‘Kajra Re was the worst-rated in Bunty aur Babli, marketing team called it…': Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy on how Aishwarya-Amitabh-Abhishek song got popularity

Indian Express

18 hours ago

Bunty Aur Babli's 'Kajra Re' may be one of those rare songs that refuses to age, but the song received a big thumbs down from the suits at Yash Raj before its release, recalled musical trio Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy. In a new conversation, Ehsaan Noorani revealed that after an internal evaluation, the song which starred Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan, with lyrics by Gulzar, landed on bottom of the list.
The trio have shaped the soundscape of Bollywood for more than two decades. They have scored movies like Dil Chahta Hai (2001), My Name is Khan (2010), Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (2011) and Rock On (2008), just to name a few. They have also composed the music for Aamir Khan's upcoming film Sitaare Zameen Par and its 2007 prequel Taare Zameen Par. In a recent interview, the trio talked about their Bollywood projects and what all transpires behind the scenes when they are composing an album for a film.
While making an appearance on the YouTube channel Just Filmy Things, the trio shed some light on their previous work. Ehsaan Noorani shared an anecdote about the song Kajra Re from the film Bunty Aur Babli (2005) and how the marketing team of the film initially did not give the song its due. He said, 'They did an internal evaluation about which song from the film will do well, and Kajra Re was at the bottom of the list. A bunch of people from marketing came together and gave feedback after listening to the song. It just so happened that 4 days after the song came out, I was coming out of the Mumbai airport, and a wedding band was already playing 'Kajra Re.'' Ehsaan also talked about how choosing Alisha Chinai to sing the female part of the song was an unprecedented move, but it still elevated the song to a new level.
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The trio also talked about the experience of working with Aamir Khan as a collaborator and how he perceives the music while it is being written and recorded. Shankar said, 'He is there all the time, and he is almost like a kid.' One time he called Amitabh Bhattacharya (lyricist) while he was vacationing in Kashmir and told him to rework the lyrics of a song.' The 'Breathless' singer added that many times Aamir will like the rough take of the song more and will decide to keep it in the movie, and that is what happened with 'Maa' from Taare Zameen Par and 'Good For Nothing' from Sitaare Zameen Par. 'If something clicks for Aamir, then nothing can be changed in it.'
Directed by RS Prasanna, Sitaare Zameen Par will see Aamir play the role of a basketball coach who has been tasked with teaching the game to a group of neurodivergent kids. The cast of the film includes Aamir Khan, Genelia Deshmukh, Aroush Datta, Gopi Krishnan Varma, Vedant Sharmaa, Naman Misra, Rishi Shahani, Rishabh Jain and Ashish Pendse, among others. The music has been composed by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, while the background score and lyrics of the songs are the creation of Ram Sampath and Amitabh Bhattacharya. The film releases on June 20.