Chaya Unnikrishnan (DNA; August 21, 2015)

The makers of Hero, starring Sooraj Pancholi and Athiya Shetty were looking for a slow number that would convey the heartbreak of the lead pair in the film. But tried as they might, they just couldn’t find it. Finally, it was Karan Johar who came to their rescue. The filmmaker had a song Yadaan Teriyaan, which he thought would suit Hero and gave it away.

Says Amar Butala, CCO, Salman Khan Films, “We were looking high and low for a slow separation song but weren’t finding it. A couple of months ago, Nikhil (Advani, director) and I were talking about it in Karan’s office. That’s when Karan said he had a song which he wouldn’t be using in the immediate future and offered it to us. He asked us to listen to it. We heard it and fell in love with it. And when Salman heard it, he recommended that we get Rahat Fateh Ali to sing it.”

The song comes at a point when Athiya and Sooraj are separated. Athiya is sent to Paris while Sooraj is in jail. “The love story goes south towards the second the half and the song captures their anguish. They reminisce about their time together and the hope of getting married,” says Butala. The song that plays in the background has been shot partly in India and partly in Romania.