Javed Akhtar calls out ‘creative bankruptcy’ in Bollywood

When ‘T-Series’ launched ‘Ghar Kab Aaoge’, the rehashed version of memorable song ‘Sandese Aate Hain’ from JP Dutta’s 1997 period war drama ‘Border’, Javed Akhtar’s name was mentioned in the lyrics credit along with Manoj Muntashir, who has written some new lyrics for the song that have been merged with the veteran poet’s lyrics in the new ‘Border 2’ song.

Now, Akhtar has revealed that he was approached by the makers, ‘T-Series’ and ‘JP Films’, to write additional lyrics for the songs of ‘Border 2’, including ‘Ghar Kab Aaoge’ and ‘Jaate Hue Lamho’. However, he turned down the offer because he thinks of the trend of adding lyrics to existing popular songs as ‘intellectual and creative bankruptcy’.

“They did ask me to write for the film, but I refused. I really feel this is a kind of intellectual and creative bankruptcy. You have an old song, which did well and you want to put it out again by adding something? Make new songs or else accept that you cannot do the same level of work. Whatever is bygone, let that be. What is the need to recreate it?” Akhtar told ‘India Today’.

He quoted the example of Chetan Anand’s 1964 seminal war drama ‘Haqeeqat’, starring the late Dharmendra, which was a major precedent for him when he was writing the lyrics for Border. “And its songs were not ordinary ones. Be it ‘Kar Chale Hum Fida’ or ‘Main Yeh Sochkar Uske Dar Se Utha Tha’. Those were such brilliant songs, but we didn’t use them. We wrote new ones, we made absolutely different songs and people liked them too. You are making a movie again, so create new songs. Why are you depending on the past? You have accepted that we can’t do it. We will live with the past glory,” added Akhtar.