I really loved A R Rahman's music for 'Ye maya chesaave'. The music was redone for the Hindi version 'Ek Deewana Tha'. There is this song - 'Phoolon jaisi ladki' the original for which was the brilliant 'Kundana Bomma'. The music is exactly the same as the original. These are the lyrics for the first part of the Hindi version:

Aahaan... hai yeh kya?
Aankhein..
Aankhein yeh aankhein
Saagar se gehri yeh aankhien (hey!)
Jhookti (hey!)
Uth.ti (hey!)
Sharmeeli se aankhien, yeh aankhien
Sapno ki rajdhani
Saare... jugnu... taare
Inse hi jagmagana seekhe
Oh ho ho..


I don't understand Telugu so I am not sure if these words are a direct translation of the original. But honestly, these lyrics are pathetic. I make no claims to a poetic temperament but I can tell this is plain bad poetry. Especially the phrase "Sapnon ki rajdhani"!

Javed Akhtar, the lyricist, could definitely have done better. In fact, the album is touted as "An A. R. Rahman and Javed Akhtar musical"!

This is what typically happens when the lyrics are done after the music. And especially so when the music is redone in another language. So, while we see good lyrics for original music like 'Rockstar', we see disasters like this.