‘Tabaahi’ Lyricist Raj Shekhar on ‘Toxic’: ‘There’s Empathy In Yash Bhai’s Process’

In the song ‘Tabaahi’, there’s a fresh collision of worlds.

Raj Shekhar, the Hindi lyricist behind the track in Yash's Toxic, recalls the joy of working on a film that brought together seasoned technicians from across the country. “ I come from Bihar, and here I was writing a song for a film originally made in Kannada, backed by a filmmaker from the Malayalam film industry, with someone from UP [Vishal Mishra] making music for it. For the first time, I had this kind of a beautiful experience,” he tells The Hollywood Reporter India in an exclusive interview. 

The song, sung and composed by Vishal Mishra, is presented by Zee Music Company. Shekhar, who is behind several earworms including ‘Tum Ho To’ from Saiyaara, the ‘Tumbbad Anthem’ from Tummbad, and ‘Pehle Bhi Main’ from Animal, speaks about the collaborative process of lyric writing, learning the nuances and phonetics of several regional languages, and working with Yash to reflect emotions of passion, heat and destruction through ‘Tabaahi’. 

How did you become part of the project?

One day, Vishal Mishra asked to meet and discuss a song. When I went there, Yash bhai and Geetu Mohandas were there too. They briefed me about the song. I didn't know the entire story of the film, so I asked them about the characters. They told me they were still editing the film and suggested I watch certain parts. 

After two days, we met again, and in the hall, there were Kannada filmmaker and lyricist Yograj Bhat, Tamil filmmaker and lyricist Vignesh Shivan, and Telugu lyricist  Ramajogayya Sastry. We were all there together, and we developed a great bond while writing the song.

We were inspired by each other. I found that there was a roundness in the phonetics of Telugu text and, in Tamil, a roaring quality. We were discussing the phonetic qualities and metaphors of languages. Yash bhai and Geetu ma'am are collaborative, and they were guiding us on various things.

What was your creative brief for the song?

The tune was already composed, and it already had a phonetic landscape, which was honest and primal. It was like a roar, so we followed it. Yash bhai knows the character in and out because he has spent so many years with the role. 

It was our effort to flesh out the character's primal quest. When you hear the song, you'll hear the line, 'Ye laher, ye hawaa kab chali poochke?'. The line is a fact because a wave or a wind never asks someone before moving. Human beings are part of this nature. Will we ever free ourselves from the man-made construct of things being right and wrong... the caged morality? We wanted to bring out deep inner human philosophies through lyrics.

How important is it to show a film's emotional journey through songs and words? 

Honestly, I haven't watched the movie, but from the song's perspective, we've tried to go as close to the characters as possible. I've explored the same with my previous work. It is very important to know the setting of a song for me to be able to write. 

I'm thankful to the screenwriters, filmmakers, and the characters of the films. Be it Tanu and Manu in Tanu Weds Manu, Yogi in Qarib Qarib Singlle, Vinayak in Tumbbad, or Krish in Saiyaara. All of these characters have been different, so it helps me find their voice, their thoughts and their quest in life.

This character [in Toxic] is very unapologetic, so that's why, just in the first line of the song, he says, "Thodo saare usoolon ko." I always rely on the film to get these nuances right. If the film is talking about an inner conflict, songs give you the liberty to give these thoughts the fluidity to discuss this.

What was it like working with Yash and Geetu?

Both of them are very clear about what they want through their characters. They are extremely accepting of various perspectives. They also think about how the listener and the audience will understand the song and reflect on it. No wonder Yash bhai is so popular because he thinks about the audience. I find a lot of empathy in his process. He thinks about things like a fellow audience member with responsibility, so this was a learning experience for me.

Tell us about the story behind the word 'Tabaahi' and what it means in the context of the film.

We all know 'Tabaahi' means destruction. But in poetic tradition, destruction is celebrated. The destruction can also mean the destruction of the ego or self. The burning of the self has also been explored in Sufism. The end of duality and the creation of one is also explored. Sometimes 'Tabaahi' can also refer to passionate, primal love. In Hindi, there is this word called 'Ushnatha'... it is an inflammable trait. 'Bekhudi,' a beautiful word in Urdu, is the act of forgetting oneself and becoming selfless. 'Tabaahi' in this context takes me to these places. 

I think the word was already decided before I joined. Yash bhai or Vishal suggested this word, if I'm not wrong. But the challenge for me was to find how I can depict the passion between two people through the word.