Swanand Kirkire on reuniting with Pradeep Sarkar for Helicopter Eela, and why rehashes make him jobless

In an industry obsessed with deifying the star, the spotlight often evades those who work tirelessly behind the scenes. The success of a film is often attributed to its face but seldom to those who constitute the spine. And so, in this column titled Beyond the Stars, Firstpost highlights the contributions of film technicians who bring their expertise to the table. Kajol plays a singer who gives up on her career after she becomes a mother in Pradeep Sarkar’s _Helicopter Eela_ . Naturally, Amit Trivedi's music is the backbone of the film. What elevates the soundtrack are Swanand Kirkire’s lyrics, which also explore the head space of not only Kajol’s character Eela and her son, played by Riddhi Sen. Firstpost reached out to Kirkire, who is also an acclaimed singer and actor, for an exclusive interaction on his process of penning the lyrics, and collaborating again with Sarkar and Trivedi. You are reuniting with Pradeep Sarkar after Parineeta, Laaga Chunari Mein Daag and Lafangey Parindey. How has your relationship evolved with him over the years?  Fortunately, our relationship has not changed, which is the best part. I couldn’t work with him only on Mardaani because I was occupied with something else. Dada is as mad and magical as it gets. The best part about him is that he trusts you. He is one of the few people in the industry to do justice to how the songs are picturised. He makes sure that every word of his songs gets justice. For a lyricist, dada is a dream. He moulds his narrative as per your lyrics. Usually, it is the other way round. [caption id=“attachment_5360101” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Swanand Kirkire. Twitter[/caption] How is his approach different from other frequent collaborators like Rajkumar Hirani and R Balki? Every director has a different way to look at music. Hirani always looks for a story in every song. Pradeep is more invested in moments. He is a master of little moments that evoke emotions. Balki wants a different kind of magical idea, more than emotions, in a song. Every director brings out something different in you. How different was writing lyrics for Helicopter Eela, as opposed to his other films? Every film has got a different kind of emotion. Parineeta was a classical love story, set in the era of love. Helicopter Eela is very today and for a change, not a love story. It is very interesting to see a mother have a very modern, funny relationship with her son. It has a totally different colour. In Helicopter Eela, you have written the song ‘ _Yaadon Ki Almari_ ’. Since you and Eela are of the same age, did you go back to your college memories in order to write this track?  Yes, it was exactly that. Dada is also from the same world. The script demanded a sense of nostalgia. How do you describe nostalgia without being nostalgic? So we went back to our days and talked about the fati purani jeans, T-shirt Beatles wale, ek wallet hai leather ka jismei rehti thi kangaali. All these images have been sourced from our college days. How do you then manage to step into the shoes of the new generation and write a rock song like ‘ _Mere Mamma Ki Parchai_ ’? You don’t have to be a certain age for that. You just need to keep your eyes and ears open. For an Indian boy, even when he is 60, he is under his ‘mumma ki parchai’. It is just that the images change. I’ve used phrases like, “Meri FIFA wali team mei meri mumma kahan se aayi". Among all my collaborations with Amit Trivedi, this is the first time when the genre was decided after I wrote the lyrics. All the three songs I’ve written for the film, ‘Yaadon Ki Almaari’, ‘ Dooba Dooba ’ and ‘Mere Mamma Ki Parchai’, were written first and then composed. Dada was more comfortable that way. What do you prefer personally? Writing to the tune or vice-versa? I don’t mind both. Initially, I was more inclined towards writing first and then the tune getting determined. But over the years, I’ve grown comfortable with both. But sometimes, when you write to the tune, you bring your own meter to it. [caption id=“attachment_4895991” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Kajol in a still from Helicopter Eela. YouTube[/caption] Amit Trivedi has maintained that rehashing old songs is not his cup of tea. Do you echo his opinion? I don’t like doing that. But that’s the way the industry is operating right now. The producer also wants their money back. It’s sad but what to do? It’s a challenge to reinvent an old song too but my job as a lyricist ends there. It makes me jobless. But I don’t mind it. I don’t mind it only because I’m helpless. I can’t do anything about it. Since you are also a singer, do you sing to yourself when you write lyrics? Does that help? I do sometimes. I have a tune for every song I write. I don’t give it to the music composer. It’s only because I need a meter and the tune comes to me more easily. With Shantanu (Moitra), I’ve also suggested him tunes and he has modified those, and that has become the final tune. We did that for ‘Khoya Khoya Chand’. Since you are also an actor, how do you make peace when the stars who lip-sync the songs are remembered more than the lyricist who wrote them? I don’t make peace with that. That’s why I’m also acting and getting some songs of my own. But it’s okay. You’re writing for a story, for a character. Why cry about it? It’s not your album that you appear on the screen as a rockstar. When the actor is emoting, you’re not going to come in there and start singing. Which is your favourite song sung by you but not written by you? ‘Tu Kisi Rail Si’ from Masaan. Which song written by you has the best lyrics, according to you? ‘O Ri Chiraiya’ from the show Satyamev Jayate. Finally, which other films are you writing the lyrics for? I’ve started working on another Ajay Devgn Productions film, _Tanaji: The Unsung Warrior._