Manoj Muntashir on Urdu, Sahir Ludhianvi & Bollywood Lyrics | Live at Jashn-e-Rekhta

Manoj Muntashir on Urdu, Sahir Ludhianvi & Bollywood Lyrics | Live at Jashn-e-Rekhta How Urdu Transformed Bollywood Lyrics Manoj Muntashir How Sahir Ludhianvi Changed Manoj Muntashir’s Life Forever | Live at Jashn-e-Rekhta Sahir Changed My Life Forever! Manoj Muntashir “Padhna Bharna Hai, Likhna Chhalakna Hai” – Manoj Muntashir on Urdu & Film Lyrics at Jashn-e-Rekhta Padhna Bharna Hai, Likhna Chhalakna Hai Manoj Muntashir . A college student at Pratapgarh station, twenty rupees in hand, choosing a book of Sahir's poetry over two days of breakfast. Manoj Muntashir tells that story to Saumya at Jashn-e-Rekhta, and it's where his relationship with Urdu poetry actually starts. He came from an English-medium convent background and found the collection, edited by Prakash Pandit, during a train journey from Gauriganj while studying at Allahabad University. He reads from Sahir's Parchhaiyan here. Asked how a boy from a farming family came to write in Urdu at all, his answer is that almost everyone in the subcontinent already does, several times a day, without noticing. Ask for a glass of water and you've used it. On craft he's uncompromising. Reading is what fills the vessel and writing is what spills over it, and his position is that nobody has earned the right to write their first sher until two thousand couplets by other people are already in their head. He also defends contemporary film writing against the charge that the poetry has gone out of it, reading from his own work in Teri Galliyan, Tere Sang Yaara, Mere Rashke Qamar and Kaun Tujhe. On the harder question of accessibility, he sets Ghalib's most difficult opening verses against how a film song carries comparable weight in language anyone can follow, which he treats as the real challenge of the job rather than a compromise. He's less comfortable with where the industry is heading, and worried about grace being traded for whatever will land in the moment. He closes with a nazm of his own on composite culture, Karbala and Kailash held in the same breath. Javed Akhtar comes up along the way. . Chapters: 00:00:00 Introducing Manoj Muntashir 00:00:31 Urdu in Everyday Life 00:01:47 How Manoj Discovered Sahir Ludhianvi 00:02:42 Sahir’s Poetry in Manoj’s Voice 00:04:26 Read More, Write Better 00:05:29 Poetry in Manoj’s Bollywood Songs 00:07:16 Why Bollywood Lyrics Need Urdu 00:08:00 Ghalib, Tum Bin and Simple Lyrics 00:09:08 Where Modern Film Lyrics Fall Short 00:10:26 Rekhta and a Closing Poem of Unity . About Jashn-e-Rekhta Jashn-e-Rekhta is the world’s largest cultural festival celebrating the beauty, depth, and living spirit of the Urdu language. Held annually, it brings together poets, musicians, writers, thinkers, and artists from across the world to create a space of poetry, music, conversations, and storytelling. From soul-stirring mushairas and spellbinding musical evenings to intimate dialogues and immersive cultural experiences, the festival is where language turns into emotion and heritage finds a contemporary voice. More than a festival, Jashn-e-Rekhta is a movement that keeps Urdu alive, relevant, and deeply connected across generations. . #manojmuntashir #jashnerekhta #urdupoetry #sahirludhianvi #bollywoodlyrics #shayari #urduadab . About Rekhta Foundation: Rekhta Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation committed to preserving, promoting, and celebrating the Urdu language and its rich literary and cultural legacy. Through digital archives, learning platforms, publications, festivals, and community initiatives, the Foundation works to make Urdu accessible and meaningful for audiences worldwide. By bridging classical traditions with modern platforms and voices, Rekhta Foundation ensures that the language continues to inspire, connect, and evolve with time. . IMPORTANT COPYRIGHT NOTICE © Rekhta Foundation. All rights reserved. Unauthorised downloading, clipping, re-uploading, or reuse of this content (audio/video/visuals) is strictly prohibited without written permission. . External Links: Website: https://rekhta.org/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jashnerekhtaofficial/ Rekhta Books: https://rekhtabooks.com/ Rekhta Learning: https://rekhtalearning.com/