Mehboob: 'I am a director's writer'

Dr Rajiv Vijaykar

Mehboob wants to be remembered for his superior songs.

"I would hate to be called a writer who is continuously recycling his own or another's work! My lyrics should be fresh in concept and treatment. My attitude towards work is different - mera ek alag hi nazariya hai," he smiles, as we sip tea at his house in Bandra.

Success has not changed Mehboob at all - he still lives in the same chawl and prefers to let his work speak for him. And so far it's been speaking wonderfully.

"Right from the beginning of my career I had the support of men like Mani Ratnam, Ramgopal Varma and AR Rehman, so I did not have to struggle in the classical sense.

"If there was a popular music director-lyricist team, I never tried to disturb it, and even now I would wish famous filmmaker-lyricist teams a long association," says Mehboob.

He also bagged albums like Sony Music's Ritika composed by Vanraj Bhatia, Pal with Kay Kay and Universal Music's Sitaron Mein Hai Tu, Yesudas's first-ever Hindi album.

On the anvil are some big projects with AR Rehman and Ismail Darbar, that he would not like to reveal now and an album with whiz kid composer Shandesh Shandilya.

Besides this, he's also working with the legendary Laxmikant -- Pyarelal's first-ever solo effort as a composer - a Kavita Krishnamurthi album for Magnasound.

His celluloid aces include Rehman's Bombay, Rangeela, Dil Hi Dil Mein and his biggest ever chartbuster, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam.

His latest audio release is One Two Ka Four.

"I was the original choice as writer. Then they went to Majroohsaab, but came back to me," explains Mehboob, who considers it a privilege to see his name alongside the legendary poets.

"I particularly admire Majroohsaab, Anand Bakshiji, Hasrat Jaipuri and Shailendra."

Three years back, he bagged a chance to write three songs in the Return Of Jewel Thief after the makers had a problem with Bakshi. Mehboob achieved a minor tour de force by writing them in Bakshi's style without actually imitating him!

Explaining his work ethic, Mehboob says, "I am a director's writer. I have no hassles about writing endlessly till the director is satisfied.

"Bhansali wanted a song that spoke of the four elements for a sequence to introduce the heroine Aishwarya Rai. That led to Man Mohini.

"Even in the Yesudas album, we decided to give it the Purvi color of Uttar Pradesh, as the singer had created magic with Aaye Na Baalam many years ago."

The poet says that things have improved in the last few years and that good lyrics are in demand, which is why many mediocre poets have come and gone without making it big.

While agreeing that the director is boss, Mehboob stresses that he does try and convince a filmmaker to accept something novel rather than be stereotyped, even if the situation is quite cliched.

Strangely enough, Mehboob wrote his earliest work surreptitiously, because his father did not approve of his son's penchant for writing.

The family owns a small shop in Bandra, which sells fish (meant for fish tanks) and birds (though most birds are now no longer permitted to be caged and sold by the Government).

Recalls the writer, "When my father saw that my hobby was distracting me, he told me, 'Shaayari tumhara kaam nahin. Padhaayi mein dhyaan lagao (Poetry is not your work. Concentrate on your studies). Complete your studies and then do whatever you want'.

"He had nothing against films, but he was afraid that I would have a bleak future when so many giants had been sidelined. He was also afraid for the family business that he had set up so painstakingly."

Around 1982, his father's ill health made Mehboob need to go and sit in the shop daily. His day would begin at six in the morning. He would go there, say his namaaz and then wait till the first customer trickled in.

He would always use his waiting time to write lyrics to imaginary situations.

"I would think of new angles to routine situations. Woh bhi kya din the! (Those were the days!) Life was so relaxed, with customers of all hues, cronies dropping in for a chat and a cup of chai. Of course, I did not dare to publish a word of my writing anywhere!" smiles the writer.

But Mehboob was slated to join films. A common friend introduced him to a violinist named Ismail Darbar, who was aspiring to become a composer. Mehboob's lyrics impressed him a lot. But he asked Mehboob to combine depth with simplicity, as he was familiar with the film idiom.

They quietly kept building up their stock, with a mutual decision of blocking those tunes and words for a film that they do together.

Ismail impressed Ramgopal Varma who asked him to recommend a new lyricist. That's how Varma met Mehboob, and liked his work.

He gave him a break in Drohi when a song was urgently needed but Javed Akhtar, the lyricist, was not available.

By prior arrangement, Mehboob's name was not credited, but Varma gave the entire film Hairaan (a dubbed version of his Telugu hit Kshanam Kshanam) to him and later Rangeela.

He strongly recommended him to Mani Ratnam who was responsible for the lyricist's first release, Bombay.

Says Mehboob, "Thus my first film was actually with RD Burman (Drohi) and not with AR Rehman. So Ismail flagged off my career but had to wait for a long time for his own break, because Varma wanted him for Rangeela but had to replace him with the more saleable Rehman because of market pressures!"

The flip side of his work with Rehman (which also included Daud and Love Birds) was that a perfectionist like Sanjay Leela Bhansali was quite reluctant to give a demanding musical like Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam to a person who had penned all those functional and gimmicky songs for Rehman's techno tunes.

"Luckily, Ismail told him that that was not the real Mehboob!" chuckles the lyricist.

Mehboob's regret is that his father came round to accept his profession but did not live to see the release of his breakthrough film Bombay.

"Ismail helped him realise that I was working with the kind of top filmmakers every struggling lyricist dreamt of right from the beginning.

"Apart from Ismail, I owe my career to my younger brother who took over the family business and left me to do my creative work. Without him, I could not have managed a career."

His other films include Mere Do Anmol Rattan and Trishakti (Rajesh Roshan)¸ Grahan (Karthik Raja) and Thakshak (AR Rehman).

What about the rumours that he and Ismail had split? "We are so close that such things are bound to happen," says Mehboob. "But the great thing is that we honored our stock of 300 songs that we had readied by reserving them for each other.

"Ismail could have had fresh lyrics written for his tunes and I could have sold the song to another composer who could have tuned it differently. But we kept business away from loyalty. Our minor differences have been ironed out completely. So watch out for some big projects that we will do together and will be announced soon!"

Mehboob prefers to be the only lyricist in a film. "I accept total responsibility, aur isse aapki pehchaan ho jaati hai (you get recognised this way). You get involved with the characters and the screenplay."

Then he springs a surprise! "I will also be writing scripts now! In fact, a couple of films are about to take off!" he says, refusing to divulge more now.

"The customers and friends of all communities, many of whom lingered around to narrate their life's problems, joys and sorrows, gave me a very broad perspective of life.

"It was not lyrics alone that I wrote during those years of lovely mornings in my shop!"