Paji Tussi Such A Pussycat began with just this single line which Amitabh Bhattacharya had penned and presented compos ers Sachin Sanghvi and Jigar Saraiya before they flew out to the US with director duo Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK for the shooting of their Saif Ali Khan-Ileana D'Cruz starrer. “Happy Ending is a comedy about rom-coms so we needed a song for every mood. Along with a love song and a dance track, it was imperative that we had a gana on heartbreak too,“ points out Sachin.

Jigar is quick to add that they were well aware that this song about tanhaai and a toota hua dil couldn't be the usual rona-dhona, tabladholak dirge. The idea was for the 'ditched' dude to quickly realise after a few days of melancholy that he was no longer 'stuck' in a relationship. “He needed to shrug off the 'mistake', move on and live life again,“ he explains, adding that it is the reverse philosophy which is at work here. “Instead of crying his heart out like a Devdas, this modern-day Romeo laughs away his woes. Isn't that what dark irony is all about?“ Playing around with Amitabh's catchy one-liner, the composer duo came up with five funky tunes for Raj-DK to choose from. “Amitabh had begged us not to turn this into a typical Punjabi song despite the words 'paaji' and 'tussi,'“ recalls Jigar, pointing out that since the number was to be filmed in Amercian shores where the director duo are originally from, they knew that a western tune was expected from them. “We've come up with something in the Blues tradition, very country music style.“

With the tune locked, Amitabh needed just a day to finish writing the rest of the song. He also sang the scratch and after hearing him, the music directors didn't even think of taking it to another singer. “His voice is just so right for this,“ smiles Jigar who has turned crooner for Paaji too. “I sang the antaras with Divya Kumar. When you see the film you'll realise why we needed different voices for them,“ he says. Sachin-Jigar had earlier scored the Johhny Johnny song for Entertainment which had its roots in a nursery rhyme. Is this song too borrowed from another nursery rhyme, Pussy cat pussy cat where have you been?

“No, this one is more of a literal translation of a popular one-liner: ladki dekhi to sher bhi billi ban jaati hai,“ laughs Sachin, pointing out that when Jigar's wife and his wife heard the song, they told the two that it was the first time they have come up with a track which was ekdum sach.

Interestingly, the composer duo features on screen too along with 'hero' Saif Ali Khan. “It was just a two day shoot in the US with Saif who is a chilled out dude. We just had to play ourselves. So there was no stress,“ Jigar shrugs nonchalantly, adding that Raj and DK and the two of them are a team now which upped the comfort level. “We also have a great connect with Remo sir (Remo D'Souza) who choreographed the number. We have earlier done FALTU and ABCD. He always takes our songs up step up.“

Sachin stresses this is not a stereotypical sad song: “We took a risk steering off the beaten track. I hope people like our attempt to get catty in love.“