/> A part of Delhi in 1965 in Imtiaz Ali's new film had to be recreated in Mandawa and Patiala. And guess what contributed to the periodicity and the film's energy level after shooting?

The legenadry Jea wedding brass -band from Delhi!

This is a story straight out of the believe-it-or-not pages.When Imtiaz Ali needed a leitmotif and a link to connect the past and the present in his film Love Aaj Kal, guess what he got?

Delhi's mythical wedding brass band, the Jea band.

"To understand what the Jea band means to Delhi's wedding culture you have to belong to the city. It's literally a 100 years old, It's so much a part of the city's marriage ethos, you can't escape its influence at any wedding, " says Imtiaz excitedly.

So when his plot needed to connect the present with past Imtiaz who's a Delhite at heart immediately thought of the Jea band.

"They were there at every wedding. And I told Saif, why not the Jea band to show your character's link with the past? So while recreating Delhi in 1965 we got the vintage cars, the proper clothes and roads...and the Jea band which plays in our film in 1965 and it also pays in the contemporary portion of the film."

Now when brass bands are no more that fashionable and in-demand at weddings the Jea band was thrilled to be approached for Imtiaz ‘s film.

"They haven't changed. Earlier the fathers played at weddings. Now their children play. When they were told they're part of the film and that they will be performing on –camera for the song Chor bazaari they got new band-bajaa uniforms stitched for the entire band at their own cost, " says Imtiaz.

"We shot with the Jea band not only in Delhi but also in Patiala and Mandawa (Rajasthan) because the 1965 Chandni Chowk look does not exist in Delhi any longer."



Rakeysh Mehra had faced the same situation when he had to recreate Old Delhi in Rajasthan for Delhi 6.

Says Imtiaz. "We took the Jea band with us to Mandawa and Patiala. After shooting they kept us entertained for hours with old film songs."

Saif Ali Khan picked up many of his mother Sharmila Tagore's old hits from those evenings in Mandawa and Patiala with the Jiya band.

Unfortunately Jea couldn't record in the soundtrack of Love Aaj Kal. "They couldn't keep rhythm with the recording mode. Their style of playing is very unstructured, " says Imtiaz, the first director to use a wedding brass- band for a Hindi film in recent times.

Old music is a looming leitmotif in the film. "We chose Man dole tan dole from Nagin when the other choice was Jhumka gira re from Mera Saaya. We wanted a sound that could linger."