Having penned dialogues for numerous Bollywood films like My Name is Khan, Wake up Sid, Kurbaan, Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, Kal Ho Naa Ho, Fashion, Paap, Jism and many more, he recently forayed into song writing. His profound Sufi lyrics in Kurbaan and My Name is Khan have received an appreciative nod from music critics.

Niranjan Iyengar traces his journey from writing dummy lyrics for Shahrukh Khan- Kajol starrer My name is Khan to becoming a full fledged composer with Kurbaan in a conversation with Radioandmusic.com's Anita Iyer. An ardent follower of Sufi literature, writing Sufi lyrics comes naturally to him. A curious admirer of qawaali music, Iyengar has been training under Sripathi Hegde for five years and asserts that he might even sing for Bollywood some day.

You are the new lyricist on the block and your lyrics in Kurbaan and My name is Khan has been well received by critics and music lovers.

I have been lucky because being a dialogue writer, I became lyricist by accident. I wrote dummy lyrics for My name is Khan and Karan Johar retained it and I donned the hat of lyricist for Kurbaan post that 

You penned lyrics for My name is Khan prior to Kurbaan?

Having worked with Karan Johar for Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, Kal Ho Naa Ho; I used to go with him for music sittings. In the music composing process, musicians have the tune ready and are on the lookout for lyrics to fit in. I wrote dummy lyrics for Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, composed by Shankar Ehsaan Loy, where we just put random words together and later Javed sahaab wrote the final lyrics. In the same way, I went for music sittings of My name is Khan and was told to write a song with an Islamic feel to it, starting with the word â€?Sajda' 

Sajda from MNIK was the first track which gave you a break as a lyricist in the industry?

Ya, it was my first ever song to be recorded in Bollywood. Post the recording with the dummy lyrics, Karan took the track home and his mom thought they were penned by Javed Saahab. Later on, it was a unanimous decision by Karan Johar and Shankar to retain my �dummy' lyrics in the final cut. So, Sajda was the first even song I wrote in Bollywood but Kurbaan was released before MNIK and my work in that song was showcased before.

Lyrics are subject to changes before the final cut. Were any changes made to your dummy lyrics in MNIK?

Some changes were made in the track- Noor-e-khuda, it was not originally the way it is being heard now. The original lyrics stressed a lot on the term Noor-e- khuda which were later scrapped and changed to â€?Noor-e khuda …yun na humse nazre pihra. Also, the lines â€?Kya yeh sach nahi ki tu hai humse khaffa' was changed to â€?Nazreen chura'. It is a normal process where lyrics are changed to make them more appealing 

How did song writing for Kurbaan come your way?

Eventually, when they started working on Kurbaan's compositions, Salim Suleiman had the tune ready for Shukran Allah and wanted dummy lyrics. I tried my hand at Shukran Allah and everyone thought the lyrics were fresh and yet similar to Bollywood style of lyrics. They liked my style of writing and I ended up writing up all the songs in Kurbaan.

As you were also the dialogue writer for Kurbaan and MNIK, does it help in writing the lyrics?

As I write dialogue for the film, I am well versed with the script and theme of the film. It helps in writing lyrics of songs as you are fairly well acquainted with the characters in the movie. Writing lyrics is a natural extension once you have already worked on the dialogues 

Both your projects- Kurbaan and MINK had a Sufi feel to it. What inspires you to write such lyrics?

I have been heavily tuned into Sufi poetry for a long time now and have been following works by Ahmed Farhad, Zigar Muradibadi, Ghulam Sarid, Bullehshah to name a few. Apart from that, I have been learning Hindustani classical music from the past five years and am inclined towards Sufi poetry and literature 

Does your flair for Urdu become questionable as you are the only south Indian lyricist around?

My command on Urdu and Hindi is not as good as the lyrics depict. The lyrics are result of constant following of Urdu literature. My proficiency in these languages is just better than the average Hindi spoken around 

Tell us more about your interest in Hindustani classical music?

It was in 2002 when I got hooked on to Sufi music while working on Jism. I was introduced to Jaffar Khan Badauni's qawwalis by director Amit Saxena and I have been on a lookout for an Ustaad to teach me Qawwali ever since  During the making of Paap, I inquired with Rahat Fateh Ali Khan for an Ustaad and he in turn asked me to start with Hindustani Classical music and then specialise in qawwalis. I have been training under Sripathi Hegde, the disciple of Pt. C R Vyas for the past five years.

So the next thing we know is you becoming a singer by accident!

Ah! No, I am not ready for playback singing yet. Singing requires a mastery of eight to 10 years and I have taken up music as a personal hobby. I have no intentions to venture into playback for a couple of years.

Your lyrics have been different from the lyrics we hear in contemporary Bollywood numbers? Would you agree to write trashy lyrics when demanded?

Any technician has to translate the essence of movie assigned to him. The lyrics of the movie are subject to the character, composer, setting, plot of the film etc. A lyricist cannot impose his writing on the filmmaker but has to adapt his writing according to the plot of the film. The lyrics I write for a Karan Johar film would be different from lyrics for a Madhur Bhandarkar or a Pooja Bhatt film as the script demands. As a lyricist, I have to layer the theme of the story in my way of writing.

What are your views on the insertion of English words in today's Bollywood songs?

English has become a part of our colloquial language and is an active part of our vocabulary. Recently while Abida Parveen performed in India, she spoke in Hindi sprinkled with English words like barrier, obstruction etc. So, why should Hindi songs be left out? Anyway, there is no pure Hindi left in lyrics anymore 

Do you enjoy contemporary Bollywood music?

As I am learning Hindustani music, I am at a stage where I don't enjoy the contemporary Hindi Bollywood music but that doesn't mean the songs aren't good. There are many who follow this kind of music and it is popular among today's youngsters 

Post MNIK, what are the projects you are working on?

I am working on the dialogues of Pooja Bhatt's forthcoming –Jism 2 and penning the lyrics for two tracks to be composed by M M Kreem.