Exclusive: ‘Mohit Suri Doesn’t Interfere, Gets Involved’- Lyricist Raj Shekhar on Saiyaara

Often, when we lose ourselves in the world of music, we forget to ask about the mind behind the words. Raj Shekhar, who never set out to be a songwriter but to create something magical, has quietly penned over 100 songs, gifting us chartbusters like Aise Kyun (Mismatched), Ishq Hai (Mismatched), Papa Meri Jaan (Animal) and Pehle Bhi Main (Animal) among others. Recently, he lent his words to two significant films, Vivek Soni’s Aap Jaisa Koi and Mohit Suri’s Saiyaara. A firm believer in creative synergy, he has always emphasised the importance of collaboration between the director and the lyricist.

Asked how much he was involved with these two projects on a script level, he said, “I worked with Vivek Soni earlier in Meenakshi Sundareshwar, with Aap Jaisa Koi was also my second Hindi film with composer Justin Prabhakar. From the first draft to the release, I was a part of the journey. It was a give-and-take relationship. I did not get a random tune and was asked to write without even knowing about the characters. It was a collaboration in its real sense. When the director leaves everything to you, the responsibility increases.”

For Dharma’s Aap Jaisa Koi, he penned Mila Tujhe, and for Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda’s Saiyaara, he wrote Tum Ho Toh. Both songs garnered strong love from the audience. The YRF production marked Raj Shekhar’s first collaboration with Mohit Suri. The lyricist shared, “This was my first collaboration with Mohit Suri. We were working on something earlier, but it did not materialise. He has a good history with music and has given back-to-back memorable songs through his films. I used to listen to his songs in college. He works hard. He will sit with you in the studio and work with you instead of telling you to do it yourself. Mohit Suri doesn’t interfere; he gets involved with you to make things better. It feels good when people come together and work like this.”

Asked whether working with big production houses like Dharma and YRF also means interference from the head honchos, Raj shared, “There were some suggestions from Karan Johar in Aap Jaisa Koi. I will not call it interference. People like Karan Johar sir or Aditya Chopra sir have worked so much that you get to learn from the suggestions that they give.”

Also Read: Exclusive: Raj Shekhar on the limelight with his collaboration in Animal