Kausar Munir, Lyricist: Be Yourself, Even In A Man’s World

Kausar Munir, Lyricist: Be Yourself, Even In A Man’s World

Everyone asks me if it is hard being the only female lyricist in Bollywood. Of course it is hard. But it is only as hard as it would be for a man to walk in heels. It’s not impossible, it’s just a mindset that needs to be broken. Women tend to steer clear of Bollywood. That’s why we have just one music composer, Sneha Khanwalkar, as opposed to at least 20 dudes with a sound mixer. And then there is me, a female lyricist with no formal training in Urdu.

My struggle, if I can call my experiences a struggle, started after I started penning words for songs. I had never planned on being a bard. I used to write for shows like Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin. One evening the scriptwriter of Jassi…, Victor [Vijay Krishna Acharaya] asked me to write a song for his film, Tashan. And I wrote Falak tak chal, which was a hit. After that, Habib Faisal asked me to pen a song for Ishaqzaade. I wrote the songs and everyone loved them. Words like Pareshaan and Ishaqzaade caught on and people wanted to know who the bespectacled girl was. That is when my struggle actually began.



Until then, I was quietly writing songs in a corner and was no threat to anyone in the industry. But after songs like Saiyaara and Mashallah from Ek Tha Tiger, I came to be seen as the female lyricist who disrupted the male bastion. The songs became a dead albatross around my neck – filmmakers wanted me to come up with a new cool Urdu word for every song. It put me under tremendous pressure. Plus, the expectations of being a woman lyricist were mounting. Suddenly I had become a postergirl for gender equality! I don’t know who put that responsibility on my shoulder but I think it’s the women themselves.

Now I’ve realised that to survive in a man’s world, you have to be a woman. Women are better listeners and understand briefs better. Being myself worked in my favour. And it will work in yours too.

Scorecard
1 Be a strong woman and know that gender has nothing to do with competence. You have to believe that you are as good as anyone else on the job.
2 Even if someone plays gender politics, ignore them. The right people will notice you at the right time. 
3 Never hold grudges against people who doubted you. Grudges will only pull you down.
4 Remember that you will start small, but keep at it. Don't give up.