Chhaayaageet #113 - "Aap manaa nahin kar sakte kyun ki mein aap se bahot pyar karta hun."
"You cannot refuse because I love you very much."
Not all music is composed for a film or for some album. There is a lot of music that composers compose for themselves. Some of it gets picked up for a film, years after it is born. When the right time comes along. When the music and the moment meet.
It is the late 1990s. A young music composer is going through the usual struggle to find his footing in the film industry. It's not an easy industry to break into. Especially for an outsider. Especially for someone who drops out of second year of mechanical engineering deciding to make a career in music. Left brain shutting off. Right brain game on. After a few stints taking music lessons in Delhi, piano and vocal lessons in Pune, he arrives in Mumbai to take classical lessons from an Ustad.
An entry level job is to try and become an arranger and an assistant to somebody. Then you get to work on some projects like recording an album with a singer.
While working on one such album, a tune comes to the composer randomly, organically just like that. It is not related to the album. Just a tune from the heart. He shares it with a lyricist who writes a mukhda for it. And then it goes back into the treasure chest, where gems go to rest, until they are found and polished again.
Fast forward a few years, it is now the late 2000s. The composer is now established in his own right as a music composer, thanks to a big break from a big banner film. Still he is not a household name yet. He crosses paths with a young filmmaker looking to make his first film. They work on a film together. The film and the music both receive positive reviews. Still, it's not a break out success.
Now the filmmaker is planning his second film. The second film needs a different genre of music, more bhangra pop. And so the filmmaker has gone with another composer. That's ok. These things happen. Horses for courses.
But the two of them stay in touch, checking up on how the film is coming along. One day the composer shares his old gem of a tune with the filmmaker. The filmmaker is in head over heels with the tune. He decides he must have it in his film. A semi-classical song with the rest of the bhangra pop soundtrack.
The composer contacts his old lyricist friend and asks him to write the rest of the antaras. The song comes together beautifully. The composer is sure that only a trained classical singer would do justice to this composition. He firmly believes that when one does riyaaz for several years, their voice acquires a sense of divinity. You can feel that in their singing.
He approaches the classical singer, a great grandson of the founder of a music gharana. The classical singer is not interested. He doesn't have anything against film songs, but he has better classical things to do with his time. He quotes a very high price to the composer, knowing the composer would not be able to pay.
The composer doesn't back down. He requests the singer, "Aap is gaane se manaa nahin kar sakte." You cannot refuse to sing this song.
The singer takes offense at this comment. What does he mean? His face turns red with anger. "Mein kyun manaa nahin kar sakta?" Why can I not refuse?
The composer genuinely says, "Aap manaa nahin kar sakte kyun ki mein aap se bahut pyar karta hun." You cannot refuse because I love you very much.
There is no anger that can stand its ground in the face of an honest expression of love.
The singer is moved. He relents. "Aap Kalkatte aa jao. Mein record kar doonga." You come to Calcutta. I will record. But not without conditions. The classical singer lays down how he wants the song to be. He is a purist, and the classical structure cannot be compromised even if the song has a modern music arrangement with piano pieces.
The song is duly recorded. As the filmmaker shares it with his crew, they all give a unanimous thumbs down. It stands out as a sore thumb amidst the rest of the bhangra pop numbers. It feels slow, even boring.
"Yeh buddhe logon ka gaana hai, aur hamari film jawan hai", they tell him. This song feels it is for old timers, whereas our film is young at heart. The filmmaker is now in a quandary. His faith in the song is hanging by a thin thread. He feels embarrassed to even shoot it. This song will come at a pivotal point in the film, when the hero and heroine experience heartbreaks. He is in love with her but can't tell her because she is in love with someone else who does not reciprocate her love. And both experience heartbreaks.
How to shoot this song when the crew doesn't like it? The filmmaker instructs his sound guy, "Dekh jitna shoot kar rahe hain utna hi gaana play karna, start se mat play karna". Only play the portion which we are shooting, don't play from the beginning.
Shailesh Shandilya composed this tune in the late 1990s, which was used in Imtiaz Ali's Jab We Met (2007), lyrics by Faaiz Anwar, and sung by Ustad Rashid Khan. Shandilya was guest music composer for this song, as the rest of the songs were composed by Pritam.
The song is of the semi-classical genre with a modern music arrangement. Chris Masand, a renowned orchestrator and pianist, played the piano pieces. The violin pieces are played by Suresh Lalwani. The flute is played by Naveen Kumar, who also happens to be AR Rahman's favorite flautist.
Shandilya got his first big break in Karan Johar's Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham (2001), in which he got a chance to guest compose Sooraj hua maddham, You are my Sonia, and Deewana hai dekho.
Shandilya and Imtiaz Ali worked together in Ali's maiden film Socha Na Tha (2005).
Ustad Rashid Khan is the doyen of the Rampur-Sahaswan gharana founded by his great- grandfather, Inayat Hussein Khan. Rashid Khan got training in classical music from the young age of 6 years, and gave his first concert at the age of 11.
Of all the songs in Jab We Met, Aaoge jab tum has achieved everlasting popularity.
The success of Jab We Met brought fame and popularity to Imtiaz Ali. He has said that of all the people working on the film, Shahid Kapoor was the only one who was confident and had faith in the film, which even Imtiaz Ali did not. Imtiaz Ali wrote the entire film in only two days, but the script had been taking shape in his mind for many years.
A friend of Imtiaz's wanted to make a film and needed help. So Imtiaz suggested they do a brainstorming exercise, where each would say one sentence and see where that would lead. The friend said, "A man driven to suicide by depression." Then it was Imtiaz's turn. He said, "A girl running away in a train." They thought they could combine these plot points. However the friend got busy with something else. But these two sentences stayed in Imtiaz Ali's mind, for a long time, and after his first film, he decided to make the film. Pankaj Kapoor suggested the title Jab We Met.
Enjoy Ustad Rashid Khan performing Aaoge jab tum live at Jashn-e-rekhta in 2017.
Ustad Rashid Khan and Ustad Rahat Fateh Ali Khan performing Aaoge jab tum together live.
Music: Shailesh Shandilya
Singer: Ustad Rashid Khan
Lyrics: Faaiz Anwar
Instruments: Chris Masand (piano), Suresh Lalwani (violin), Naveen Kumar (flute)
*ing: Kareena Kapoor, Shahid Kapoor
Director: Imtiaz Ali
Film: Jab We Met (2007)