Bollywood lyricist-poet Javed Akhtar has spoken out against lewd lyrics being written for songs these days. He called for the creation of an official body, which monitors and censors obscene lyrics from songs, reported bollywood.com.
“It’s terrible. Vulgarity, obscenity and perversion are simply not acceptable in the music industry. As a matter of fact, I suggest that the way films are censored, songs should also be censored before the release of the music,” said the 69-year-old. “Usually, songs are released before the film goes to the Censor Board and even if the songs are omitted from the film by the board for vulgar lyrics, they continue to play everywhere. This must stop.”
On the question of whether he has been asked to write vulgar lyrics for songs, he said, “Yes, and I have walked out of those ventures every time that has happened. I would never do it because my songs are in the public domain.”
The former scriptwriter, who is currently penning lyrics of the tracks for his daughter’s upcoming film Dil Dhadakne Do, believes it is due to the low quality of lyrics that songs don’t have recall value these days. “Today, the focus is more on the tempo of the beats, which comes at the cost of the subject of the song and that’s a bad deal,” he commented.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 24th, 2014.
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