by Subhash K Jha

It's got to be a historic coming together. Lata bhakt Javed Akhtar who started his career as a film lyricist with the Nightingale's Yeh kahan aa gaye hum and Dekha ek khwab in Silsila , has teamed up with the indomitable songstress for an album of Ghazals.

"It's something I look forward to," confesses Lataji shyly.

"I had already recorded some Ghazals by other poets for the album, and my composer the young Mayuresh Pai and I had kept aside three tracks for Javed Saab...He came up to us with such enthusiasm," her sonorous laughter rings loud and clear. "He said, 'You take four of my lyrics and use any three you like."

Lataji recalls her long association with Javed Akhtar. "I've sung right from his Sagar and Silsila days to his recent songs in Lagaan and Zubeida. His words are simple and yet poetic. The album called Swaranjali will be my first non-film collaboration with Javed Saab. To that extent, I'm sure it will be very special."

The Nightingale hasn't done a Ghazal album in quite a while. "The last non-film album I did was also with Mayuresh Pai. It was an album of Atal Bihari Vajpayi-ji's poems. My last Ghazal album was, I think, Sajda with Jagjit Singh. Let's see how this one finally sounds."