Lyricist Mehboob has carved a distinct niche for himself, having penned some of the finest songs of the 1990s and 2000s for films such as Rangeela (1995), Bombay (1995), Daud (1997), Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999), Thakshak (1999) and Yuva (2004), among others. In the mid-2000s, he suffered from multiple slipped discs, due to which lyric writing took a backseat. He made a comeback with Heropanti 2 (2022) and, more recently, penned Adnan Sami’s much-loved single, ‘Ishq Tamasha’. In an exclusive interview with Bollywood Hungama, Mehboob went down memory lane and spoke about ‘Vande Mataram’ and ‘Humma Humma’.
Independence Day and patriotic celebrations are incomplete without A R Rahman’s ‘Vande Mataram’, also known as ‘Maa Tujhe Salaam’. Rahman often ends his concerts with the song, giving goosebumps to those in attendance. When asked about his thought process while writing the iconic track and whether he felt nervous, Mehboob said, “There was definitely a sense of responsibility because you weren’t writing just another film song. You were trying to put into words an emotion that millions of people have towards their country. The challenge was to make it powerful without making it complicated. Patriotism is a very personal emotion. I wanted the words to feel direct – something that could be understood and felt immediately. As we were targeting young people, I came up with this simple phrase, ‘Maa Tujhe Salaam’. And as I said, a sense of responsibility was there, but not nervousness. At that time, of course, you don’t know what a song is eventually going to become. You write as sincerely as you can. To see all these years later that Rahman performs it around the world and thousands of people sing those words with him is an extraordinary feeling. As a writer, what more could you ask for?”
Before ‘Vande Mataram’, Mehboob worked with A R Rahman on Bombay, which featured the hugely popular song ‘Humma Humma’. The track was later recreated for OK Jaanu (2017), and we asked Mehboob about his views on remixes.
Mehboob confessed, “To be honest, I am not very happy with the idea of remixes. We have great creative minds in our music industry, so why not try to make something different and new? The song which has happened has happened. It is done. Let’s move ahead and create something new.”
Also Read: A R Rahman records 3 songs for Shekhar Kapur’s Masoom: The Next Generation
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