32 Years of 1942 – A Love Story: Javed Akhtar wrote ‘Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga’ on the spot after he forgot to write its lyrics: “My source of inspiration in most songs was TERROR”

By Fenil Seta -

July 18, 2024 - 1:14 PM IST

1942 – A Love Story completed 32 years on July 15. Starring Anil Kapoor, Manisha Koirala and Jackie Shroff, the film is remembered majorly for its music. It was one of the last albums composed by legendary music director R D Burman. The song 'Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga' is loved for its simplicity and touching lyrics. The style is also different from the usual tracks. It turns out that lyricist Javed Akhtar wrote the track on the spot after he made a commitment and forgot all about it! Javed saab spoke about it at the stage show ‘Main Koi Aisa Geet Gaaon’.

32 Years of 1942 – A Love Story: Javed Akhtar wrote ‘Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga’ on the spot after he forgot to write its lyrics: “My source of inspiration in most songs was TERROR”

Javed Akhtar began by saying, “Kabhi kabhi bahut sahi kaam, bahut galat tarike se ho jaate hai! We were at Pancham Da’s music room. Director-producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra, the actors, cameraman, editors, etc. – everyone was present. We heard the script. I told Vidhu that there’s one place in the film where a song can be incorporated.”

He continued, “Vidhu Vinod Chopra said, ‘Yeh bhi koi jagah hai gaane ke liye. Thodi der baad waise bhi romantic gaana aane hi waala hai. The hero has just seen a glimpse of the girl and he’s finding her’. I maintained that a soulful track can be put in this sequence. Pancham and Vidhu asked me to pen the song since I was so confident. This happened on a Saturday. The plan was to meet on the coming Wednesday.”

Javed Akhtar raised laughs as he said, “I came out, sat in my car and completely forgot about it! On Wednesday, at 2:00 pm, I got a call from Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s office, reminding me of the meeting at 4:00 pm. This was when I remembered that I had made tall claims about writing a song and I haven’t written it at all.”

He added, “Those days, I used to drive myself. I was driving the car (while going to the meeting) and wondering ‘Aaj main apni izzat kaise bachau?’! On the way, I got an idea.”

Javed Akhtar confessed, “At the meeting, I claimed, ‘I worked seriously on the song for 4 days. I wrote many versions. Finally, I hit upon an idea. The first line is Ek Ladki Ko Dekha To Aisa Laga. After this line, there will only be similes. If you guys like it, I’d go ahead’! Pancham Da asked me to write an antra on the spot. I sat in the corner and started writing. The moment, I handed over the tune to him, he started composing the tune. And that was the tune that got approved.”

He continued to bring the house down saying, “I am often asked about this song, ‘Kisne inspire kiya tha aapko (to write this song). But as you can see, my source of inspiration in most songs was terror! I wonder ‘Yeh kaam poora hoga ya nahin hoga’. Jab yeh fear baith jaata hai, toh dimaag theek se kaam karta hai!”

Also Read: 30 years of 1942 A Love Story: Vidhu Vinod Chopra speaks on signing RD Burman for music of Anil Kapoor starrer in a THROWBACK video, watch