You quit the industry after Feroz Khan’s Prem Aggan. Would you want to write lyrics again?
Why not? Mera dimaag, dil aur shareer abhi nahin bujha hai! My name still shines - the lamp glows even today. I am a soldier, poised with my weapon and am sure that even today I will hit bulls’-eye.
Then why did you stop writing for films?
Because I did not get the respect I deserved from the new generation. I am used to giants like Manoj Kumar, Raj Kapoor, K.Vishwanath and Laxmikant-Pyarelal and their junoon for quality work and music. When I wrote some songs in Prem Aggan I did not like my own work. Others told me, “Aap mukhda dijiye. Hum ussko chipkaa denge!” Kyoon bhai, is there some unique glue that sticks a song to a film meaninglessly? A lyricist has to hear the story, absorb the situations and characters and then write songs. There should be a bhavna within the words.
How have you occupied this time?
I have always been into poetry. Mujhe kaam ka shauq rahaa, daam ka nahin! I am a yogi and work is a sadhana for which I have had to hear taunts even from my own family. I have been a schoolteacher and also a librarian in a school. I am very popular in literary circles. Even today, I command a crowd of 25000-30000 people at the kavi sammelans at Delhi’s Red Fort on national occasions. I am the first Hindi writer honoured with the Maulana Mohammed Ali Johar award, given in honour of this first Congress president only to Urdu poets. A huge library has been named after me - the Santosh Anand Pustakalaya. I have won awards for my contribution to literature from the Hindi Sahitya Sammelan and the Mahadevi Varma Hindi-Urdu Academy from Lucknow when Kaifi Azmisaab was its president.
Was poetry a talent that you discovered within you or is there a genetic origin too?
My father Pandit Amar Singh Amar was a poet and a famous Urdu shaayar.
How did your film chapter begin?
I was very popular even in Mumbai at kavi sammelans. Composer Snehal Bhatkar and producer Tarachand Barjatya were among the earliest to offer me films, but finally it was Kalyanji (Anandji)bhai who approached me. But I could not wait in Mumbai for 15 days as Kalyanjibhai wanted to introduce me to Manoj Kumar, who was then out on shooting . But sometime later, Manojji traced me in Delhi. When we met, our first meeting was so mutually enjoyable that it went on till midnight when we both went out and gorged on chhole bhature! (Laughs).
Manojji had recorded a song for Purab Aur Paschim but when I gave him Purva suhani aayi re he scrapped the earlier one! The credits read “Lyrics by Indeewar, Prem Dhawan and introducing new songwriter Santosh Anand.”
But you never worked with Kalyanji-Anandji again, only Manoj Kumar.
Yes, somehow we could not tune well enough. Manojji was a genius who would use his camera like a pen to narrate a story visually. Manojji loved me so much that he insisted that I accompany Salim-Javed and him when he went to sign Dilip Kumar for Kranti.
Most of your films were with Laxmikant-Pyarelal, which began when Manoj Kumar moved to them with Shor.
Dekhiye, geet kabhi samaapt nahin honge. I am very fond of strong melodies. Besides Purab Aur Paschim then, I was hearing two scores all over the place - R.D.Burman’s Caravan and Laxmikant-Pyarelal’s Mera Gaon Mera Desh. The steep melody of the second score hooked me and I suggested to Manojji that he do a film with them. The big thing is that he listened to me. With Laxmiji and Pyarebhai the tuning was instant. After Shor we did Roti Kapada Aur Makaan and Kranti besides Santosh, which got stuck but had lovely songs like Yun lagne lagi aaj kal zindagani. When Laxmiji passed away in 1998, I was heartbroken.Around that time I had also been disillusioned with the industry.
What were the specific causes of your disillusionment?
Aaj kal tapasya nahin rahi. Hits happen by fluke or promotion. There is no respect for the songwriter. There is no love between lyricists too. Kaifisaab has such high regards and would shower so much affection on me. (Anand) Bakshiji was also very fond of me.
You could have worked then with Shankarji and other composers of those times like Rajesh Roshan.
Like I said, I was not business-savvy. I did go and meet Shankarji but he hardly had any worthwhile films at that time. Rajesh Roshan was assisting Laxmi-Pyare and we got along well but never did any film together. The only composer I worked with was Usha Khannaji in Gopichand Jasoos.
How was it working with Raj Kapoor?
Prem Rog was a terrific experience. There would be competitions declared between Laxmiji, Pyarebhai and me. We would each want to outdo the other in our respective departments of composition, orchestration and words and would all work and work on it till we were satisfied.
But in the ‘90s you also worked with Anand-Milind, Nadeem-Shravan and also the legendary K.Vishwanath.
Yes, Vishwanathji had a great sense of music and he was happy with my songs. But their placement was all wrong and the script was flawed. Gulshan Kumar of T-Series liked me but he was a businessman first and that made me uncomfortable. Through him I worked with Mahesh Bhatt and Nadeem-Shravan too in Junoon.
One of my best songs in this phase was Dil diwano ka dola dilbar ke liye from Anu Malik’s Tehelka which was an adaptation of my poem on Kashmir. But since that was not allowed at that point I replaced the word “Kashmir" with dilbar.
Will you do an album now?
Why not? Par main girke kaam nahin karoonga. My needs are few. I am happy that my son Sankalp is doing well and my wife Rajdulari and daughters Shelly and Shweta are actively involved in the well-known Delhi NGO Divya Dhristi Seva. If there is no poetic event, they all go out to work and I become the housekeeper! (Laughs).
