A lyricist is a poet at heart. But he does not write to satisfy his own creative urges, and does not unnecessarily display his knowledge of language. As a lyricist in films, one has to write for every conceivable situation and for characters ranging from a tawaif to a child, a boatman to a pop star. I hate using heavy language - anything can be written with simplicity. In our country we demand funny qualifications of a poet. You must write in obscure language, attend mushairas, contribute to Urdu magazines and publish books in verse! But look at our folk songs - many of them have greater depth than all the shaayari and heavy kavitayen!
