Poet and writer Javed Akhtar talks about why Urdu is slowly making way for Hinglish lyrics in Bollywood flicks

Award-winning veteran writer and lyricist Javed Akhtar, who has written lyrics for films like Om Shanti Om, Swades, Kal Ho Na Ho, Dil Chahta Hai to name a few, says today’s compositions are light-hearted and are influenced by Western culture leading to “deterioration of the melodious Hindi lyrics that were once embellished with Urdu words”.

Bollywood lyrics lowered its bar in the mid 1980’s and the downslide continued throughout the 1990s and now, as it stands, the lyricists are incorporating English words into the verses that are coupled with funky or hip-hop beats that are not traditionally Indian. Hear songs like Heyy Babyy, Break Free from Krazzy 4, etc and you will hear the strong influence of English.

Songwriters strongly feel that the verses written in the 1950s and 60s, often referred to as the golden era of Bollywood, are still the best.

“Things have changed now but we should not compare our lyrics with that of the past. It will be a meaningless discussion,” he said, adding, “Our films are a reflection of the society and what is happening around us. So, the lyrics of these films will be automatically in tune with the subject.” He admits that the west has overpowered Bollywood.

“If you see now, we are very much influenced by the Western culture. The way we talk, the way we dress are all influenced by the West and we are making films that are in keeping with these trends. The look of these films is very Hollywoodish and so the lyrics are light and are Hinglish because that’s the way most of us talk now,” the poet and lyricist said.

But what does this songwriter feel about the total disappearance of Urdu from lyrics? “Urdu is a difficult language. It sounds very sweet and classy when you use Urdu properly but unfortunately there is no scope of using Urdu words like the way we did it earlier because the films being made are light and audiences too don’t have the appetite to hear heavy things,” he said.

Javed, husband of veteran character actor Shabana Azmi and father of director Farhan Akhtar and Zoya Akhtar, is also a renowned script writer who seems to have taken a sabbatical from story writing. Films like Lakshya, Yaadon Ki Baraat, Sholay, Don and many other hit films have been written by him.

“It has been long but I was working on a couple of stories and I can tell you that I have finished these now. It has taken me a while but I was working on some really interesting ideas and now I’m looking forward to get someone to translate these scripts into movies,” he ended.