Dil Chahta Hai' gave us credibility, a milestone in our careers : Shankar Mahadevan

NEW DELHI: Farhan Akhtar was only 24 when he approach Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani and Loy Mendonsa to compose the music for his debut film that would go on to become "Dil Chahta Hai" and change the way Hindi cinema looked at urban youth and their stories.

Centred around three friends and their life, the movie featured Aamir Khan, Akshaye Khanna and Saif Ali Khan, Preity Zinta, Sonali Kulkarni and Dimple Kapadia in key roles.

"Dil Chahta Hai" released on August 10, 2001, and became an instant hit. Its songs became chartbusters and brought name and fame to the composer trio, known collectively as Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy.

Looking back at the journey of composing tracks such as "Dil Chahta Hai", "Tanhayee", "Woh Ladki Hai Kahan" and "Jaane Kyon Log Pyar", Mahadevan said they had no idea that the songs will be remembered 25 years later.

"This film has truly been a milestone in our career as Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy... We still cannot believe that 25 years have passed because it has been such a wonderful beginning for Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy. It was not our first project, but 'Dil Chahta Hai' gave us immense credibility, a strong identity, and a lot of respect in the music industry. We can never have enough words of gratitude for this film," Mahadevan told PTI in a virtual interview.

Asked whether the film marked a turning point in their journey as composers, the singer-composer said, "Well, I would not call it a turning point. I would call it a starting point." The trio had previously composed songs for "Dus" and "Mission Kashmir" but "Dil Chahta Hai" was the first major success for the trio.

Mahadevan still remembers the day Farhan approached them to compose the music. Farhan would go on to make "Lakshya" and the "Don" series before turning to acting and establishing himself as a star.

"Farhan was just 24 years old when he came to us. He had a vision. He wanted to make a film that had a part of his own life reflected in the script he had written. I remember the script was around 60 pages and it was very interesting.

"Even Farhan was not completely sure about Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, and we also told him, 'Let us see how this working relationship develops. We will work together and see what happens. If you feel our chemistry works, we will continue. Otherwise, you are free to explore other composers."

Farhan's father, legendary screenwriter and lyricist Javed Akhtar was already on board to write the songs and the group gathered at Farhan's friend and producing partner Ritesh Sidhwani's bungalow in Khandala for a trial music-setting session for over a week.

"Within about three and a half days, we finished composing all the songs. After that, we had nothing left to do. We were just walking around, eating, and enjoying our time there because the music was already complete. We later recorded songs for over a month but the actual composition was done within days. Those were some of the most memorable moments of our creative journey," the musician recalled.

Mahadevan has many fond memories of discussing and refining songs with Javed Akhtar, especially the track "Jaane Kyon".

"Everyone was sleeping in the morning and only Javed Saab and I were awake. There was a swing outside Ritesh's house. Javed Saab and I were sitting there, and he said that this should not be in a typical song format. It should feel more like a conversation.

"Like someone asking a friend, 'Yaar, kyun? Jaane kyon log pyaar karte hain? Jaane kyon woh kisi pe marte hain?' It should feel like a normal conversation between friends. So I said, 'Why don't we play with the words jaane kyon?' Just repeat the phrase - jaane kyon, jaane kyon, jaane kyon. Then he asked the assistant to bring a piece of paper. Right there, sitting on the swing --without instruments and music -- he wrote the entire song in about five minutes."

Similarly, the opening tune for "Woh Ladki Hai Kahan" was composed while Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy were travelling to Khandala.

"It was raining heavily, and I think Ehsaan had a Zen car. We were sitting inside, and this band called Afro Celt was playing. Afro Celt is Celtic music - a very typical Scottish style of music. There was this rhythmic pattern playing: So I thought, why don't we create a song where the hook is not a lyrical hook, but a musical hook?"

And that's how "Woh Ladki Hai Kahan" was composed.