Son of top Indian lyricist survived on stolen bread in Mumbai, hadn't seen his dad for 23 years; went on to write songs for Govinda, Shah Rukh Khan

Indian Express

16-07-2025

Every music lover must have come across the name Sameer Anjaan. He is the man behind the lyrics of some of the most iconic songs: 'Nazar Ke Saamne', 'Teri Umeed Tera Intezaar' and 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai' among others. However, success didn't come easy to him. Despite being born to one of the most well-known lyricist Anjaan, Sameer had to go through years of struggles before getting his first break and eventually taste success.
In a recent interview with DD Urdu, Sameer recalled the time when he left his full-time job to chase his dream of becoming a poet/lyricist. He managed to come to Mumbai, but struggled to survive. He shared, 'I have seen the hardest times in Mumbai. I was the same boy, who didn't even have to take a glass of water by myself when I was back in Benaras. I didn't know how to cook, just knew how to make tea. Biscuits were my breakfast. For lunch, I had a setting with an Uttar Pradesh man at a South Indian restaurant in Khar station. He would steal puris for me. I paid Rs 10 for lunch everyday. For dinners, if people ever invited me over then well and good, if not then would just eat a banana or so.'
For the longest time, his father was unaware of his presence in the city of dreams. 'In between, I had to visit Benaras. At that time, I was wearing a shirt worth Rs 10 and an extremely old pant. I looked lean without good food. My mom saw me and felt terrible about my situation. This prompted her to write a letter to my father. She wrote, 'My son has been struggling in Mumbai and you never cared to check on him.' His reply was, 'I wouldn't know it until I am informed. How would I know he's here?''
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After the letter, Sameer's father contacted all his relatives in Mumbai to look for him. 'It was after 23 years that I met him. I was so upset with him and frustrated with all the struggle.' However, this was just the beginning. Before approving his career choice, Anjaan who himself struggled for 17 years before tasting success, took a test of his son. Luckily, Sameer passed.
His father then advised him that the industry tests people's patience and success is hard to get. He agreed to teach him the technicalities of being a lyricist, but refused to refer him to anybody for work.
Sameer recalled, 'I struggled a lot. And amid this, I came across a music director. I don't want to name him as he was friends with my father. But when I visited him, he asked me to show my work to him. His expectations were high as I was lyricist Anjaan's son. After listening to about 40 of my songs, he had an extremely rude response, 'You wasted my time. You are a terrible writer. Never dare to share your work with anyone. You will spoil your father's name. I will pay you, please return to Benaras.' He even threw my diary out of his window in anger. I was shaken after listening to him. This broke me, but I was still hopeful. I picked my diary and went to Usha Khanna's house.'
She is India's third female music director after Jaddan Bai and Saraswati Devi. There he found her alone, and requested if she would read his work. 'She happily agreed. Soon after listening to four of my poems, she stopped me and said, I am going to record all four of them. It were the same poems which had received such negative remarks just hours ago, and now the same poems impressed Usha. This is how my career started.'
While Sameer Anjaan struggled in his 80s, with songs from the films Aashiqui (1990), Deewana (1992) and Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke (1993), he shot to fame as well as bagged three Filmfare Awards. Many years later, he confronted the music director who once questioned his talent.
'I bumped into that music director a lot of times at various events, but he never dared to see me in my eyes. After I became extremely successful, I saw him at a party. I stopped to confront him and cleared things out.'