Sameer

Anjaan, the well-known lyricist, refused to help his son when he wanted to follow in his foot-steps. The whole family was against the boy’s joining the risky world of films. Sameer, the son, however managed very well on his own. He was born Shitla Pandey and completed his Master’s Degree in Commerce from Banaras Hindu University before reverting to his first love – writing lyrics for films!

Starting at the bottom of the ladder like any newcomer, the first song he wrote was in 1983 for the film Bekhabar - ‘Gori Pareshan Hai Kali Pareshan Hai’. With 'Dil', Sameer became the hottest new lyricist on the block. All songs were hits and with Anand Milind dodging questions of plagiarism, it was Sameer who occupied centre stage for his melodious words. 'Aashiqui' created the biggest impact. This Gulshan Kumar film, which launched another composer duo Nadeem – Shravan had lyrics penned by Sameer, firmly establishing him as one of the top songwriters of the Hindi film industry.  Sameer used to work only for two composers: Anand Milind and Nadeem Shravan. The rest either did not approach him or vice versa. This phase came to an abrupt end when his father passed away and within days his mentor Gulshan Kumar was shot dead. Immediately afterwards his friend Nadeem was arrested in the same case. It was too much of a shock and Sameer left Mumbai for Varanasi to get over the mental anguish.

He went on to work at breakneck speed, churning out some 3500 songs in the next ten years, setting a record of sorts. He worked with the maximum number of music directors and whatever his detractors said, he proved his complete versatility, working in two languages, Hindi and Bhojpuri. On his return he first worked on 'Haseena Maan Jaayegi' whose music was being done by Anu Malik after Nadeem’s imprisonment. Anu even helped him to get films like 'Soldier', 'Hum Aap ke Dil Mein Rahte Hain' and 'Sooryavansham'.  It was like a second coming for the lyricist when he bagged 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai' on Yash Chopra’s proposal. Similarly the hugely popular 'Ghulam' had Sameer’s signature as also 'Pyar To Hona Hi Tha' on Jatin – Lalit’s recommendation. They are the people who are responsible for the sustenance of Sameer’s career.