Dum Laga Ke Haisha is the soundtrack album to the 2015 film of the same name, written and directed by Sharat Katariya and produced by Maneesh Sharma under Yash Raj Films, with Aditya Chopra serving as presenter. The film stars Ayushmann Khurrana and Bhumi Pednekar. The album consists of seven songs composed by Anu Malik, with lyrics by Varun Grover, and was released under the YRF Music label on 6 February 2015.
The soundtrack received positive reviews from critics and won two National Film Awards: Best Female Playback Singer for Monali Thakur and Best Lyrics for Grover, both for the song "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage".
Background
Anu Malik composed the seven-song soundtrack for Dum Laga Ke Haisha. It marked his first solo composition project in the 2010s, as he had mostly contributed to multi-composer soundtracks during that decade due to a lack of major assignments, with only a handful of small budget films in the early part of the decade. Malik received a text message from Yash Raj Films chairman Aditya Chopra, with whom he had not previously collaborated, and met him at the YRF office in November 2013. Chopra informed Malik that he had approached several composers but was not satisfied with their work, and added that Malik would also have to convince writer-director Sharat Katariya and producer Maneesh Sharma.
Malik presented tunes with an old-school flavour, in contrast to contemporary film music trends. Both Katariya and Sharma were impressed with his compositions, which led to his selection as the film's music director. Against the norm, lead actor Ayushmann Khurrana did not contribute his vocals to the soundtrack, making Dum Laga Ke Haisha his first film to not feature him as a singer.
Development
The soundtrack album featured compositions reminiscent of 1990s Hindi film music. Malik stated that his inspiration came from a six-decade-long melodic tradition emphasised by his father, Sardar Malik, as well as the styles of composers such as Shankar–Jaikishan, Naushad, O. P. Nayyar, C. Ramchandra, R. D. Burman and Laxmikant–Pyarelal, whose work he grew up listening to. All the songs were written by lyricist Varun Grover.
Speaking about the song "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage", Malik explained that "the words speak of a coming together of two different people. It is a situational song and conveys how we unwittingly fall in love. Varun wrote the mukhda and it made a place in my heart. I came up with the tune two days later." Papon rendered the male version of the track, which Malik described as having a "Hemant Kumar kind of texture, which I admire". Monali Thakur recorded the female version, after Malik, impressed by her voice during her participation in Indian Idol 2 (where he was a judge), invited her to sing the track. Thakur later stated that she felt emotional after recording the song and watching the visuals, adding that "Anu ji was like, only you can sing this song and no one else [...] Beneath all that madness, he is a real genius and a most sincere person."
Kumar Sanu performed two songs on the album, including the duet "Dard Karaara" with Sadhana Sargam, which marked her comeback. Malik noted that Sanu recorded the song in a single take. The album also featured collaborations with newer artists such as Rahul Ram and the Nooran Sisters. On working with them, Malik remarked, "When you work for so many years in the industry, you form your cliques. But I quickly realised that I have to be open to work with new talent." Several tracks incorporated contemporary elements, reflecting Malik's adaptation to new musical trends.
Reception Joginder Tuteja of Rediff.com described the soundtrack as "the surprise of the season" and wrote that the music "makes one nostalgic for a bygone era". Devesh Sharma of Filmfare stated, "Anu Malik is back from hibernation with this one. And instead of going for obtuse forays into disco and techno, he has stuck to using melody as his gauntlet and has indeed issued a challenge to the young Turks out there."
Karthik Srinivasan of Milliblog called the album "a minor comeback of sorts by veteran Anu Malik". Suanshu Khurana of The Indian Express noted, "We wish Malik had returned to his classic sound with an emphasis on grand melodies. For now, the album sees sporadic goodness."
Rajiv Vijayakar of Bollywood Hungama wrote, "Celebrate, for a genius, a legendary composer is back to show how far he is above the rookies who have made it big at a game in which he is a past master. All our living legends need to return to rescue music from the morass it has fallen into, but everyone does not get an Aditya Chopra to back him. In that sense, both Anu and the music lover within us are extremely lucky."
Track listing
Awards and nominations AwardCategoryRecipient(s)Result 63rd National Film Awards Best Female Playback Singer Monali Thakur (for the song "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage") Best Lyrics Varun Grover (for the song "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage") 11th Star Guild Awards Best Music Director Anu Malik Best Lyricist Varun Grover (for the song "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage") Best Playback Singer – Female Monali Thakur (for the song "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage") 61st Filmfare Awards Best Lyricist Varun Grover (for the song "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage") Best Male Playback Singer Papon (for the song "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage") Best Female Playback Singer Monali Thakur (for the song "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage") 22nd Screen Awards Best Male Playback Papon (for the song "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage") Best Female Playback Monali Thakur (for the song "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage") 2016 Zee Cine Awards Best Lyricist Varun Grover (for the song "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage") Best Music Director Anu Malik Best Playback Singer – Male Papon (for the song "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage") Best Playback Singer – Female Monali Thakur (for the song "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage") 17th IIFA Awards Best Lyricist Varun Grover (for the song "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage") Best Female Playback Singer Monali Thakur (for the song "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage") Best Male Playback Singer Papon (for the song "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage") 6th GiMA Awards Best Male Playback Singer Papon (for the song "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage") Best Lyricist Varun Grover (for the song "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage") Best Female Playback Singer Monali Thakur (for the song "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage") Best Film Song "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage" 8th Mirchi Music Awards Best Lyrics Varun Grover (for the song "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage") Best Playback Singer – Female Monali Thakur (for the song "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage") Best Playback Singer – Male Papon (for the song "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage")
References