AR Rahman locked Irshad Kamil in until he penned lyrics for Amar Singh Chamkila, accepts ‘intimidating’ him: ‘What he writes in 10 mins is better’

Lauding Irshad, Rahman said, “He can write a song in a year and he can write a song in 10 minutes.” To this, Imtiaz added, “What he writes in 10 minutes is better.” Explaining Irshad’s point of view, Rahman said, “He has worked 40 years for those 10 minutes. We know that all the charge is within him. We love him.” He added, “Because he overthinks the moment we give time to him to think.” Irshad justified his actions saying that Rahman “compels” him to think and his compositions have a lot of feelings and he tries to find those feelings while writing lyrics.

Imtiaz Ali also shared insights into the composition process of the Amar Singg Chamkila song “Vida Karo,” and how AR Rahman switched off all the lights of the room and lit candles before starting a jam session on the piano in the presence of Irshad Kamil and Imtiaz. Narrating the anecdote, Imtiaz said, “It took two hours. We were recording the whole thing and Irshad was writing, within those 2 hours he finished writing and nothing changed.”

While discussing Amar Singh Chamkila’s song “Tu Kya Jaane,” Rahman recalled the time he locked Irshad in and didn’t let him go until he gave him a line of the song. Rahman said, “I locked the door. I told him I need a line. Imtiaz liked the previous song but I said, ‘We are going to pitch a new song to him. It better be good so give me a line to compose.’ It was a friendly lock. I was sitting in front of him and intimidating him. Within 7 minutes, he gave me the line. I said, ‘You can go now.'”

Amar Singh Chamkila is based on the slain Punjabi singer Amar Singh Chamkila. The film has also been lauded for its music, and lyricist Irshad, who grew up in Punjab, provided its songs with depth and authenticity.