Yash
Chopra
was
so
fond
of
'Tere
Liye'
that
it
remained
as
his
ringtone
till
he
breathed
his
last:
on
the
16th
anniversary
of
the
timeless
romance
Veer-Zaara,
Madan
Mohan's
son
Sanjeev
Kohli
recounts
how
the
iconic
soundtrack
of
the
film
was
created.
Yash
Chopra's
Veer-Zaara,
which
starred
Shah
Rukh
Khan,
Rani
Mukerji
and
Preity
Zinta,
was
a
blockbuster
romance.
The
film's
beautiful
story
was
a
rage
among
audiences
and
this
catapulted
the
movie
to
a
timeless
love
story
status.
Veer-Zaara's
music
too
is
iconic
as
audiences
were
treated
to
late
Madan
Mohan's
unreleased
and
brilliant
soundtracks
like
Tere
Liye.
Yash
Chopra
loved
the
song
so
much
that
it
remained
his
ringtone
till
he
breathed
his
last.
Yash
Chopra
wanted
an
old
world
score
for
the
film
which
was
set
22
years
earlier.
He
had
sittings
with
various
composers
but
felt
it
was
not
working.
In
a
chance
moment,
Madan
Mohan's
son
Sanjeev
Kohli,
who
was
CEO
of
YRF
at
the
time,
mentioned
that
his
late
father
had
left
behind
some
unused/rejected
dummy
compositions.
Yash
Chopra
and
Aditya
Chopra
heard
them
and
immediately
decided
that
Veer-Zaara
would
have
music
by
the
maestro!
Sanjeev
Kohli
recounts
in
the
book
Veer-Zaara,
The
Memoirs
of
a
Love
Legend,
"Veer-Zaara
for
me
was
the
realization
of
a
dream
that
I
could
never
believe
would
ever
come
true.
When
my
father,
the
late
composer
Madan
Mohan,
passed
away
in
1975,
he
was
only
51
years
old.
A
lot
of
music
still
to
be
created,
a
lot
of
tunes
yet
to
be
shared
with
the
world,
a
lot
yet
to
be
achieved!
He
was
widely
acknowledged
as
a
great
composer
but
big
banners,
films
with
big
stars
and
popular
awards
always
eluded
him,
and
in
fact
this
hurt
him
deeply.
The
tapes
remained
safely
kept
away,
though,
over
the
years,
they
were
suffering
damage
and
with
technological
developments,
they
would
soon
be
obsolete."
He
adds,
"In
2003,
one
day
Yashji
told
me
that
after
6
years
he
had
decided
to
direct
another
film,
but
a
film
that
needed
old
world
music
that
was
away
from
the
western
influences
that
had
crept
into
the
scene
today.
Instinctively,
I
blurted
that
I
had
some
old
world
melodies
on
tape,
now
not
heard
for
28
years.
He
seemed
excited
at
the
idea
and
very
surprised
that
I
had
never
mentioned
this
before.
His
son,
Aditya
Chopra
was
scripting
the
new
film.
Adi
was
a
man
of
today
and
needed
commercially
acceptable
songs.
There
was
no
place
for
nostalgia
and
emotions
here.
Only
Yashji
and
Adi
knew
what
they
needed.
I
didn't."
The
selected
unheard
tunes
were
recorded,
some
50
years
after
they
had
been
composed!
This
had
never
happened
before
and
Billboard
magazine
wrote
about
its
significance.
The
song
Tere
Liye
which
became
the
song
of
the
year
then,
was
based
on
a
rejected
tune
for
the
song
Dil
Dhoondta
Hai
from
a
1975
film,
Mausam!
Javed
Akhtar,
who
made
his
debut
as
a
lyricist
with
Yash
Chopra's
Silsila
in
1981,
worked
again
with
the
director
over
two
decades
later
with
this
film.
Lata
Mangeshkar
was
75
years
old
at
the
time,
but
it
was
befitting
that
she
sing
the
songs
as
these
tunes
were
originally
composed
by
Madan
Mohan
decades
ago,
for
her
to
sing!
Sanjeev
says
that
the
songs
took
a
year
to
record
and
opens
up
about
how
Yash
Chopra
was
keen
to
have
Lata
Mangeshkar
sing
in
the
album!
He
says,
"Yashji
was
clear
that
only
Lataji
would
sing
the
female
songs
and
that
thrilled
me
because
all
Madanji
tunes
were
made
only
for
Lataji
and
it
would
have
been
incomplete
if
she
did
not
sing
them.
But
at
the
same
time
it
concerned
me.
It
would
be
so
challenging
for
her
to
sing
for
Madanji
again
after
30
years!
She
was
keeping
indifferent
health
and
people
could
be
unfair
in
passing
judgment
on
her.
But
she
found
an
inner
strength
to
sing
as
only
she
can."
Sanjeev
was
thrilled
when
his
father's
compositions
received
such
overwhelming
love.
He
says,
"With
Veer-Zaara,
every
fantasy
of
mine
came
true
in
one
stroke.
Madanji's
tunes
formed
the
soundtrack
of
one
of
India's
biggest
and
most
successful
films,
created
by
India's
most
successful
producer
and
director,
Yash
Chopra.
The
top
stars
of
today,
Shahrukh
Khan,
Preity
Zinta,
and
Rani
Mukherji,
formed
the
cast
of
this
film.
And
what
a
coincidence
that
Amitabh
Bachchan
and
Hema
Malini
danced
to
his
tunes
again
and
once
again
his
songs
were
on
the
top
of
the
charts
for
almost
an
entire
year,
and
he
finally
won
many
popular
awards."