Welcome to Cyrus Says!

In this episode of Cyrus Says, Farhad Samji joins Cyrus to share his journey from arriving in Mumbai with 350 songs to becoming one of Bollywood’s most recognised writers and directors. He talks about his early struggles, meeting Salman Khan, working with Ram Gopal Varma and Rohit Shetty, writing for Golmaal, Chennai Express and Singham, and the story behind the iconic line “Aata Majhi Satakli.”

Farhad also opens up about his bond with Johnny Lever, how he writes comedy for big stars, and the pressure of working on popular franchises such as Golmaal, Housefull, Singham, the Rohit Shetty cop universe and Welcome. He also talks about recently working on Welcome to the Jungle and explains why, despite being a director, he still sees himself as a writer first.

Watch the full episode of Cyrus Says for hilarious stories, Bollywood memories and a behind-the-scenes look at Farhad Samji’s creative journey.

Akanksha and Shantanu came to discuss sensible things. We put a stop to that immediately.

There’s FIFA possibly protecting Messi, Ram Kapoor versus Kushal Tandon, wedding gossip, weight loss, reality TV and enough incorrect information to comfortably run a news channel.

Nobody learns anything. Cyrus talks too much. Standard episode.

National Award-winning Indian classical vocalist Mahesh Kale joins Cyrus Broacha for a warm and wide-ranging conversation about music, career choices, spirituality and sport.

Mahesh shares how growing up around bhajans and classical music in Pune shaped his musical instincts, even as he followed the conventional path of studying engineering. He recalls the emotional encounter during his master’s programme in America that pushed him to reconsider a Silicon Valley career and give music his full attention.

He also talks about supporting himself through teaching, working in Marathi musical theatre, performing in Katyar Kaljat Ghusali and receiving national recognition for his singing.

The episode explores the philosophy behind Mahesh’s Abhangwari concerts and his efforts to connect Indian classical music with younger listeners. From writing bandishes about artificial intelligence and self-driving cars to experimenting with EDM, Mahesh explains why tradition must remain authentic while also finding new spaces in which to be discovered.

Cyrus and Mahesh also discuss football, cricket, Messi, Neymar and the psychology of high-level sport before ending with a classical music quiz and a spontaneous performance.