Participating in several sessions at the ongoing Jashn-e-Rekhta in Delhi, Javed Akhtar narrated his poetry and discussed the influence of Urdu on everyday language, especially in Hindi cinema. Giving an example of the vast vocabulary of Urdu he shared that there was a film for which Laxmikant-Pyarelal hesitatingly approached him, saying that there is an aarti in the film, and he has to write it.

He said, “I told him, ‘Give me the tune, I will write it.’ When he gave me the tune, it wasn’t an aarti but a song’s tune. Maine unse kaha aapne mujhe gaane ki tune di, aarti ki nahi di. Aarti mein ek crescendo hota hai, aarti aise hi nahi khatm ho jati hai. Maine toh apni taraf se likh diya hai aur woh crescendo, main Krishna ke naam se likh diya hai. Aap tune compose kar lijega. Woh crescendo tha: ‘Woh krishna kanhaiya murlidhar manmohan kanh murari hai, gopal manohar dukhbhanjan ghanshyam atal banwari hai, woh kans vinashak maharathi sudarshan chakra ke dhari hai...’ Laxmikant was perplexed. He told me, ‘Itne naam toh humein nahi maloom, tumhe kaise maloom?’ I told him, ‘Ye saare naam hain Urdu shayari mein’.”

He added that from Jan Nisar Akhtar, Gulzar, and Kaifi Azmi to Anand Bakshi — for many lyricists of Hindi cinema, it was Urdu that polished their language and craft.

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“We think this time is important because we are in it, but it is not. A nation's history cannot be judged in the span of 20-25 years. Nation ki history ko 10-15 varsh ya 25 varsh mat dekhiye. Hindustan ki rooh kahin aur hai.”