Love Aaj Kal music was so bad that I re-did it

By Subhash K Jha

We've heard bits and pieces, and even entire songs from films being scrapped. But Love Aaj Kal (LAK) takes the cake.

While the recession and the multiplex strike proved a curse for the rest of the industry, it proved a blessing for Pritam. He was able to scrap and re-do the entire score.

Says Pritam, "I saw the film with Imtiaz and my lyricist Irshad Kamal in January. I was horrified. I very bluntly told Imtiaz the music in LAK was not working.

You have to understand, Imtiaz is the most chilled-out guy. He didn't flinch when I told him this. He immediately told me to do what had to be done."

The first thing that needed to be changed in the soundtrack was the absence of a love ballad.

Says Pritam, "LAK was a love story, and there was no love song! Imtiaz wanted to know where it could fit in. I suggested we put it in the flashback in the Kolkata portion.

Imtiaz was in Kolkata and was supposed to fly to Delhi to shoot Chor bazaari in a couple of days. I flew to Kolkata and gave him a love song. We didn't like it.

Then I came up with Aaj din chadhiya… over the phone! In fact, most of tunes were played by me and approved by Imtiaz over the phone. That includes Chor bazaari," reveals Pritam.

The ballad Main kya hoon was also altered. "It was earlier designed as a fast-paced go-for-the-kill ballad. But then, I changed the pace and profile of the number."

Barring Twist the entire score was scrapped and redone just a few months ago.

The secret was out when the film's ebullient music composer in the course of our conversation revealed how after the film was ready he suggested to Imtiaz Ali that there should be an item song at the end of the film, just like in Jab We Met.

Says Pritam, "Imtiaz said, 'Get me a song like Mauja hi mauja that ended Jab We Met. And you're on'. That's how ahun ahun, which comes at end of LAK was born. It's a traditional Punjabi folk song." Then began the hunt to get the copyrights.

"While getting the rights for the been music from Nagin was easy, getting the rights for this folk song proved impossible, since it has originally been sung by 18 singers, many of them from Pakistan. So we just credited it as 'traditional'. Let's hope no one comes forward to claim a slice of the song," Pritam has his fingers crossed.

Only two lines from the traditional track were used, the rest was all by Pritam. "Luckily Imtiaz loved the number, and that's how the end-song in LAK happened."