Lalit remembers Adityas Chopra’s instructions “I remember him very clearly mentioning and saying, ‘Look, this time we don’t have Shahrukh Khan We have. We have Saif Ali Khan And till now he has not scored a single hit as a solo hero. So a lot will depend on the music. If music fails, we all fail! So if you want to accept this challenge then tell me now. Of course we were ready to give it our best shot and we readily agreed to work on you.
Hum Tum, says Lalit, had to have different music from what the brothers had done earlier. “The recording technology had also changed from all the earlier years when we did music. Earlier it was all thought out in advance and then recorded in the studio. Now it was a different story and everything had to be computer-programmed. It was a very interesting and exciting time for music and I enjoyed the new process and the changes.
Talking on the essential music for Hum Tum, Lalit says, “Most of the situations for the songs in Hum Tum were fun and bright young musical situations. i like the characters Saif and the queen. in a song Queen Saif had to speak dialogues during the song. It was a lot of fun recording it. I must say that both have great musical timing to do what they ultimately did. Rani and Saif are tremendously musical people.
Lalit remembers the hard work done in the song Hum Tum. “Both Jatin and I worked hard to get this music right, as Adi had warned about the film. Compared to what we had achieved before, the music was completely different in terms of sounds and arrangements. But I think ultimately everything depends on the melody that one makes. Jatin and I have that. Though I did most of the modern songs in the film – Ladki Kyun Na Jaane Kyun and Chakde Chakde – it was the title song of Jatin’s Hum Tum that turned out to be a masterpiece. This song won Alka Yagnik a lot of awards that year and I think this included the National Award as well. The intro piano for the title song Hum Tum was played by me and I absolutely love that intro. Also Prasoon Joshi ji won the best song award for Hum Tum. The musical was a huge success and it was the first solo hit for Saif and the music really played its part in the success of the film.
The music of Hum Tum also contributed to the success of director Kunal Kohli’s career. “This started the career of Kunal Kohli, with whom we did Fanaa. Incidentally, whenever I meet Kunal, I tell him that his only hits have been with Jatin and Lalit. And if he wants another hit, he should think about it. He always says he is all set and will pay anything if we work together… This is all said in jest. We all know that we are behind Jatin and me on Tumke Din.