Manoj Muntashir, the renowned
lyricist
behind some of Bollywood’s most iconic patriotic anthems, opens up about his deeply moving track ‘Mayee’ from
Skyforce
. In this exclusive conversation, Muntashir shares the emotional journey behind writing the song, his connection with the armed forces, and his hopes for its impact on soldiers and audiences alike. Excerpts…
Your song ‘Mayee’ elevates Skyforce to another level.
Poll
What resonates with you most about this patriotic anthem?
This song is very special for all of us. It is Tanishk Bagchi‘s composition. I remember its genesis. For the past few years, I have been writing many songs for our army, for our uniformed soldiers, and I have always had great respect for them. It’s something that resonates in everyone’s heart. It’s not that you will find someone in this country who doesn’t respect the soldiers. I have the privilege to write and also speak about them—that’s the only difference. So, whenever I’ve written songs in the past, they have been very successful, whether it was ‘
Teri Mitti
’ or ‘Desh Mere’, which became a legendary anthem. I always felt that I didn’t get the chance to say as much as I wanted to.
What do you mean?
Every time I wrote a patriotic song, I would request the director to give me one more stanza. I remember telling Anurag Singh during ‘Teri Mitti’ to let me write one more stanza, as I wanted to say more. We had recorded six stanzas of ‘Teri Mitti’, but still, a lot was left out. The same thing happened with ‘Desh Mere’, and I couldn’t write as much as I wanted to. I kept thinking there are so many other angles from which we can speak about patriotism.
How did ‘Mayee’ in Skyforce come about?
This situation arose when I got a call from Dinesh Vijan, who passionately explained the situation to me. While listening to Tanishk Bagchi’s composition, I heard these lines: ‘Teri Zamin Se Hum Sar Utha Ke Chale, Hans Ke Vida Kar Maa, Lal Hain Tere, Yaad Karna Humein, Dhol Tash Baja Maa O Maa.’ If our soil calls us, we’ll leave this world and come. If you call us, we’ll come with the tricolor. I think this represents the voice of every soldier’s heart, and it just happened.
Interestingly, you wrote ‘Mayee’ when you were not in India?
Yes, I was in Dubai at the time. This happens quite often with me. Let me tell you, a lot of ‘Teri Mitti’ was written by me in London, and I wrote much of ‘Mayee’ in Dubai. It happens that when I’m outside the country, I miss my homeland deeply. I’ve always had homesickness, and this country is my home. I had gone to Dubai for a show, and as the situation unfolded, I had to write there. I was missing my country a lot. Whatever I wrote at that time became the song.
One more thing about ‘Mayee’?
Yes, there’s something else. Dinesh, Tanishk, and I had all decided that we wouldn’t try to copy ‘Teri Mitti’ at all. We wouldn’t go into that zone; whatever came naturally and organically is what we followed. So, we kept ‘Teri Mitti’ far from our minds. When Akshay Kumar is in uniform, he is very inspiring. I pray that this song reaches far and wide, that it’s adopted by the soldiers of this country. It should reach those for whom it’s written, and only then will I consider my work successful.
