SAMEER

THE SONG MACHINE WITH A HEART
His father had told him countless stories about the hardships, the heart breaks and the humiliation he had to go through to make it as lyricist in Hindi films. His father, the Late lyricist- poet Anjaan went without work for years even though he was a known, “jaana-maana” poet in Hindi, a popular name when it came to large-scale kavi sammelans and mushairas and his parody, “Madhubala” based on doctor Harivansh Rai Bachchan’s `Madhushala’ had made him a well known name in literary circles all over the country (even though he called himself Anjaan, the unknown whose real name was Lalji Pandey, a fact which was discovered only when he was recognised as one of the most successful lyricists). But his luck or call it destiny or his deep faith in God or call it what you may did nothing to help him to make a living as a lyricist in Hindi films in a ruthless city like Bombay which lured dreamers from different parts of the country only to face cruel nightmares. He was a mild, soft-spoken man in real life who couldn’t go out selling himself and his poems and was the last man to indulge in what was going to be developed into the master art of chamchagiri. He suffered for it but he didn’t give up. He gave tuitions to students who were interested in Hindi and Hindi poetry to earn his daily dal roti. His confidence in himself, his talent got him results and rewards came much later then he deserved them. In a way Anjaan had to wait over a period of almost two decades to wait for a phenomenon called Amithabh Bachchan whose fate was strangely linked with Anjaan. Anjaan got the first few opportunities to write some of the most popular songs for this man, Bachchan whose popularity grew with the popularity of Anjaan. He wrote some of Bachchan’s most popular songs which undoubtedly played a very dominant part in the making and shaping of a never before phenomenon called Amithabh Bachchan. Soon Anjaan found more and more work, both good and bad work and he was always genuine and good . He always tried his best to give his best to even the worst films he was forced to sign for that devilish temptation called money. He was now a recognised lyricist wanted by the topmost film makers. His life changed but he found it difficult to forget the days when there were times when there was no “roti kapda aur makaan” and even days when he had to live on several glasses of water which was the only thing available free.

This Anjaan who had gone through hell (he was once even stabbed in his abdomen while he was returning home, a mystery he or his friends couldn’t solve till his very end) was shocked when he opened his door one morning to see his younger son, Sameer, standing at the door and was shocked when he told him that he had to come down to Mumbai to be a lyricist like him. No, my son, never, the soft-spoken Anjaan screamed this line is not for you. You will be only wasting your time and giving up finally in defeat and depression. I as your father would be the last person to discourage you, my son but like I told you in the past life here is certainly not roses, roses all the way. Gopal Pandey who was his uncle with whom Anjaan lived for twenty two long years could have atleast tried to recommend Sameer for a try, a test. On the contrary he was the first man to try his best to discourage Sameer his own nephew and asked him to better pack his bags and go back to Varanasi. But Sameer had hope in himself, faith in his talent, confidence in his destiny and believe in God who had gifted him the talent to write lyrics. He stayed on (for a moment, I wonder, what sabun, soap, Sameer would be an agent in his native place Varanasi) but Sameer was made of sterner stuff. It was very difficult in the beginning, so difficult that he suffered endlessly without letting the world of showbiz know what was churning within him. But what followed was soon growing into one of the most successful stories of a lyricist.Sameer is not like his father who sometimes seemed to be a man lost in a world which was not made for him and whose only dream was to see that his son, Sameer, suffered the way he did once. He didn’t stay “anjaan” for long. He got his first few breaks in some Bhojpuri films. He was then encouraged by a music director called Shyam Sagar who couldn’t make it big himself and died a broken man even as Sameer was soaring towards new skies.

He first saw the light when music directors Laxmikant-Pyarelal found his talent good enough. They even offered him a few films in some big films. His tuning with “LP” changed the timing of his career. The best phase in Sameer’s career came-up with his forming a team with both Nadeem and Shravan and Anand and Milind ( he wrote all the songs for a small film called Ab Ayega Maza) which was Anand-Milind’s first full-fledged film as music directors. Incidentally Sameer’s father Anjaan and Chitragupta the father of Anand and Milind formed a successful team during the sixties. If this not a coincidence what is!) The late eighties and nineties saw Sameer at his peak. It was one of the most emotional sights I have seen when Sameer won a major award for one of his songs in the film Saajan and Sameer called on his father to present the award to him and the father said he was overwhelmed and had tears of joy in his eyes when he further said that he had seen the best dream of his life come true. So what if he had not won a single major award in the thirty years around, he was proud that his son had done what he couldn’t do in just a couple of years. Winning awards soon became a habit for Sameer. His father had the soul satisfaction to see him reach the pinnacle of success and which played a very emotional part in his leaving this world a very contented man, leaving his world of dreams and songs and all his world of poetry to his son. The Sameer saga continued. He took his first sensible step according to him when he got married when his father was still alive.

