Yash Chopra and Gulzar worked together in Jab Tak Hai Jaan. (Photo: YRF/YouTube)In their careers spanning over five decades, the legendary filmmaker Yash Chopra and poet-lyricist Gulzar worked together only once — in Chopra’s last movie Jab Tak Hai Jaan. Gulzar penned the lyrics of eight out of nine songs from the film’s soundtrack. Before starting the film, the veteran lyricist had talked about his “excitement and anticipation” about working with Chopra. And, after working with him, Gulzar had said, “Khuda der se milte hain, itni asaani se toh nahi milte. Par retire hone se pehle unhone mujhe ek film mein mauka diya, humesha shukraguzaar rahunga (You do not find God that easily. But I will always be thankful to him for giving me a chance to work with him in his film).”
But, the two overtly talented men had creative differences while working on the film’s music and used to have long discussions, which singer Neeti Mohan terms “cute banter”, about the lyrics of the songs. While recording the song “Jiya Re”, picturised on Shah Rukh Khan and Anushka Sharma, Chopra and Gulzar had a detailed discussion about the line, “Chhote chhote lamho ko, teetli jaise pakdo toh, Haathon mein rang reh jaata hai..Pankho se jab chhodo toh”.
Neeti Mohan, who sang the song, spoke about the experience, “They had such a cute banter on the lyrics of the antara. Gulzar sahab was explaining the lyrics to Yash ji as he was like, ‘Nooo…but it can be interpreted like this also’. It was so cute to see them. The lyrics were something like ‘titli ka rang udd jaata hai, hatheli mein reh jaata hai‘. So Yash ji was like ‘nahi par rang udd jaata hai doesn’t seem right’. Then Gulzar sahab explained to Yash ji, that it means, ‘rang yaadon ki tarah reh jaata hai’ (it means that when you try to hold on to small moments in life, they stay with you like memories). AR Rahman sir was just listening to them quietly. That moment was so adorable.”
The singer also recalled auditioning for “Jiya Re” even before the lyrics were written. “When I went for Jiya Re, the lyrics were not written. I just did ‘la la la’,” Neeti recalled, for whom the song is extremely special as it was the first song she recorded as a playback singer.
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Like every budding singer and musician, she also idolised AR Rahman. She credits him for her confidence in singing in multiple languages. Neeti remembered Rahman telling her “music is beyond any language”.
Speaking of her experience of working with the music director, Neeti told indianexpress.com, “I learnt so much from him. I observed so many things when I started recording and touring with him. He is so thorough with his knowledge about what he is doing. He every time redefines his own music. Even when I was doing a concert with him, I never felt he was repetitive, he wanted to do a different version of a song every time.”
She added, “I recently sang a Heropanti song for him and it is a kind of song I have never sung before. It is a very out-there, rowdy kind of song. But he always will surprise you. The most beautiful thing he told me was, ‘music is beyond any language’. His honesty in his work is so amazing. He is so humble and grounded and I have learnt all of it from him. I want to be as good a musician as him.”
Jab Tak Hai Jaan was Yash Chopra’s last film that was released in theatres. The filmmaker died on October 21, 2012, before the film’s release on November 13, 2012. The romantic drama will complete 10 years of its release this year.
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