Acclaimed lyricist will share tips on songwriting in a three-day workshop

Ibrahim Ashk

Did the song, ‘Capuccino mein haseeno ne de diya hai dil ghol kar' (beauties have stirred your coffee with their heart) or ‘Gandi Baat' make you scratch your head in bewilderment or make you squirm?

Ibrahim Ashk

Well, poet and lyricist Ibrahim Ashk will agree with you as he says that this is one of the lowest phases of song writing in Hindi cinema. The reason, he believes, is that non-writers and people without much idea of the craft of writing songs have become lyricists. To fight this low, he will help aspiring lyricists with the basics of the craft as he mentors a session this Sunday, titled Bollywood Films Lyrics Writing Workshop.

"Aspiring writers come to this city and struggle without realising their problems. Many of them don't have their grammar right and many have no idea about the peculiarities of song writing," Ashk, who was won the Ghalib award, Kabir Samman and Majrooh award award for his writing, explains.

He adds how few think that if they are good at framing words and inducing a lyrical quality into writing they can write for Hindi movies, but this is untrue. "Hindi film writing is different from poetry writing. As a poet you have the independence to create. In film songs the tune and situation are given and you are supposed to write accordingly. It is challenging to write with such limitations," he admits. All types of lyric-writing like free verse and Ghazal will be taught.

"After the workshop, an aspirant will be more confident to approach filmmakers and directors," Ashk believes. If a student realises that he does not want to write lyrics, after the workshop, he would be making an informed choice.