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Indian Express
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
‘The heroine was lying down, dancers were rubbing her': Sameer recalls when director D Ramanaidu mistook ‘rab' in his song for ‘rub'
Veteran lyricist Sameer Anjaan holds a record in the Guinness Book of World Records for the most songs at over 3,500 across his career that spans across 40 years. He's worked with a range of music composers, singers, filmmakers, and producers. But the lyricist admits he's had quite a challenge writing for films backed by South producers. Sameer recalled a hilarious incident of writing songs for a film backed by late Telugu producer D Ramanaidu. 'D Ramanaidu was after my life, 'Come to the set. The shooting is going on. You just come and enjoy.' When we went to the set, which was at a distance, I heard the line, 'Rab, rab, rab, rab,' so I realized which song they're shooting that day,' said Sameer. On The Ashoke Pandit Show, Sameer revealed he was shocked to see the scene on the set and how his lyrics were misinterpreted rather grossly. 'I saw the heroine is lying down, and people are rubbing her. I said, 'What's happening here!' So he said, 'But sir, you've written no, 'rab, rab, rab, rab.' I told him 'rab' means God (in Hindi). He said, 'We weren't aware sir, sorry.' I was wondering if that song had released that way, then I'd have gotten so much abuses for my lyrics,' said Sameer. He recalled another instance of writing the song for K Murali Mohana Rao's 1989 action film Rakhwala, also backed by Ramanaidu. 'I wrote in the song, 'Neend aa rahi hai, na jagao, Jao baba jao so jao.' He said, 'Sir, you've written 'baba,' but grandfather isn't there in the song. 'Baba' means grandfather.' Arey maine socha inn gadho ko kaise samjhau bhai wo expression hai (how do I explain to these fools that 'baba' is just an expression),' said Sameer. He quoted another instance, of director Murali Mohan, who took an expression in Sameer's lyrics far too literally. Sameer recalled, 'I wrote the line, 'Teri aankhon mein bijli chamke.' He said, 'Sir, you've written some line, but how will I shoot 'thunder in the eyes'?' Sameer added false translations and misinterpretations weren't the only issues with South filmmakers. He recalled being summoned to Hyderabad for the music of a film. The director's assistant told him that they'd select the songs which makes the director fall from a sofa, literally. Sameer recalled when the director fell from his sofa, he didn't even realize if he did so because the song was that bad or that good. Also Read — 'Ram Gopal Varma was sleeping on the stairs, Subhash Ghai was passed out on a swing': Lyricist Sameer recalls 3 am session with AR Rahman in a jungle Sameer is the son of late lyricist Laji 'Anjaan' Pandey. Sameer began his career in 1983 with Jagdish Sidana's social drama Ek Baar Chale Aao. He had a breakthrough with the soundtrack of Indra Kumar's 1990 blockbuster Dil. He's most recently written a few songs in AR Murugadoss' action drama Sikandar, which released earlier this year.
Time of India
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
‘Ram Gopal Varma slept on the stairs, Subhash Ghai passed out on a swing': Lyricist Sameer Anjaan reveals how they met AR Rahman in a jungle at 3 am for recording
Many music directors, lyricists, and singers have spoken about A.R. Rahman's habit of composing and recording songs late at night. Lyricist Sameer Anjaan recently spoke about Rahman 's unconventional working hours and shared a rare, horror-like incident that occurred during the recording of The Legend of Bhagat Singh. Sameer Anjaan about AR Rahman's late night recording sessions AR RAHMAN–HANS ZIMMER SELFIE WITH RANBIR; 'RAMAYANA' TEASER SPARKS GLOBAL MUSIC FRENZY In a conversation on The Ashoke Pandit Show, Sameer recounted working with Rahman on the 2002 film The Legend of Bhagat Singh. They had to travel deep into a dense forest to meet the Oscar-winning musician at 3 a.m. According to Sameer, he was initially told that the music sitting would begin at 11 p.m., but the wait extended far beyond that. 'When we reached his house, we saw that Ram Gopal Varma had fallen fast asleep on the stairs, Subhash Ghai had passed out on the swing in the lawn, Asha Bhosle was singing inside, and Udit Narayan was just talking nonsense upstairs — but in all of this, Rahman was nowhere to be seen,' he said. Sameer opened up about a scary meeting with AR Rahman Rahman wasn't at his residence. Instead, his assistant directed Sameer, director Rajkumar Santoshi, and producer Ramesh Taurani to a second location. They were asked to follow a car, which eventually stopped on the side of a highway. There, they saw a man holding a lantern, who instructed them to follow him as they drove into a dense jungle. 'It felt like we were heading to a horror film session. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Boots is giving free 75-minute hearing checks in Llanrumney. Boots Hearingcare Undo The man walked ahead of us with a lantern, and we followed in the car. It was a dense jungle,' Sameer recalled. They eventually arrived at a remote cottage hidden in the forest. Upon reaching the place, Rahman was found sitting inside, wearing headphones and positioned in front of his keyboard. The tunes they heard that night were for The Legend of Bhagat Singh. The film starred Ajay Devgn in the lead role.
Indian Express
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
‘Ram Gopal Varma was sleeping on the stairs, Subhash Ghai was passed out on a swing': Lyricist Sameer recalls 3 am session with AR Rahman in a jungle
Stories of iconic music composer AR Rahman's unique working style are not new. Rahman is known for working at night and has made filmmakers, composers, and lyricists wait for hours during late-night sittings. Recently, lyricist Sameer Anjaan shared his experience of working with Rahman on the 2002 film The Legend of Bhagat Singh. During an interaction, Sameer spoke about how he, director Rajkumar Santoshi, and producer Ramesh Taurani were called into a forest at 3 am by AR Rahman to listen to the tunes he had composed for the film. Narrating his experience of working with Rahman on the YouTube channel The Ashoke Pandit Show, Sameer shared, that the session was initially planned for 11 pm, but kept getting postponed. Ultimately, at 3 am, he was called along with the film's producer and director. 'When we reached his house, we saw that Ram Gopal Varma had fallen fast asleep on the stairs, Subhash Ghai was passed out on the swing in the lawn. Asha Bhosle was singing inside and Udit Narayan was just talking nonsense upstairs but in all of this, Rahman was not there,' he recalled. Since Rahman wasn't at his home, his assistant asked the three artistes to travel to another location to meet the composer — a location that turned out to be in the middle of a jungle. Sameer recalled with a laugh, 'We were asked to drive to another location and follow a car. We stopped on the side of a highway and a man, holding a lantern, asked us to follow him. It felt like we were going for a horror film's session. The man walked before us holding a lantern, and we were driving behind him. It was a dense jungle.' After this bizarre experience, Sameer finally met Rahman. He said, 'When we reached the destination, Rahman was sitting inside a cottage on his keyboard and wearing headphones.' The lyricist recalled that it was in that hut where Rahman made them listen to the tunes he had prepared for the film. After this experience, Sameer vowed never to attend a session with Rahman in the middle of the night.
