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Zee Classic has got Javed Akhtar to present Classic Legends, a guided biography of industry icons. Every Sunday, at 7.30pm, Akhtar will take viewers on a journey through the lives and works of Raj Kapoor and Bimal Roy, Majrooh Sultanpuri and Sahir Ludhianvi, RD Burman and Kishore Kumar…. The master story-teller and lyricist spoke to t2 at the launch of the show in Mumbai.
How tough was it to select the 13 for Classic Legends?
I would not use terms like ‘select’. Main Bimal Roy ya Guru Dutt ko select karunga? Meri himmat? Meri aukaat? Each of them is like a page of a book. Whichever page you start reading from, the story is fantastic. We had to start from somewhere. I agree there were other people who could have been there.
Yes, there are also living legends like Dilip Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar…
Ashaji (Bhosle) hain.
Aap khud bhi hain…
(Grins) Iss maamley mein main kahaan aapse jhagra karoon (How can I argue with you on that)!
How much research did you have to do for this?
Zyada nahin, magar inke saamne kaise batayun (points to a channel official)? Research ki un logon ne. I myself have worked with Kishoreda, Dadamoni (Ashok Kumar), RD Burman. I worked in his last film also — 1942 A Love Story. It was not my fate to work with Raj Kapoor saab but I have spent time with him and I have worked with the rest of his family — Shammi, Shashi, Dabbu (Randhir), Chintu (Rishi)… I have heard from them about him. Then Sahir (Ludhianvi) saab… Humne ek saath bahut shaamein guzari. Shaamein guzaarne ka matlab aap samajhte hain na? (with a twinkle in his eye).
Is there something new you got to know during the research?
I did not know much about Mehboob Khan as his career started in the silent era. But we found out that the man who gave us Andaaz, Amar and Mother India came from a constable’s house in a village near Baroda. He reached Bombay with Rs 3 and wasn’t even allowed into the studio. He kept waiting at the gate day after day till a stroke of luck made him meet Ardeshir Irani, the maker of the first talkie Alam Ara. Mehboob Khan became an “extra” and when Alibaba aur Chaalis Chor was made he was one of the 40 thieves.
From there he travelled to what heights — producer, director, studio-owner. His film (Madhumati) was nominated for the Oscars!
Take Raj Kapoor. He was a star son but he started life as a humble assistant director. It was not his father who gave him his first break. Still he became the youngest film director in the industry. The series is not just a story of 13 talented people but every story gives us hope that if you have the courage and the dedication you can make it in life.
You were a script-writer. How did you get into writing lyrics?
It was Yash Chopra who got after me to write the lyrics for Silsila. The hero was a poet. Then someone else came saying he was making a small picture. Even here the hero was an intellectual sort. So I wrote lyrics for him also. Yeh baat mere khilaaf chali gayi. Producers and directors started saying inse gaaney likhwana, script nahin.
Farhan and Zoya say they go to you whenever they face a hurdle in a script. But when will you write a script again?
There has been a big gap since I last wrote one. You see, a song gets over in 10-12 lines. I too have been thinking it’s time I wrote a script. In fact, I have written two. Perhaps you’ll hear the announcements soon.
Do you want to direct a film?
Arre, I wanted to become a director from the start. I started as an assistant director. But it so happened that the director used to be upset at the quality of the script in hand, and I’d offer to write a scene to curry favour with him and secure my job. It was seen that I was doing a better job. That’s how I became a script-writer. Even now I fantasise about becoming a director.
Are we doing enough to preserve the legacy of our legends?
We don’t maintain any records. Mughal-e-Azam, Devdas, Madhumati — where have their original scripts gone? Say, the view-finder with which Bimal Roy made the frames for Madhumati. How invaluable these objects are! We keep neither their writings nor their belongings. You go to Europe and see how they preserve the houses of legends like Wordsworth. In Allahabad, the house in which Pandit Nehru got married has been demolished to build blocks of shops! We have no sense of history.
RD Burman over SD Burman — the son overtook the father on the nomination scale in the series. Your comments?
Isske baare mein aap mat poochhein toh behtar hain. Kaafi dinon se dekh raha hoon ki baap ke jagah log bete ko chun rahe hain! The other day I reached the airport at some place and three-four girls came running towards me. I thought, ‘Good, I still have some following left’. They came and said, ‘Sir, Farhan ko aap nahin laaye saath mein?’ Yeh jhel raha hoon main in dino!
What do you have to say about the kind of lyrics in today’s songs?
