/> It started when Imtiaz Ali decided to include Hemant Kumar's immortal Lata Mangeshkar melody Man doley mera tan doley from the 1954 musical blockbuster Nagin in his new film Love Aaj Kal.

"We got the proper rights to use the songs from HMV. And we've credited Hemant Kumar for the original composition. But little did we know that re-recording the song's famous been refrain that we needed to re-record was going to cause so much agony."

The hunt began to get a sapera (snake charmer) or at least a been player to play the snake music fron Nagin in Love Aaj Kal.

But sorry, no snake charmer to charm the tune.

Shudders Pritam, "After weeks of searching we couldn't find a single been player in Mumbai. We got worried and we started looking for the been player outside Mumbai."

Finally a been player from Chandigarh was found and brought to Mumbai to play the legendary Nagin refrain.

"But he couldn't manage it. So we were back to Square One, " says Pritam.

On the brink of despair and with time running out Imtiaz Ali and Pritam finally decided to play a substitute instrument in place of the been.

Says Pritam, "We've used the flute in place of the been.That's okay I guess. Because even Kalyanji who played in Hemant Kumar's Man dole song had to substitute the been with the claviolin.

A fabulous flautist Navin who plays the instrument in all my songs did a good cover-up job. But we do miss the original been music and will add it on if we find a been player even now."

In the meanwhile Pritam is happy to be have got a chance to dabble with one of the Nightingale Lata Mangeshkar's songs. "I've earlier recorded a song for Ekta Kapoor's serial Kavyanjali in Lataji's voice. But re-doing Man dole from Nagin was another experience."