Lalit on 25 years of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai

Composer

Lalit Pandit

, one half of the acclaimed music director duo Jatin-Lalit considers himself very lucky that he got a chance to compose music for Karan Johar's iconic

Kuch Kuch Hota Hai

. So much so, that Lalit doesn't hesitate in calling the KKHH album his career's best work. As the film celebrates it's 25th anniversary, the senior music director takes us down memory lane.

He reveals the story behind making KKHH and how Karan Johar's conviction and passion translated into a timeless classic.
In Lalit's own words...

'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai's success got Jatin and I more work'

I was connected with Karan Johar even before Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (KKHH) because he was assisting Aditya Chopra on Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (DDLJ). That is where we connected. Actually, it was Aditya Chopra who approached us for Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. He said, “Karan has written a beautiful script and he wants you to do the music. So, do you have the time to compose music for his film? You will have to give the kind of attention to his film that you gave to DDLJ.” I said yes. He told us about the star cast of

Rani Mukerji

, Kajol and Shah Rukh Khan, which was fabulous. We met Karan and he narrated the script to us beautifully. It is one of the best narrations I have heard. After listening to his narration, we knew that he had done a wonderful job and it was a good chance to do something really good after DDLJ. That’s how it all happened. KKHH has one of the best music albums that Jatin and I ever composed in our careers.

We had a great start to our career with Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar, Khiladi, Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman, and Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa. And then it was the second leg with DDLJ, KKHH, Khiladi, Khamoshi, and Pyaar Kiya Toh Darna Kya. It was Kuch Kuch Hota Hai that led to us getting films in the second innings of our career. All of these movies were with first-time filmmakers.

'We believed in Karan Johar's vision and Aditya Chopra's conviction'

Karan had done and exceptional job while writing the film and he had a great team with Adi helping him out. KKHH was almost edited by Aditya Chopra, who also has an ear for music. And then there was nobody better than Yash Johar to produce the film. He was the best producer I have ever met. Karan was sure about the music he wanted. When we were doing music for Aditya Chopra and Karan Johar, we used to have lesser time for other work assignments because these two filmmakers’ films would take 4-5 months. So, the idea was to do good songs and a good album.

When we did KKHH, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Ghum and Mohabbatein, we did the complete soundtrack, not just a single number. That kind of music leaves the audience with a big impact.

'Crafting the film's iconic songs'

Karan wanted to do the college song – Koi Mil Gaya first. He explained the situation that he wanted the crowd to sing and he wanted Rani’s line, of course SRK and Kajol would be there, too. In one section, he wanted Anupam Kher and Archana Puran Singh to be a part of the song, too. When I worked out the song, I had an idea about the composition so I jist made it. When I sang out the tune I had only dummy words that came to my mind because nobody had written the lyrics yet. We had to work out the tune first. The song needed to be vibrant and youthful and that song was the vibe of the film.
When I sang the song for Karan he liked because it had a nice ring to it. But he felt that the mukhda was too long. I tried explaining to him and said, “Look Karan, you have so many characters in the song. And the lines that I am repeating, I want the crowd to sing these lines.” In the tune, it might sound monotonous and long but when I had imagined the song with different people singing, it was working out. Karan was able to understood that point. The song was recorded beautifully. His confidence in our ability was unwavering. Once the song was done, everyone liked it. When we met for the next sitting Karan literally thanked me.
The songs were being composed and shot simultaneously. It so happened that on one occasion, Karan had a shooting schedule and a song needed to be shot. But we did not have the song ready. We couldn’t crack the song. Naturally, Karan was worried. It was the 90s and a big unit was supposed to travel. Then Aditya Chopra said, “Karan you go ahead with the unit and I will sit with Jatin-Lalit and get the song done for the shoot.” It was the making of the Ladki Badi Anjaani Hai song. I can't imagine two filmmakers pulling this kind of situation off. Who does something like that? That is how great Adi and Karan's friendship is.
The whole film’s music was done at such a grand scale that we had 150 musicians playing in every song. I had to take one group a day because they all couldn’t fit into one hall. That’s why the sound is so beautiful. Thanks to Yash Johar ji for being so helpful. He used to come back for the recording and go back to Ooty again.

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