The songs these days are becoming so prosaic….Ek toh aadhe word sunai hi nahin dete, percussion is so much. Today the concern is gaana poetry na ho jaye! Hindusthani sangeet mein chayn hai, gehrai hai. Yeh sab ab kahan? Poetry should depict some emotion or deep thought. When people ask me why there are no songs like Pyaasa any more, I tell them you got to make Pyaasa for that. Earlier, songs were linked to a situation. Ab gaane bandar jaise kahani ke sar pe chad jaate hain. As it is, filmon mein aajkal gaon banned hai. Our educated middle class, which is the main cinema-going audience, is cut off from rural culture. So words like balma or purvaiya have gone missing in songs.
Would the youth connect to a show on the bygone era?
There is a notion that anything that has depth does not interest the youth. That’s wrong. The one thing the youth are not ready for is boredom. Woh ek baat dus baar sunne ko taiyyar nahin. Whenever you do good work, as long as you are not being repetitive, they accept it. How could Jashn-e-bahara (Jodhaa Akbar) become a hit?Why do people think the youth have bad taste? When I joined the industry every producer knew what the public wanted. The public is out, the youth has replaced them. But give them a good thing, they will appreciate it.
You have a living legend at home (Shabana Azmi). Would you share some thoughts on her?
Meri himmat? I have to go back home! (Grins) Shabana ke baare mein itna keh sakta hoon ke she is a perfectionist by temperament. I call her Dr No. If she gets 100 scripts she will say yes to one! But once she accepts a role, she works so hard. She played a Carnatic singer in Morning Raga. Shankar Mahadevan said ‘I can’t accept the songs were lip-syncd by someone who is not a singer’. And she has a fantastic memory. Friends, relatives — she remembers everyone’s birthdays.
reco of the week survivor indIa
It’s pitch dark. Crabs run around on the beach. The only sound that can be heard is the roar of the ocean. A group of 10-odd men and women — packed like a tin of sardines on a makeshift bed of bamboo — try to get some shut eye. Their stomachs rumble with hunger; they haven’t eaten a morsel in two days. As they toss and turn restlessly, one of the women lets out a bloodcurdling shriek. The others jump up to see a rat comfortably snuggling against the woman’s neck. More shrieks. More jumping around. No one’s getting any sleep for the rest of the night.
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Survivor India has me hooked. Based on the popular international format created by Charlie Parsons, the desi version — that has been airing on STAR Plus for two weeks — is far more engaging than any Boss or Khiladi seen on Indian reality TV in recent times.
The format is simple: 22 contestants — 11 semi-known faces and 11 newbies — live the Robinson Crusoe life for 45 days in the Caramoan Peninsula in Philippines. And boy, do they rough it out! From producing fire (yes, yes, like Tom Hanks in Castaway) to sleeping under the stars, life ain’t easy for the contestants. While living without food, drinking water, shelter, technology and civilisation, they have to survive the island and outdo each other. A cool crore awaits the last man — or woman — standing.
At least most of it looks real. The pretty bahus of TV look suitably tanned, the men are unkempt and look like they could do with lots of deo and when they stay hungry for days together, it shows on their faces — the inability to produce fire in Week One meant they had to chew on uncooked rice to combat hunger pangs. The frustration is palpable, the way their animal instincts surface while living the jungle life, scary.
Divided into two tribes named Catan and Tayak, it’s the survival of the fittest — and often, the smartest. A task-a-day awaits the two groups, promising immunity from elimination for the winning tribe as well as a prize. The goodies up for grabs?Anything from a pillow to a cup of tea, all real luxuries for the contestants.
Despite the politics, mudslinging is kept to a minimum. Plots are hatched in hushed tones and the elimination process doesn’t sink into melodrama. Sheer grit and smartness count. The show presents an interesting study in human psychology — on spying a rooster on their respective islands one morning in Week Two, one group saved it for eggs; the other promptly cut it up and feasted on it!
There is little manipulation of viewership. Priyanka Bassi and Karan Patel got all touchy-feely, with an eye on the TRPs.
But their budding romance was nipped in the bud with Priyanka’s prompt elimination.
A huge low? The poor celeb lineup: starlet Payal Rohatgi and TV stars Shilpa Saklani, Rajesh Khera, Karan and Priyanka being the only known faces. But then again, you wouldn’t expect Hrithik Roshan to fight for a morsel of rice on national television, would you?
What makes Survivor India worth a watch? It airs just twice a week (Saturday and Sunday at 9pm), doing away with the monotony or overkill factor. And yes, the dishy Samir Kochchar — the Extraaa Innings man — as host always works.