‘Unhappy’ Aamir Khan scrapped first shoot of ‘Aati Kya Khandala’, reshot the full song; nailed his singing debut: composer Lalit Pandit

In an interview with Times Now, Lalit revealed that the journey to making this iconic track started with a car ride to the film’s set at Film City with Aamir driving the Jatin-Lalit and Vikram Bhatt in his car. While the team was still discussing what sort of song should feature for the film’s sequence, Aamir surprised everyone when he crooned “Sagar Jaisi Aankhon Wali” on their way to the set. Lalit, who found his voice impressive, suggested that Aamir should sing a song for Ghulam. While everyone was thrilled by the prospect of the actor singing the track, Aamir seemed a bit surprised and didn’t commit right away.

The next breakthrough came from writer Nitin Raikwar, who penned the lyrics for “Aati Kya Khandala,” perfectly matching the film’s style and Aamir’s character. The idea was well-received, but Aamir had his reservations. Lalit recalled the Dangal actor being very “careful” and proposing he secretly recorded the song. Mr Perfectionist, Aamir, suggested that if he wasn’t satisfied with the outcome, we would scrap it and try something else.

Watch Aamir Khan perform “Aati Kya Khandala” live: 

 

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Lalit revealed that despite his gruelling shooting schedule, Aamir promised to rehearse the song regularly. As rehearsals began, Aamir surprised everyone with his voice, capturing the swagger director Vikram Bhatt envisioned for the song. While recording the song was a cakewalk for team Ghulam, it was filming the song that proved to be an uphill task as Aamir wasn’t happy with the initial shoot of the song, and “scrapped” the first shoot and reshot the entire sequence. The second shoot was extraordinary and perfectly captured the essence of the song. The composer said that Ghulam was a crucial project for Jatin-Lalit, especially with Aamir as the lead, adding that the film’s music had to be exceptional, and the entire musical team put in tremendous effort to ensure its success.

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According to Hindustan Times, lyricist Nitin met Aamir during the shoot of Ghulam. He sang “Aati Kya Khandala” to Aamir, who instantly liked the song and recommended it to Vikram. “We had completed the film but when I heard the song. I wanted it to be in the film. So we deleted a few scenes to accommodate the song. When I heard the song, I knew only Aamir could do justice to it. When I told him to sing, he was like, ‘Are you mad!’ But we convinced him and the rest is history,” said Nitin, adding that the song was included in the film at the last minute.