Farhad Samji remembers the movie Munna Bhai MBBS with Shah Rukh Khan (Image source: IMDb and Facebook)
Farhad Samji may now be known as a film director, having directed films like ‘Housefull 4’, ‘Bachchhan Paandey’ and ‘Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan’, but he started his career as a lyricist, for which he has written over 100 songs.
In a recent conversation with Siddharth Kannan, Samji recalled how he came up with the famous song ‘M Bole To’ for Munna Bhai MBBS, a film that was initially developed with Shah Rukh Khan in mind.
Farhad Samji remembers the movie Munna Bhai MBBS with Shah Rukh Khan
Recalling how the opportunity came his way, Samji said, “A situation happened with Anu Malik for Munna Bhai. One night at around 10 pm, Anu Malik called me and said, ‘Tomorrow Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Raju Hirani will come for a sit.’
‘Make a verse (opening refrain) of something, and we’ll get together and play it for them.’ “This is an opportunity I cannot miss.”
He added, “At that time, I was told that Shah Rukh Khan is the hero. If you know, Munna Bhai was originally supposed to play the role of superstar Shah Rukh Khan, not Sanjay Dutt. They told me: ‘It is a tabori character. Since you write well, add some English words to the tabori language so that it balances with Shah Rukh Khan’s image.’
That’s why I wrote, “M bole to Master mein Master, B bole to Bindass Doctor, S bole to Shaana Character.” I gave them that pillow, played it for them, and they obviously loved it.
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Farhad Samji recalls his interaction with Amitabh Bachchan
Samji also recalled a memorable interaction with Amitabh Bachchan while working on the theme song for the film ‘Bol Bachchan’, which required the veteran actor to rap.“I wrote Paul Bachchan’s title song for Bachchan Saab. We went to him and played it for him. In fact, I have a very bad habit. I do everything with a little imitation and changing my accent. This way, everyone can really feel it. Like the opening of Paul Bachchan’s title song. I was saying to Bachchan Saab: ‘Sir, you should say this first.’ He said, ‘Kya-kya patao?’ (What should I say?)Samji then recited the rap he wrote for the actor, “Discussing the demonic personification of decisive salvation, the papad is an exact replica of the rhythmic rhyme of the jahabad, where one relishes your hunger and the other relishes your anger.
Likewise, Bachchan is a carbon copy of the song ‘Bul Bachchan’, with one representing a noble name and the other representing a game, game, horrible game.And remember Bachchan’s serious-faced reaction, “At this age, you’re making me do all this, Mian?”Recalling how he reacted in that moment, Samji added: “And then you end up looking away, thinking, ‘Oh, how can I even make eye contact now?’Samji shared that a similar incident happened during his first narration for Shah Rukh Khan’s film Chennai Express.
The 2013 film, which he co-wrote with Rohit Shetty, marked a shift towards full-fledged comedy for the star.“With ‘Chennai Express’, Shah Rukh Khan was doing straight comedy for the first time. Of course, he has done comedies before, but for a long time his image was primarily that of a romantic hero. Then came Chennai Express, and he entered the world of Rohit Shetty and Farhad Samji, where he was ready to do it all.”
In fact, I remember when I gave him the first novel. “I performed it in my usual style.”Recalling Shah Rukh Khan’s response, Samji said: “I went and asked: ‘Sir, should I start?’ He said: Yes, please. I was barely 40 seconds into it when he stopped me. What is this? Why are you imitating me? I said: Sir, this is how I narrate it.
Farhad Samji’s latest work
Farhad Samji directed Salman Khan’s latest film ‘Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan’. Recently, he wrote the dialogues for ‘Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai’ and ‘Welcome to the Jungle’.
