“The film ‘Millionaires of Love’ is a means for me to repay the debt of my land."-Sayeed Quadri

Famous poet and lyricist Sayeed Quadri, born in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, entered Bollywood in 2003. And he got the 'IIFA Award' for Best Lyricist for the song 'Bheege Hont Tere...’ from the second film of his career, 'Murder'. He was also awarded the Stardust Award for this film. Since then he has been continuously writing songs for films. These days he is in the news for writing the songs of the first Indo Hollywood film “Millionaires of Love”.

You have had a long career as a lyricist in Bollywood. How do we look at the changes that have taken place over the years? Now, how comfortable do you find yourself writing the kind of songs that are seen in films?

-I feel that even today many writers and lyricists are doing excellent work. I don't think that the sweetness of language is lost. Apart from me, many lyricists including Irshad Kamil are doing good work. Be it Javed Akhtar or Gulzar, they have done amazing work before and are doing it even today. What I mean to say is that a lot of change has taken place, but there is nothing to be hopeless about. I hope that the golden era you are talking about will come back.

Why has it become a trend these days to include Punjabi songs in every Hindi film?

-It is not because good songs are not being made in Hindi. Punjabi language is a good and sweet language in itself. Why only Punjabi? Every regional language of our country has its color. We all love those colors in our personal lives too. That's why I don't understand why this is happening when Punjabi songs are included in Hindi films. No question arises in my mind regarding Punjabi songs. To be honest, I like many Punjabi songs. If I get a chance, I will try to write Punjabi songs in a film.

You have a very good understanding of music. Recently, Grammy Award-winning musician Ricky Cage said that along with writing the songs, you have also done the music direction of a song in the Indo-Hollywood film “Millionaires of Love”. But you have not given music for any film in Bollywood till now?

-Look, Ricky Cage got me to do that job with a laugh. The truth is that I don't have time to direct music. I remain very engrossed in writing. I don't get any free time from the work of writing. If ever there is free time, music will also be provided.

You wrote many famous songs. But which song took you the most time to write, but that song was not popular?

-It is a great blessing of God on me that people liked every song of mine. Till now none of my songs have failed. Ha! It took me a long time to write the song “Bheege hont Tere...” from the film “Murder” directed by Anurag Basu. It took six to seven days to write this song and come up with the idea for the song. So I have written many songs in just fifteen minutes. Some songs take one day and some songs take two days.

What things did you have to understand while writing the songs for the Indo-Hollywood film “Millionaires of Love”? You are from Rajasthan, so it might have been convenient for you.

-Yes yes! I am a resident of Jodhpur, Rajasthan. That's where I grew up. I also got my education there. I was brought up in Rajasthan only. Because of this, I know Rajasthan, its culture, and music very closely. I have come from the same thirsty land, hence there is a hook in my heart where I can talk about my soil. Therefore, it was quite easy for me to write the songs for this film. This film is set in Rajasthan. When I got the opportunity to write songs for this film, I tried to present through songs whatever was in my mind and memory. This film is a means for me to repay my debt to the soil.

Ever since music has started being made using the keyboard. What effect is it having on music and where will folk music go?

-See, folk music will always be alive. Folk songs, folk music, and folk culture never get destroyed. Folk tales will always be alive. All things come only after listening to folk music. From there, my understanding of music and songwriting developed. This is eternal. But you also know and understand that things change with time. Today the situation is changing. New things are being invented with time. It is due to the wind of change that 'Keyboard' has come into existence. Coming up with new things is not a bad thing. But old things remain in their place. 'Keyboard' has its place. But a person listens to only that music which is pleasant to his ears.

Presented by: Shantiswarup Tripathi

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