DDLJ's Hidden Secret: How Anand Bakshi Made Crew Write 25 Song Verses

Lalit recently appeared on a podcast along with veteran playback singer Udit Narayan and Neeti Mohan to celebrate 30 years of ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’ music.

During the podcast, the composer said, “This song, ‘Mehendi Laga Ke Rakhna’, when he wrote it, he said, ‘Do one thing first’. He gave everyone a book and said no one should talk to anyone. He just became a teacher to all of us. He asked everyone to write 25 verses of that song. And he said, ‘No one will talk to each other right now. Everyone should write what they like’. So we were all writing. Everyone was writing their own. Some liked the sound of it, others liked something else”.

He further mentioned on Spotify’s ‘Behind the Beats’ podcast, “It took us two hours. Then later everyone put down their pen and paper, Adi said, ‘Bakshi Sahab, you tell us, this is too difficult, it won't happen’. He was ready and he said, ‘Keep these two antras’”.

He also revealed that Anand Bakshi himself composed the initial part of ‘Mehendi Laga Ke Rakhna’ to give a cut point for SRK’s entry in the song.

‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’ marked the directorial debut of Aditya Chopra, who currently heads India’s premier studio, Yash Raj Films. The movie is known for its earworm music, and is widely popular among the diaspora audience owing to its themes of yearning for motherland, the culture and the values of India.

The film changed many lives within the film industry, as it established SRK and Kajol as one of the most revered on-screen pairs in Bollywood. Bollywood multi-hyphenate Karan Johar, the head-honcho of Dharma Productions, served as an assistant director on the sets of ‘DDLJ’ along with Udya Chopra, who would go on to make his acting debut with ‘Mohabbatein’ again helmed by his brother Aditya Chopra.

As per the streaming documentary ‘The Romantics’, Aditya told his father, the legendary filmmaker Yash Chopra that he would make his first movie when the latter is able to put 100% of money in the film, and not get in financers.

That one decision of a naive Aditya back then changed the fortunes for YRF as it went on to become one of the biggest studios and music labels of India with a diverse profile including films across genres like ‘Chak De! India’, ‘Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year’, ‘Bunty Aur Babli’, ‘Ek Tha Tiger’, ‘Jawan’, ‘Pathaan’, ‘War’ and the upcoming Alia Bhatt and Sharvari-starrer ‘Alpha’.

- IANS