The classic Indian film format focused equally on the narrative of the film and the songs that go along with it, with some songs transcending the film itself. On the other hand, some songs get flagged for being problematic in nature, and in an era where awareness and sensitivity are non-negotiable requirements, many films and their songs have not aged well. Renowned lyricist Samir Anjaan talked about this particular phenomenon and how many of his songs have been questioned for their lyrics and the underlying meaning behind them, especially the song ‘Sarkai Lo Khatiya’ from the film Raja Babu, directed by David Dhawan. Another of his songs, ‘Khambe Jaisi Khadi Hai’, has been in the crosshair with director Sandeep Reddy Vanga questioning Aamir Khan for doing songs that objectified women.
While talking to BBC Hindi, Samir quickly cleared himself of all blame for writing songs containing vulgar and inappropriate themes. He instead blamed another very famous track written by Anand Bakshi for starting a trend of sorts, and he blamed the censor board for letting it happen. “All of this talk about vulgar songs started from Choli Ke Peeche. There was so much chaos, and people were ready to set fires; Anand-Bakshi and Subhash Ghai were being abused. Ultimately the song got passed by the censor board, people heard it all over the country and loved it.” He added that he never truly understood “how the censor board was okay with that song” and why the people in power did not comment on the amount of backlash it got.
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Coming to his own music, Samir talked about ‘Sarkai Lo Khatiya’ from the film Raja Babu. The song was picturised on Govinda and Karisma Kapoor, and just like ‘Choli Ke Peeche,’ received flack for its messaging. Samir defended himself and said, “Sarkai lo khatiya’ was born out of the practice of musicians and dancers who used to travel from village to village to perform. I have seen my elders listen to the whole song, and I took that song and just remade it for the movie. I didn’t write it myself, and I didn’t think there was anything vulgar in it. The way David Dhawan shot it, though, was problematic. He pictured it in a very seductive and vulgar way, so people thought it was a song with a double meaning to it.”
He stated that people seem to have a problem with everything, and he never intentionally wrote a song with inherent vulgar messaging. “I have never written a single vulgar song, but still people accuse me of doing so. Should I only write religious and feel-good songs? The writers of today are writing things much worse than what was going on before, and songs like ‘Khambe Jaisi Khadi’ are nothing compared to that.” The song Samir is making a reference to is from the Aamir Khan film Dil, which was sung by Udit Narayan. Just like the aforementioned tracks, ‘Khambe Jaise Khadi’ has also become a point of contention, with people debating whether the track is appropriate or not.
After Vanga’s comments, Aamir had apologised for the song. “Hindi films have not been responsible enough, especially the way we project men and women. When we show something wrong in the films, we also show that the result of it is something positive. Which is wrong. And we often make the women an ‘item’ in films. Even the songs are like ‘tu cheez badi hai mast mast’. And even I am involved in this and I have done such films. ‘khambe jaisi khadi hai, ladki hai ya chadi hai.’ We are calling women ‘khamba’ but not humans. I am very ashamed of it,” he said in an interview to Aaj Tak.
