/> Javed Akhtar is in a nostalgic mood about the city that nurtured his dreams. "I came to Mumbai on 4 October 1954. Since then this city has given me everything from food to fame. I was taken aback when Readers' Digest called it a rude city.

Mumbai isn't a rude city. It's a no-nonsense city. Everyone is busy and has no time for niceties. But when it comes to showing solidarity we're right on top of the map. Didn't we see how the compassion oozed out during the July deluge in 2005?"

In 2007 Javed Akhtar is back to being the busiest bee among the bards of Bollywood.

"In 2006 I had Karan Johar's Kabhi Alvidaa Na Kehna and J.P. Dutta's Umrao Jaan one after another. I'm glad people like my work with Karan after Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham and Kal Ho Na Ho...Umrao Jaan was a special challenge.

The film had already been done to great glory earlier, and so were the songs. Aaj -tak log sunte hain purane Umrao Jaan ke gaane. You can't fight history and myth. But anyway I removed the fear of myth and destiny. For the first time I had to write poetry for Mujras. I wrote one whole song in pure Awadhi. "

So this year the lyrics' awards will again go to Javed? "Chaliye Saahib dekhte hain kya hota hai. Last year I only had Mangal Pandey. And we all know what happened to that."

Incidentally Javed Akhtar doesn't think much of Rekha as an actress. But he loved her performance in Krissh.

"I've never been a fan of Rekha. Mujhe uski performance dil mein nahin lagi. But I liked her immensely in Krissh. Unka rona hasna sab heroine ka hota hai. But the way she wept in Krissh had to be seen."

Javed teamed up with Himesh Reshammiya for the first time in Vipul Shah's Namaste London. "Himesh has gone back to tuning in the old way. The tunes are all done in the bandish tradition, that the Ustads of music used to sing in the olden days.

Taking those bandish Himesh has tuned them in a modern way. So catchy are those bandish they listeners cannot stop humming them. I enjoy working with new composers."