Kavita Seth, who has composed and sung a song for the forthcoming film “Maatr”, says composing a song is an organic process for her. And it is the good lyrics along with the situation that inspire her to compose a good song.
Sharing the story behind the song “Aisi hoti hai maa”, Kavita told IANS here: “I think utilisation of the song happens very incidentally. Anjum Rizvi (producer of ‘Maatr’) called me to sing a song for the film.”
“When he told me what the film is about, I told him that I composed a song earlier and didn’t use it anywhere. If he thinks the song is fitting in any situation, he can use it.”
She added: “The next thing that happened was another phone call from him saying that from actress Raveena Tandon to Ashtar Sayed (director), everyone loved the song and they are keeping it for the film.”
The song is an emotional one. It describes the sacrifice of a mother for her children.
What made her create it’
She said: “There are two very important facts that drive me to compose a song — good lyrics and the situation. One of my friends was talking about a poem on mother, written by Munawwar Rana. I was blown away by it.”
“I was coming back from a recording studio and the tune came to my mind while on my way back home. I immediately composed and recorded the scratch. Song composition happened very organically, not under the pressure of a deadline.”
After two of her superhit tracks “Iktara” and “Tumhi ho bandhu”, she refused to sing a lot of songs due to distasteful lyrics.
“One of my popular songs ‘Iktara’ was composed by Amit Trivedi who was a new music director then and not a big name. On the other hand, my song ‘Jeete hain chal’ in the National Award-winning film ‘Neerja’ was composed by Vishal Khurana. But Prasoon Joshi wrote such beautiful lyrics! So, I don’t always go by big names. The only criteria is a good song,” said Kavita.
The singer is currently busy with her new album based on some of the poetry written by the popular poetess Amrita Pritam.
Asked what made her choose poetry, Kavita said: “Think about her love story, how inspirational! Imagine at that time, she had unrequited love for Sahir (Ludhianvi, poet) and then she was living in with Imroz (artiste and writer).”
“Amrita’s poetic expression, modern outlook towards love, feminism, life as a whole — was very different and ahead of her time. It is so relevant even in today’s time. Though she was loved and respected by both the countries — India and Pakistan, she also faced criticism,” said the singer, who has worked as a composer for films like “My Friend Pinto” and “Cigarette Ki Tarah”.
Thinking out-of-the-box, beyond the present time is an art, she believes.
“Only a few people can do that. They are genius. In his lifetime, (Mirza) Ghalib went through tough time. Today, people are researching on him, and there is an academy in his name. So, I think that is quite ironical,” she said.
