04-08-2025
- Entertainment
- New Indian Express
"I must be 'bavra'," says musician Swanand Kirkire in Bengaluru
Whether you've danced on tabletops to 'Aal Izz Well' as a college student, sought solace in 'Bavra Mann' on a lonely ride through a new city, or sighed dreamily at the flirtatious romance of 'Piyu Bole', one thing is certain that these songs penned and sung by Swanand Kirkire have touched our hearts and playlists.
'If it connects with you in a very honest space, it connects with everyone – that's been my experience,' says Kirkire, reflecting on what it takes to make hits that connect generations. The lyricist, who was in the city for a session at the Bengaluru Poetry Festival, adds, 'You cannot think of generations when you are writing songs. You are the people, and people are you. When you do something just to please others, you fail.'
Born in Indore, Kirkire's first brush with writing did not come from poetry or lyrics but through plays. 'I'm not one of those artistes who started writing since childhood – it is an acquired thing for me. When you are doing plays and you want a song but you don't have anybody to write it for you – you just do it yourself,' he says. It was when Kirkire moved to Mumbai to work as an assistant director, still not considering a songwriting career, that his first big break, 'Bavra Mann', came about. A transcendental melody that captures the feeling of restless yearning and chasing dreams, the song from 'Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi' (2003) was deeply personal to Kirkire.
He still cannot explain its longstanding resonance, saying, 'It's a mystery to me. I don't know how or why it came to me. It happened on a lonely night in Bombay – I was going in an auto rickshaw and laughing at myself, thinking 'what am I doing?' I've come with a dream to a big city with nothing in hand, I must be 'bavra' (crazy). But the rest of the song, I don't know how it happened. Poetry comes from your subconscious mind.'
