When RD Burman criticised Gulzar for writing lyrics 'like movie dialogues'

Gulzar, the legendary writer-filmmaker, has been active for more than 60 years in the film industry now. Earlier this year, he penned songs for the Vishal Bhardwaj OTT movie Khufiya, which were highly-appreciated by music lovers. The veteran lyricist is famous for his unconventional style of lyrics writing, often choosing non-rhyming words and phrases even in mainstream songs. However, on one occasion, a reputed music composer had once refused to compose song to his lines - and that song later ended up winning a National award.

When R.D.Burman thought Gulzar’s lyrics were dialogues for a scene

The song we are talking about is the iconic composition Mera Kuch Samaan for the 1987 film Ijaazat. The song was composed by R.D.Burman, while Gulzar himself was directing the film. Gulzar and Burman were really close friends, and had earlier collaborated on many popular soundtracks like Parichay, Aandhi, Ghar.

However, in 1986, when Gulzar arrived at R.D.Burman’s house with a copy of lyrics for a song that Burman was composing, Burman took a glance at it, and said, “nice scene. Good dialogues.”

It was only when Gulzar clarified that that it was not a scene but the lines of his song that Burman has to compose, that Burman really lost his cool. As Gulzar later recounted in many interviews, Burman sarcastically told him, “tomorrow you will bring a newspaper headline, and ask me to compose a song on those words?”

Asha Bhonsle’s humming inspired Burman for a tune

As luck would have it, legendary singer Asha Bhonsle who was a frequent collaborator with R.D.Burman and also his close friend, was at his house at that time. She started reading the lyrics, and casually began humming those words to a tune. R.D.Burman heard Asha’s humming, and it triggered something in his head. Burman now asked Asha Bhonsle for the lyrics, asked Gulzar to sit in a corner, and within 15 minutes, the maverick music composer had composed the song tune.

When Ijaazat’s soundtrack was released next year, it became an instant favourite for the fans of both lyricist and composer. Mera Kuch Samaan, in particular, stood out for its haunting imagery of lost love, which Gulzar described in his lyrics with such poignance and poetry.

Next year, Mera Kuch Samaan won the National awards for Best lyrics as well as Best female Playback Singer. Till date, the song is remembered as one of the most evocative love songs of Hindi Cinema. And it all began with a sheet of paper that read like a dialogue script.