Marriage brought him more and more success and his apartment, you will be surprised to know, is covered on every possible side with a cluster of awards, trophies, and mementoes for the films for which he wrote songs. A rare kind of interior design indeed! . He was very successful alright but he was also being heckled and hounded by the learned critics who in most cases knew little or very little about poetry and lyrics. They said that he was the one man responsible to bring lyrics down to the lowest depths. They said that he wrote crass, crude and vulgar songs in almost all the films he was associated with. His contemporaries rivals and naturally all those who hated him for his unexpected, zooming success condemned him and called upon all “lovers” of good poetry and lyrics to find ways and means to crucify him. Sameer however strode through like a colossus (forget his height) and rose to become one of the most popular, in demand and highly paid lyricists. When his “well wishers” (?) continued to attack him Sameer had to defend himself and he did. He said he wrote only to the dictates of his “bosses” , his producers, his directors, his stars in the film and what they told you was the truth— that this was what the common man, the common cinegoer who paid through his nose wanted. He often said : “give me a good subject, a good situation, good music, good director and good producer and above all a star who will not interfere in my work and I will give you the kind of songs that you will never even imagine but what can I do when I am caught in a system which demands and gets what it wants on the basis of the crude sound of rustling notes and jingling coins. I still say and even crave and wait for the day when I get the opportunities to write the songs that can give me the total satisfaction that a poet needs to lead a peaceful life both as a poet and the head of his family and a part of society.”

Sameer is a very lucky man. The man who has written approximately 200 films in twenty years is now entering the third and very crucial phase of his career. He is now working with music directors of the new generation, men who know the trends music is taking, men like Anu Malik, Jatin-Lalit, Sanjeev-Darshan, Sajid-Wajid and if all goes well even with Ismail Durbar, most probably on the most ambitious film he is doing, “Devdas”. This is one film which has Sameer keeping all his fingers across. Sameer is also very lucky during this season of poetry, songs, lyr-ics, albums. He is flooded with so much work that he has to turn down half of them which is not taken very lightly by people who want him to write for them. Sameer is also lucky because he is now working with the leading directors Karan Johar, Aditya Chopra, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, (he just wrote the lyrics of Khalid Mohamed’s “Fiza”) and there are chances of his working with Sanjay Leela Bansali and there are many other young directors who feel that they can vibe the best with Sameer because Sameer is a man just like his father, simple, sincere, dedicated, sensitive, willing to change when it is good for the film as a whole and a man with absolutely no ego. At the time of writing something very strange is happening to Sameer during his season of success. The two men, Nadeem and Shravan, who were almost wiped out from the industry are back scoring music for some of the biggest films to come. It’s a difficult modus operandi the director, the producer and the lyricist have to fly down to London to have their sittings with Nadeem-Shravan and come back with a renewed team of music directors. Soon there will be many more who will keep flying to London till the Nadeem imbroglio is solved because they know that Nadeem in spite of all that he is living through, a living hell almost, has still not lost the magic that he is a master at, music at its best.

Sameer today is at a stage when he can’t believe where he has reached and where he is destined to reach. Life is one long endless song for him now. There is no going back. He has raised too many expectations and he will have to live up to them. He will have to forget the old Sameer and be born again as a Sameer who will bring respectability back to lyrics, back to the days when we had lyricists and writers like Sahir Ludhianvi and still have poets like Gulzar and Javed Akhtar.

Poetry is a blessing, my dear Sameer. I know you and I know that you have the sense, sensibility and the responsibility to lead a new generation of poets to come. TO CHALIYE, SAMEER SAHAB, AAP EK NAYE ZAMANE KE PRERNA BAN CHUKE HO. AISA MAUKA BAAR BAAR AATA NAHI. IS MAUKE KO AGAR AAPNE YA KISI BHI AANEWALE SAMEER NE GAVAYA TO WOH SANGEET KE DUNIYA KE LIYE ICU MAIN BHEJNE LAYAK HO SAKTA HAI.

SAMJO, SAMJHAO, SAMBLO, SAMBHALO, EK SAMEER SAMAY KO BADAL SAKTA HAI, KABHI KABHI, KOSHISH KAR KE DEKHA LO.

Ali Peter John.

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