 "Veteran lyricist and writer Javed Akhtar lists down the reasons why today's songs have become forgettable")
Poet-lyricist Javed Akhtar says lyrics today don’t work the way they did earlier because they are not rooted in a film’s story and its emotions. The 78-year-old has written some immortal lyrics for songs such as “Yeh Kahan Aa Gaye Hum” for “Silsila” (1981), “Ek Ladki Ko Dekha” for “1942: A Love Story” (1994), and “Jashn-e-Bahara” for “Jodhaa Akbar” (2008) to name a few. “It is not that writers can’t write good songs, it’s that they are not getting an opportunity to write good songs. There are a number of reasons why songs have become forgettable. One, the tempo and beat has become very high. Two, most songs are in the background today, there is no lip-sync anymore,” Akhtar told PTI. In the recently released book called Talking Life: Javed Akthar in Conversation with Nasreen Munni Kabir, veteran lyricist and writer Javed Akhtar finally addressed the allegations that two of his classics, Zanjeer and Sholay, both starring Amitabh Bachchan, were inspired by western films. The latter, directed by Ramesh Sippy, according to numerous reports, was inspired by the western classic Once Upon A Time In The West. Akhtar, in the book, has been quoted saying, “As I have said, we ( Salim and Javed ) were influenced by Sergio Leone. But Sholay was not based on his epic film. Critics also said Zanjeer was based on Dirty Harry.” He argued Dirty Harry was released in December 1971 and Zanjeer in May 1973, so they couldn’t have ripped off the screenplay in those days. “It is all rubbish. No film was a remake or based on any other film,” he added. He continued, “I think the Zanjeer hero has more layers. Whenever some Indian film critics saw a film of ours, they assumed it had to be a copy and couldn’t believe we (Salim and Javed) could think up ideas ourselves.” With added inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
The 78-year-old has written some immortal lyrics for songs such as “Yeh Kahan Aa Gaye Hum” for “Silsila” (1981), “Ek Ladki Ko Dekha” for “1942: A Love Story” (1994), and “Jashn-e-Bahara” for “Jodhaa Akbar” (2008) to name a few
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