With ‘Agar Tum Saath Ho’ becoming the most streamed Indian song since last week, AR Rahman recalls toiling through four scores to arrive at the ‘Tamasha’ track. He also credits “iconic voices” like Alka Yagnik and Arijit Singh to add magic to the song
AR Rahman. Pic/Instagram
Is it the power of the melody, two timeless voices, or the universal experience of heartbreak? What makes Agar Tum Saath Ho from Tamasha (2015) relevant over a decade after it first released? Since last week, the poignant ballad from Imtiaz Ali’s movie has claimed the top spot as the most streamed Indian song on Spotify. When mid-day reached out to its composer AR Rahman, he recalled that the song came to him after several attempts.
“It’s a song people can universally relate to because we all go through problems and need a shoulder to lean on. ‘Lean on me’ was the brief. We had to go through the process three times to get there. Once we got the song, we knew we had something special,” he told mid-day. The composer added that getting “iconic voices” like Alka Yagnik and Arijit Singh to sing the track added to its magic.
Agar Tum Saath Ho. Pic/Youtube
In Tamasha, Agar Tum Saath Ho comes at a critical point — after their break-up, as Deepika Padukone’s Tara tells Ranbir Kapoor’s Ved to confront his inner turmoil, he breaks down and walks away.
Interestingly, Ali had shot the emotional sequence on a different track. The musician recounted that the three initially created tracks felt out of sync. “Initially, I felt the melody was light-hearted. The second one was more classical. So, I felt we should do something, which is universal and simple. We finally got it right [the fourth time],” Rahman shared.
Imtiaz Ali. Pic/Shadab Khan
Rs 69.8 cr
Times ‘Agar Tum Saath Ho’ has been streamed on Spotify, as of April 15
The golden jodi of AR Rahman and filmmaker Imtiaz Ali
. ‘Rockstar’
. ‘Highway’
. ‘Tamasha’
. ‘Amar Singh Chamkila’
. ‘Main Vaapas Aaunga’
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