Hyderabad: On the 10th anniversary of Dhanush's film Raanjhanaa, singer Javed Ali and lyricist Irshad Kamli share fond memories of the film. The two looked back on the film and spoke about their experience and how they became a part of the project. The singer recalled how he was unprepared to record the song when composer AR Rahman called him, while Irshad shares how "Tum Tak" was composed.
Javed Ali recorded the song Tum Tak from Raanjhanaa in 2012. Surprisingly, he was unprepared when composer AR Rahman summoned him for the recording. "I was on vacation with my family in Goa when I received a call from Rahman sir. He needed to record Tum Tak right away. So I travelled to Chennai while my family stayed in Goa," Ali explained.
He added, "When I arrived there, Irshad sir (Irshad Kamil; lyricist) and Aanand L Rai (director) sir were there. Rahman sir provided the music, and Irshad sir braided lyrics to it and I recorded it. We added some wonderful modifications to the tune, and I loved how I sounded in Tum Tak. It's one of my best songs, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to work on it."
Meanwhile, Irshad reminisced many nice memories related to the film, from writing during a vacation and visiting Banaras to enjoying good food. "There is a situation in the film where a song is picturised while marriage preparations are on," Kamil explained talking about his most difficult song. "The director was certain that he did not want a standard love song. So I came up with the concept of mukrees, a type of writing style established by Amir Khusrow (late poet-singer). As a result, Ay Sakhi was born," he added.
"I visited the Banaras ghaats to get the feel of the Ganga," Kamil recalls of the research that went into creating such varied tunes. "I also mingled with the people and came up with 'Banarasiya Bana Rasiya'. However, Nazar Laaye Na is Kamil's favourite song from the film. "My wife Tasveer and I were on vacation when I received a late-night phone from Rahman sir's studio, telling me that they'd mailed me the composition and that I needed to record the song the next day with the lyrics. We had plans to go touring the next day. So I got up at 5 a.m., finished the song by 8 a.m., and left for sightseeing at 9 a.m. It was an interesting experience," he recalled.
Working with Rahman was an honour for Kamil. "Rahman sir is a musical marvel. Every time I work with him, I learn something new. Rahman sir once invited me to see him in Mumbai. He wanted to talk about the film's opening song (in the movie). When I arrived, he inquired if I'd written anything, and I replied with two words: 'Tum Tak'. He smiled and appreciated them, and by the time we met again, he'd already created a beautiful composition with just those two words," the lyricist added.
