Writer-lyricist-journalist Neelesh Misra was recently in the news for voicing out against the scrutiny over the Netflix series, IC 814: The Kandahar Hijacking. Pulling out a leaf from his own book, 173 Hours in Captivity, Neelesh argued that the terrorists were indeed referred to by their codenames, and it is a futile fight to curb this choice of the makers, who were criticised for not mentioning the real names of the hijackers. But nevertheless, Netflix had to add a disclaimer to this show, which is based on the infamous incident where IC 814 was hijacked, and a seven-day hostage drama finally came to a close after three terrorists in Indian prisons were freed in exchange of the safety of the passengers. If the journalist and writer Neelesh stood for the creative freedom of his fellow writers and filmmakers, the lyricist Neelesh stood up for himself in a recent Twitter exchange.
Actor-politician Kangana Ranaut shared a video from the time of Woh Lamhe’s promotional drive, and wrote a message about body positivity, and the need for women to feel comfortable in their own skin. The video had the blockbuster song, “Kya Mujhe Pyaar Hai”, playing in the background. Sharing this video, Neelesh put forth a completely different yet pertinent argument. He wrote, “I wrote the song running in the video — ‘Kya Mujhe Pyaar Hai’ for this film. Sadly I wasn’t even invited to the music launch by the music label. A never ending story for writers.”
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I wrote the song running in the video — “Kya Mujhe Pyar Hai” for this film.
Sadly I wasn’t even invited to the music launch by the music label :-)
A never ending story for writers. https://t.co/novrHRA98c
— Neelesh Misra (@neeleshmisra) September 15, 2024
While this came as a revelation to many who didn’t know Neelesh Misra’s contribution as a lyricist, especially for this popular KK number, it also allowed the writer to talk about a much bigger malaise in the cinema music industry. Responding to a netizen who expressed his surprise about this knowledge, Neelesh wrote, “This is because radio stations (and now also digital platforms) rarely give credit to lyric writers. Check out how many lyric writers are the primary artistes in a song. All India Radio gave credit to all lyricists and composers — that is why we know which song was written and composed by who.”
This is because radio stations (and now also digital platforms) rarely give credit to lyric writers. Check out how many lyric writers are the primary artistes in a song.
All India Radio gave credit to all lyricists and composers — that is why we know which song was written and… https://t.co/8i0isom5L3— Neelesh Misra (@neeleshmisra) September 15, 2024
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We have launched the #SlowMusic label.
We would love for people to invest in it and get returns. I welcome all possible ideas for monetising our audio and video content! https://t.co/OeMNbTbQ23— Neelesh Misra (@neeleshmisra) September 15, 2024
However, Neelesh wasn’t just raising a complaint without understanding the machinations behind such processes. In fact, when a concerned netizen spoke to him about the possibility of having a crowd-funded platform to produce quality music that doesn’t have to be forcefully connected to the world of cinema, Neelesh said, “We have launched the #SlowMusic label. We would love for people to invest in it and get returns. I welcome all possible ideas for monetising our audio and video content!”
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