Lyricist Mehboob Kotwal reveals the unique visual trick he used to write the lyrics of Manisha Koirala’s ‘Kehna Hi Kya’ song from Bombay.
The song ‘Kehna Hi Kya’ from Mani Ratnam’s Bombay (1995) is one of the most iconic and loved tracks in Indian cinema history. Even after all these years, people still listen to its beautiful melody and soulful words. In a throwback with Bollywood Hungama, the song’s lyricist, Mehboob Kotwal, recalled the amazing behind-the-scenes story of how this classic track was actually made.
It all started in a very small room in Chennai. Mehboob sat down with a group of creative geniuses: director Mani Ratnam, composer A.R. Rahman, filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, and tennis star Vijay Amritraj. At that point, the music had already been recorded in the Tamil language.
Mehboob’s job was to write Hindi words that would perfectly fit the existing tune. Mani Ratnam narrated the situation of the song to him. The scene was simple yet emotional—Manisha Koirala’s character Shaila is attending a wedding and giving her blessings to the bride.
To write the perfect words, Mehboob did something unique. During the screening of the film’s raw rushes, he chose to sit directly behind Manisha in the theater. He carefully watched her every move like how she opened a trunk, how her dupatta moved in the air, and how she expressed her feelings. Watching her closely helped him write lyrics that perfectly matched the five-minute movie scene.
However, Mehboob also added that the real magic happened because of the singer, K.S. Chithra. He gave her a beautiful compliment, saying she sang every single word so cleanly that it felt like premium basmati rice, where every single grain is perfectly separate and fluffy. He shared that she sang the track straight from her soul.
The team worked incredibly hard on the song. Chithra arrived at the recording studio at 6:00 am. Even at that early hour, A.R. Rahman was fully focused. He kept asking Mehboob about the exact meaning and feeling behind every Hindi word he wrote. Chithra stood at the microphone and practiced with Mehboob for half an hour to get the pronunciation just right. When the recording was finally finished, everyone in the room was completely shocked by how beautiful it sounded. Her incredible voice had turned the song into a masterpiece that people still love today.
Bombay revolves around Shekhar (Arvind Swamy), a Hindu journalist, and Shaila Banu (Manisha Koirala), a Muslim woman, who defy religious opposition to marry and raise twin sons in Bombay, only to face the devastating impact of the 1992–93 riots.
Considered to be one of Mani Ratnam’s most impactful works, the romantic drama won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration (1996).
