37 Years of Tezaab: Javed Akhtar decodes the secret behind ‘Ek Do Teen’ – born as dummy words, rooted in ‘barah maasa’, destined for IMMORTAILTY: “Laximant RETORTED, ‘Kya keh raha hai? Log hasenge’”…Ab nautanki mein woh Ghalib ki ghazal nahin gaayegi!”

By Fenil Seta -

November 25, 2025 - 11:00 AM IST

Tezaab (1988), starring Anil Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit, was released on November 11, 37 years ago. It was the biggest hit of that year and made Madhuri Dixit a household name. Her song ‘Ek Do Teen’ catapulted her to stardom. The lyrics are simple in the mukhda and then take an interesting turn in the antaras. Javed Akhtar, the lyricist, revealed how he got the idea to write ‘Ek Do Teen’ in the show ‘Main Koi Aisa Geet Gaaon’, held in Mumbai in December 2023.

37 Years of Tezaab: Javed Akhtar decodes the secret behind ‘Ek Do Teen’ – born as dummy words, rooted in ‘barah maasa’, destined for IMMORTAILTY: “Laximant RETORTED, ‘Kya keh raha hai? Log hasenge’”…Ab nautanki mein woh Ghalib ki ghazal nahin gaayegi!”

Javed Akhtar began by saying, “Tezaab was being made and it had a situation of a girl performing in a nautanki. Ab nautanki mein woh Ghalib ki ghazal nahin gaayegi! Laxmikant-Pyarelal and I had multiple sittings but we were not able to crack the song.”

He then said, “It was the day of Ganesh visarjan. Laxmi ji told me that he heard a man playing a tune on a banjo. That tune inspired him to compose a fresh tune. He started playing it. In Hindi cinema, we have the concept of ‘dummy words’. The music director sings a song with these dummy words so that the lyricist can understand what is expected from him.”

Javed Akhtar continued, “Laxmi ji told me, ‘Dummy words aapko de deta hoon’. And he started singing ‘Ek Do Teen’ and he sang till ‘Terah’. I told him, ‘Yeh Terah tak aise hi rehne dijiye’! I assured him that I’ll write the lyrics from here on.”

The audience, as expected, started laughing. The legendary songwriter confessed, “Laxmi ji was shocked. He said, ‘Kya keh raha hai? Log hasenge’. I assured him, ‘Aage ke lyrics mein justify karunga in lines ko’.”

Javed Akhtar explained the relevance of the rest of the words in the song, “In India, we have a concept of ‘barah maasa’. It means a person is separated from his/her lover and he/she describes how he/she managed to survive without the lover. Usko maine compact karke ek mahina kar diya, ki usne ek mahina kaise guzaara!”

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