15 Years of Om Shanti Om: A R Rahman was the first choice to compose the music; he was replaced with Vishal-Shekhar after he asked for a share in music rights 15 : Bollywood News

On November 9 this year, the much-loved movie Om Shanti Om (2007) completed 15 years. Every factor about the film is remembered fondly today, including its music. Composed by Vishal-Shekhar, the popularity of the songs never dipped and continues to get millions of views and streams. Hence, it’ll be a surprise for many to know that Vishal-Shekhar were not the first choice for the film’s music.

15 Years of Om Shanti Om: A R Rahman was the first choice to compose the music; he was replaced with Vishal-Shekhar after he asked for a share in music rights

Om Shanti Om’s writer, Mushtaq Shaikh, in the book 'The Making Of Om Shanti Om', has touched upon this aspect. He revealed that director Farah Khan had initially approached legendary music composer A R Rahman to compose the film’s album. Both even had a few music sittings.

Sadly, the deal fell through. This happened because A R Rahman asked for a share in the music rights along with the producer. Mushtaq Shaikh writes, “This didn’t go down very well with Farah Khan and Shah Rukh Khan.”

Shah Rukh Khan and A R Rahman had worked four times in all with each other. Their first collaboration was in Dil Se (1998). It proved to be a success and ‘Chaiyya Chaiyya’ became a hot favourite among the masses. Their second outing, One 2 Ka 4 (2001) failed to entice the viewers. Swades (2004), their third film, didn’t work at the box office but its music succeeded in touching hearts. And finally, Shah Rukh Khan and A R Rahman joined hands in Jab Tak Hai Jaan (2012).

It was a case of all’s well that ends well as Vishal-Shekhar belted out some very peppy and soulful numbers in Om Shanti Om. They also did justice to the 70s setting in the first half. Farah Khan mentions in the book, “They have never done such commercial earthy music on such a big scale. Jhankaar Beats (2003) had good melodies but (the scale) was small. For this one, they have expanded their horizon. They wanted to go to Prague to do a song. We said, ‘go’. They wanted Pyarelal to arrange it for them. I said, ‘go, get him’. We weren’t paying them much. So, we said, ‘go and spend the money on the damn music’!”

Also Read: 15 Years of Om Shanti Om: The unit members found it difficult in getting a snow globe; Shah Rukh Khan even went through Suhana’s toys to find it