"We wanted to use the melody played on the flute in Hero and had acquired the rights from Sa Re Ga Ma. But since Heropanti revolves around a new pair (Tiger and Kriti Sanon), it had to be modern while resonating with the Hero generation," says director Sabbir Khan.
Since the film's composer duo Sajid-Wajid was already burdened with his many demands, Sabbir contacted Manjeet Ral aka Manj of the British Bhangra band, RDB, with whom he'd collaborated on the Om Mangalam song for his directorial debut Kambakkht Ishq. Just before he left for the first schedule last April, Sabbir contacted Manj and within hours, the lead vocalist and composer of RDB was brainstorming with his partner Raftaar, reports a news daily.
"While playing around with the beats, Raftaar started whistling the original tune and that's how the whistling came into the song, Mere naal whistle bajao," says Manj, adding that the concept took just three hours to take shape, though they worked on it for another month or two, with Raftaar writing and rapping along with his wife Nindy Kaur, singing for the heroine.
Manj has composed this song under his own label Manj Musik and when Sabbir heard it in June, it made him smile. Producer Sajid Nadiadwala and the rest of the unit were equally upbeat.
"The original Hero tune is all melody, this one is more peppy. Even Tiger, who was overwhelmed at the thought of using his father's cult song, is happy with Manj's spin and the way the song has been shot," says Sabbir. "I'm now waiting to see Jackie's reaction."
