India’s beloved lyricist Javed Akhtar recently enchanted his audience with nail-biting behind-the-scene stories of writing the song Nikle The Kabhi Hum Ghar Se for Dunki. Akhtar wasn’t excited to write just one song. He recalled how Rajkumar Hirani finally convinced him to Nikle The Kabhi Hum Ghar se in exchange for Rs. 25 lakhs.

“I usually don’t write just one song in the film,” he admitted before praising Hirani for his dedication and humility. “Ye mera kamaal nahin hai. Ye kamaal Raju Hirani ka hai.”

Javed Akhtar’s hard-to-get stint with Rajkumar Hirani

The eminent lyricist Javed Akhtar was present at SaReGaMa’s Main Koi Aisa Geet Gaon show on December 29^th. Akhtar began narrating interesting BTS stories about working with Rajkumar Hirani to write the song Nikle The Kabhi Hum Ghar Se for Dunki. Akhtar charged Rs. 25 lakhs for this song.

“I usually don’t write just one track in the film,” he said. “Raju Hirani saab asked me to write lyrics of just one song. I declined but he insisted. He said, ‘Yeh gaana aapke alawa koi nahin likh sakta’. I kept unreasonable terms in front of him (expecting he would leave me alone)’.”

Rajkumar Hirani’s directorial Dunki was released on December 21^st last year. It has grossed Rs. 360 crores worldwide. The exquisite star cast belongs to Shah Rukh Khan, Taapsee Pannu, Boman Irani, Vicky Kaushal, Vikram Kochhar, and others.

Demands Javed Akhtar put to Rajkumar Hirani

Javed Akhtar has an immaculate sense of his worth. When Rajkumar Hirani approached him to write the song Nikle The Kabhi Hum Ghar Se, Akhtar wasn’t an easy catch.

According to the magazine Film Information, Komal Nahta has enlisted 3 demands Akhtar put in front of Hirani to come on board for the Dunki song:

1. His name as the lyricist would appear for an equal length of time as Rajkumar Hirani’s
2. His name would have a separate display, and not be clubbed with other lyricists, and
3. 25 lakhs to write the song

Akhtar had expected Hirani to power down and leave him be. Only Hirani didn’t. He then went on regaling the audience with Hirani’s persistence.

“Without batting an eyelid, he agreed to those terms. Yeh mera kamaal nahin hai. Yeh kamaal Raju Hirani ka hai. Jiske peeche paanch super-duper hit films thi, usko samaj thi ki yeh gaana mujhe iss aadmi se milega. Ego was not governing him. His love for his film was governing him. Hats off to him!”

Nahta mentioned in the report that this is the highest fee paid to any lyricist ever for one song.

Netizens react to Rs. 25 lakhs as Javed Akhtar’s fee

An uproar was destined to happen when this news was posted by a Reddit user on the platform. Netizens were pretty quick to react. While some said the amount was demeaning for a lyricist like Akhar, others expressed concern over the culture of underpaid artists in Bollywood.

One user said, “25 lakhs is considered whopping for a prolific lyricist like him?”

Another user reacted with concern. “They are underpaid massively. Kaala chasma lyricist claimed he got only 10000 for his song. This is peanuts must say.”

Another commented, “25 lakhs is the highest for a prolific and a legend like him? My goodness ! then what about the rest of the writers ?how much those poor souls are paid?”

One more user scribbled, “In lakhs? Only??! They deserve more than this!”