Resisting the tide of atrocious music

Lyricist Prasoon Joshi on double entendre songs and how children should be guarded against them

NEW DELHI:

Lyricist Prasoon Joshi, who has penned lyrics for a string of films, lamented how both the lyrics and music in Bollywood are atrocious sometimes. Joshi, who has songs such as Taare Zameen Par and Chand Sifarish to his credit, feels that today, even the music besides the lyrics is ‘cheap’.

“If you think the lyrics are cheap, even the music is cheap at times. It’s just that sometimes we don’t know how to call music cheap,” said Joshi. “You can’t say that only the words have become sub-standard and objectionable. There’s some music that is atrocious,” he added.

Joshi acknowledged that there’s some work that is sub-standard and doesn’t survive the test of time. “A bad creative product is a bad creative product.” He feels that double entendre songs are not at all the road to success, adding that listeners should guard their children against them.

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“If we can’t protect our children, then there’s something wrong with our society. We definitely need to take offense to things that aren’t appropriate for them. Such songs are extremely irresponsible and I condemn this quality of work,” he argued.



According to the lyricist of Silk Route’s Dooba Dooba Rehta Hoon, artists who can’t fathom the impact of such songs on children have no right to be called creative. “They definitely should be shown the mirror and told that there’s something known as conscience,” Joshi said.

Those who buy such songs are also complicit, he feels. “We should understand that it’s not right to only blame the creators. You also have to understand that there’s somebody who buys them and somebody plays them at a place where children are listening to them.”

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An ad-guru by profession, Joshi juggles between his day job and film projects. “Advertising is my profession – it’s my day job but film projects are something I’m very selective about,” he said. “There’s a specific reason for all the projects I do, whether it is Bhaag Milkha Bhaag or Fanaa. With every project I take up, I do something I have a calling for. I feel I must do it because it inspires me. And I have to get it out of my system. So, I do it for a very specific reason,” he added.

It’s a known fact that every creative person sometimes faces a writer’s block. How does one deal with this? Joshi advised that one should not panic or become inflexible when dealing with a situation like this. “Every writer faces a writer’s block. When dealing with it ... just don’t be too adamant, do something else.”

On how he churns out ideas, he stated, “I don’t choose ideas, ideas choose me. I’m lucky that they pass through me. You just have to accept it and wait for the inspirational moment. If your intent is right, the inspirational moment will come,” he concluded. 

Published in The Express Tribune, October 16^th, 2015.

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