MUMBAI - Many felt the title of Vishal Bharadwaj’s latest hit “Kaminey” was odd. But lyricist Gulzar says that far from being abusive, it is a term of endearment.

In fact, his old associate and friend Om Puri actually comes to Gulzar’s home, has his favourite snacks and waits to hear the favourite ‘k’ word.

“The last time he visited Om said, ‘Abhi tak aapne mujhe ek baar kamina nahin kaha’. It’s like a little affectionate pat planted on the shoulder like a mock slap to let the other person know you care,” Gulzar, who has penned the lyrics of “Kaminey” songs, told IANS.

“Far from being a negative term ‘kaminey’ is actually a term of endearment… unless added to ‘kuttey’ (dog). It’s only ‘kuttey kaminey’ that’s used angrily and negatively. When a friend doesn’t visit us when he’s in town, we call him ‘kamina’.

“The word can be translated as ‘mean’ in English. Kids say, ‘Papa you’re mean’. Likewise when a mother says to her son, ‘Kamina kahin ka’, she is expressing a love beyond the annoyance visible in the word.”

Gulzar is riding high on the charts again with the songs of “Kaminey”. He says his collaboration with Bharadwaj is an extension of what he shared with legendary composer R.D. Burman.

“I saw the same spark in Vishal. Luckily, the hunger to explore new musical avenues remains alive within him although he’s now a reputed filmmaker.”

Bharadwaj also sees Gulzar as integral to his cinematic and musical vision. The two were busy collaborating on Bharadwaj’s bio-pic on ‘Fearless Nadia’ until the project got shelved and the director moved on to ‘Kaminey’. In fact, Gulzar had already written some songs for the Nadia bio-pic.

“Every time Vishal and I get to explore a new facet in Hindi film music. ‘Kaminey’ is unlike anything I’ve written before. But I must tell you my favourite song is not ‘Dhan ta nan’, but the title song by Vishal. I’ve written some thoughtful words there. Unfortunately it’s only the fast-paced rhythm-oriented numbers that work these days. And no one is listening to the words there any way,” he said.