Chhaayaageet #227 - "Let's go to Ooty tomorrow morning and shoot."
The lyricist is excited to work with the legendary music composer duo. The previous film for which he had written the lyrics had been a hit. The songs had become extremely popular. The composers of that film were young, relative newcomers. Now he has the chance to work with composers who he has grown up listening to and has idolized as a fan. He is in the big time. Plus the new film is about a poet, and being a poet himself, he is excited to work on the songs.
One day he goes to the legendary composers' office for a music session of the new film. The producer also reaches there. Both of them wait in the lounge. Suddenly, a big name filmmaker makes his entry in the office. Everyone gets busy attending to him, ignoring the lyricist and the producer. After some time the composers' manager comes and informs them that their appointment has been cancelled because of the arrival of the big name filmmaker, and they would soon be given a new appointment.
The producer is upset with the ill treatment and takes this personally. "How dare they do this to us?" he asks rhetorically. The insult is too much to bear. He decides to drop the legendary composers from his film. He turns to the lyricist.
Producer: "Can you introduce me to your young music composers? I had liked the songs from the last film you guys did together."
The lyricist agrees. The cell phones have not yet arrived. With great difficulty the lyricist manages to reach the young composers and tells them of the producer's interest to meet with them. The composers ask the lyricist and producer to come to their music room right away. A delightful encounter ensues and the producer entrusts the composition of the songs of his new film to the young composers and the lyricist.
The songs are written and composed in record time. The director and the star cast of the film are very happy with the songs. But there is no title song yet in the album.
One day, the lyricist and the young composers are sitting in Shiv Sagar restaurant, discussing some other project. Just then, a line comes to the lyricist's mind. He recites it immediately to the composers. Both of them also like it a lot. They clear the dishes from the table. One of the composers starts to drum on the table, while the other starts to sing the line. The lyricist keeps writing additional lines, and they keep composing then and there. They are satisfied that they finally have a title song for the film.
However, there is a problem. The film is almost complete. The publicity phase is to start soon. How do you place a song in a film that is pretty much done?
The composers call the producer and tell him the situation. "Is there anyway we can insert this song into the film?"
The producer listens to the song. He likes it. But there is no time.
Producer: "I like the song. But I don't like your suggestion. The film is almost finished and ready for release. On top of it, the stars will not be available to shoot the song. Drop this idea from your mind."
Composers: "Can you please call the hero and heroine? Make them listen to it at least once. If they like it, they might give dates for the shooting. If they don't like it, we won't argue any further."
The producer agrees. He books a studio that same evening for a sitting with the hero and heroine.
Evening rolls by. Everyone is now present in the studio. The composers play the song for the hero and heroine. They both love the song.
Hero: "This song cannot be left out of the film. Let's go to Ooty tomorrow morning and shoot."
Since the hero has given the green light, travel arrangements are made in a hurry. The choreographer is asked to work out the steps overnight. The composers and the lyricist work through the night and complete the song. They give the finished version to the producer in the morning so that they can go ahead with the shoot. They can dub it in the studio with the playback singers soon afterwards. It is all an impossible situation, but everything comes together.
Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/nmYiPpW3F5c?si=oGiM6dq9xwkvSuTW
Nadeem-Shravan composed the music and Sameer wrote the lyrics for the song Dekha Hai Pehli Baar for the film Saajan (1991), produced by Sudhakar Bokade, directed by Lawrence D'Souza. The song is filmed on Salman Khan and Madhuri Dixit, with playback by SP Balasubramanyam and Alka Yagnik.
Bokade and Sameer were in the offices of Laxmikant-Pyarelal, when they were displaced from the calendar after Subhash Ghai walked into the office. Sameer then introduced Bokade to Nadeem-Shravan with whom he had worked on the songs of Aashiqui.
Saajan became the highest grossing film of 1991. The songs, including the title song, were extremely popular. It received a slew of Filmfare Awards nominations for Best Music Director (Nadeem-Shravan, won), Best Male Playback Singer (Kumar Sanu won for Mera Dil Bhi Kitna Pagal Hai), Best Film (Sudhakar Bokade), Best Director (Lawrence D'Souza), Best Actor (Sanjay Dutt), Best Actress (Madhuri Dixit), Best Lyricist (Sameer for Mera Dil Bhi Kitna Pagal Hai), Best Male Playback Singer (Pankaj Udhas for Jiye To Jiye Kaise, SP Balasubramanyam for Tumse Milne Ki Tamanna Hai), Best Female Playback Singer (Alka Yagnik for Dekha Hai Pehli Baar, Anuradha Paudwal for Bahut Pyar Karte Hain).
Lyrics: Sameer
Music: Nadeem-Shravan
Singers: Alka Yagnik, SP Balasubramanyam
*ing: Madhuri Dixit, Salman Khan
Producer: Sudhakar Bokade
Film: Saajan (1991)