Neelesh Misra performed in Bengaluru on January 6 at Ambedkar Bhavan. The show featured stories he narrated set to the tune of film and non-film songs, he wrote. This was his debut as a performer in Bengaluru and he was two hours late. For a change, Bengaluru traffic was innocent.
For the uninitiated, Neelesh is a journalist, author of five books, media entrepreneur, Hindi film lyricist, and the Editor and co-founder of the rural media platform, Gaon Connection.
Neelesh started his career as a journalist, covering topics ranging from the Kargil War, to insurgency. In his lyricist avatar, Neelesh shot to fame with the song, ‘Jadu hai nasha hai’ from Mahesh Bhatt’s Jism.
From sharing his experience as a lyricist and journalist to his show in Bengaluru, Neelesh speaks to Metroplus from Lucknow.
Edited excerpts
From covering insurgency to penning Bollywood songs, how has your journey been?
Without actively seeking it, my search has always been to tell the stories of people in different fields. Irrespective of which agency I was working with, I was always trying to visually write human narratives. That is what I looking for whether I was in Kashmir, Chattisgarh, on a movie set or at the Olympics in China. People have always interested me. I am a fairly good listener too. It is a rare quality that gives you humility and a better understanding of people. One of my biggest strengths is empathy, as a journalist, a storyteller or a writer. Journalism taught me patience.
Journalists, today, become the story instead of reporting it. Humility has gone out of journalism. The ‘I’ in journalism did not exist for the print media generation, which is where I come from. You had to earn your byline. Then television came along and journalists wanted to show their faces, wanted their names to be known and newspapers responded with picture bylines. The ‘I’ crept into journalism and individual branding started to happen, which in turn lead to the erosion of values in journalism.
I come from the era where journalists were like a postman or a librarian — presenting news and facts as they are. That came in handy whether I was a journalist or a writer.
Does your lived experiences come into your story telling as well?
Absolutely. Journalism teaches you to be a keen observer of even small moments. When you put in those tiny details into your story as a journalist, you are creating a screenplay of life. For instance, when I was writing a book on hijacking, in my interviews of the passengers, I asked about the food they ate, the brand of beer they were served, and even the colour of the beer can. Some of the passengers did get irritated, but when I wrote, ‘when the first hijacker attacked, so-and-so was eating this holding a green coloured beer can in their hand, it became visual writing for me. That prepared me for everything that followed. I am a detective of small moments, who looks for that tiny glint in the eye, the flicker of the eyelids, long silences, twiddling of the thumbs, all these come into my storytelling.
Journalism is about facts, and being objective, while fiction films are driven by emotion and imagination. Did you face any challenges in the transition?
Being an agency journalist, is all about disciplined writing. When I wrote the first chapter of my first book, it was in a journalistic style despite being fiction. That is when I started exploring long form writing. Fiction did not come easy to me, but is like an addiction, as it gives you this super power of trying to imagine the what ifs, which transforms the author into a demigod. Working as a journalist and writing fictions, was like living a double life. Whether I was covering insurgency, floods, war or earthquakes, I would also be scribbling a love song for a Hindi film. If I was driving on the highways of Chattisgarh for a news story, I would also be on call with a composer discussing a song.
You wrote the song, ‘Maine Dile Se Kaha’ for Irrfan Khan’s Rog while in a traffic jam in Delhi. How did creativity happen amidst the chaos?
My office was in Central Delhi and I lived in Noida. While driving home, I was stuck in traffic. That is when I got a call from the composer, MM Keeravani, and we discussed the song.
By the time I reached Pragati Maidan I had the mukhda of the song. I pulled over and made notes on my dictaphone. I hit the road again, pulling over when I got the next line. By the time I reached home, the song was complete.
I need to credit Keeravani who I also worked with on ‘Jadu hai nasha hai’. He is an epitome of humility, grace and professorialism. He is intense and registers even the slightest sound in the background.
How did you come to be part of the Band Called Nine?
This was a con job by me (laughing sheepishly). I am not a trained singer. We were approached by a music label and they wanted to do an album with me. By this time, many of my film songs had been released. Non-film music was dead because of piracy. We were asked to form a band, I sat with Shilpa Rao, who got the band together. I suggested it be called a writer-led band because I did not want to be a non-playing captain. They wanted to know what the writer would do on stage and impulsively I made up a line: the writer will tell a story. That’s how my story telling journey started.
How was your performance in Bengaluru?
It was an eventful day. I have never been late for any of my performances. I was two hours late for the concert as my flight was delayed. The concert was supposed to start at 6pm, but I landed in Bengaluru only at 7pm. I was miserable because people were waiting for over two hours. Yet, when I reached the stage, all I got was love from the audience. That is priceless and cannot be taken for granted. So, as a sign of my gratitude and respect for the love I received from my audience, I announced that all the tickets will be refunded. They are being done as we speak. The relationship with my audiences is unique as the story telling makes them connect to me and open up to me in unimaginable ways. After the show, people wait to meet me and share their personal experiences — be it a mother talking about her autistic child, a person coping with mental health issues or an aged person dealing with loneliness. It is such a blessing and a privilege when people connect with you.
