Music and lyrics

He is in his 70s now, but true to the words of his recent award-winning song, Dil to Bacha hai ji (The Heart Is Still Young, Dear), Gulzar remains young at heart and totally in tune with the times.

The versatile director, writer and lyricist has won numerous awards for his work in Bollywood films as well as an Oscar and a Grammy for the lyrics of Jai Ho in Slumdog Millionaire. As a lyricist, his repertoire includes romantic songs and item numbers for Bollywood films, ghazals (a poetic form, mostly delivered through music) and songs for children's programmes on television.

Meanwhile, ghazal maestro Jagjit Singh turned 70 this month, but he continues to enthral music lovers with his soothing voice and compositions that touch the heart.

In a career spanning over four decades, he has created hit albums of ghazals, bhajans (Hindu devotional songs), songs in Punjabi and other Indian languages and also composed music for Bollywood films. And he has won many national and international awards for his contribution to music.

The two Indian legends are now set to perform together on stage for the first time at a concert in Dubai called Koi Baat Chale. Having worked together to create the soundtrack for a television serial on Mirza Ghalib, an 18th century Persian poet from India, and for memorable albums such as Marasim and Koi Baat Chale, the event has been organised to mark Singh's 70th birthday.

As a precursor to their evening of poetry and music, the duo spoke to tabloid! about the concert, their current projects and the challenges of keeping their respective arts contemporary.

After four decades and 70 albums, what excites you now as a singer?

I enjoy my work and always look for something new and fresh. For me every concert is a new beginning and every album is a new challenge. And Gulzar is the same. He thinks differently from others and his poems are romantic, rich with visual imagery and close to life. Our friendship goes back several decades and I am happy that he will share the stage with me in this concert and recite his poetry. I will also sing his poems and my compositions for his TV serial on Mirza Ghalib.

In the 1970s you revived the art of ghazal singing by reinventing this art form. Is another revival now required to attract a new generation of listeners?

I have continued singing ghazals and releasing new albums. But how can we have a revival unless the audience is exposed to this art. The media should help by promoting shows and albums and showing ghazal performances and mushairas [gatherings of poets] on television.

Why is it that no other ghazal singer has become as popular as you?

It is sad that ghazal lovers do not want to listen to anybody else except Jagjit Singh. Maybe other singers are not good enough or go wrong in their selection of songs.

How come your voice is still as good at this age?

I maintain it by doing riyaz [practice] for an hour every day and leading a disciplined life.

Your album, Beyond Time, was the first digitally recorded one in India. What do you feel about the way technology is used in music making today?

I feel people are abusing technology and making noise, not music.

Do you feel there is a place for ghazals in current Bollywood films and would you like to compose for films today?

Absolutely — there is always place for this kind of music and I would love to compose for films if somebody is crazy enough to ask me.

What projects are you currently working on?

This month I will release an album of bhajans on Krishna and I am now working on a new ghazal album to be released later this year.

Are there any new young poets whose compositions you would like to sing?

I always sing poetry by contemporary poets such as Nida Fazli (who was born in 1938).

What message would you give to your fans in Dubai?

The audience in Dubai is very good and I am looking forward to performing for them. I want to wish my fans a happy new year and good health and I pray that they always think right towards their parents, their family and the city they live in.

What motivated you to perform on stage with Jagjit Singh?

He has been a very close friend and colleague for many years and it was important for me to be a part of his 70th birthday celebrations. Even at this age his voice is still as young as ever and once he starts singing it will be difficult for me to get the audience's attention. But I will try to bring in a flavour of poetry to the evening and I hope people will like it. He was always young and still is, and I was always an old man and still am.

But you seem to have no trouble writing songs such as Bidi jalaile and Namak Ishq ka that appeal to youngsters?

I manage that because I move around a lot with young people and can understand their ‘lingo'. When writing a film song, one has to understand the script, the character and the situation and use the appropriate language. But even when I write such item numbers, I always try to retain the flavour of our Indian culture and folk music in my lyrics. For instance, Namak Ishq ka was based on the typical thumri style and Bidi jalaile had the idea of keeping warm in winter by taking fire from the neighbour's stove, something that is quite common in rural India.

Your latest hit, Darling, from the film 7 Khoon Maaf is an adaptation of a popular Russian song. Was it difficult to fit Hindi lyrics to this well-known tune?

Director Vishal Bharadwaj chose this song because there is a Russian character in the film. I tried to keep the Russian flavour in my lyrics by using many words with the letter "R" because Russians put a lot of stress on this sound and also the ‘kh' sound, which is common in Russian names such as Molokhov and Sholokhov. I also wove into the lyrics references to Russian poet Pushkin, the Khyber Pass, Moscow, Leningrad and Tashkent.

Katrina Kaif recently said that her idea of romance is to have you write a romantic poem for her. What do you have to say about that?

She said this after we met at a book launch and I recited to her words from a poem that expressed my regret that I have met her at this age [kaisi umr mein aakar mili ho tum]. I recently met her again at the Filmfare awards function, where I won an award after five years. I was told that the weight of the trophy, which is in the form of a woman has been increased this year. So when I received it, I recited a poem saying: "You have met me after a long time and the little weight that you have put on looks good on you."

I was of course talking to the statuette I held in my hands, but some women in the audience preferred to think those words were for them.

You have won countless awards. What do they mean to you now?

Awards are like milestones in your career. They come only if people like your work, hence they assure me that I still have that rapport with the public. As a writer and poet I do not want to be sitting alone in an ivory tower talking to myself and these awards are encouraging because they indicate that I am communicating with the people and they are responding.

How did you feel about getting an Oscar and a Grammy from people who probably did not understand the meaning of your words?

I got those awards as a component of A.R. Rahman's masterful composition. The words were written purely with the situation in mind and I hope those who understand the language appreciated the imagery.

How do you feel about working with today's film and music directors, some of whom admit to not understanding Urdu?

That does not matter to me because I am the writer and I know Urdu — and that is why they come to me and I keep getting work.

Despite winning so many awards for your films, why have you given up direction?

Because I am too busy writing songs and writing for children.