story,’ ‘Papa Kehte Hain,’ ‘Border,’ ‘1947,’ ‘Refugee’ and a film that didn’t do well at all Mahesh Bhatt’s ‘Dastak.’ Actually, ‘Sapnay’ mein bhi do-teen gaaney bahut interesting hain.”
Awadhi was last used in 'Ganga Jumna'?
“Yes, it was quite a challenge. It’s one thing to be able to speak a smattering of a dialect. But to write poetry in Awadhi was quite taxing.”