Today ‘Tip Tip Barsa Paani’ from Mohra is considered one of the most sensuous rain songs but it started out as just a peppy, romantic number between Akshay and Raveena. The mukhda tune had been approved by the director, but Anand Bakshi sahab (the lyricist) felt it was a little too lengthy. After arguing for an hour, I told him to forget the tune, give me the lyrics, and I would compose it again.

Finally, he told me to play it one more time and suddenly came up with the line ‘Tip Tip Barsa Paani’. The thing was once Bakshi sahab got the first line, the entire song would be over in 10-15 minutes. When I would play a tune for Bakshi sahab, I would write some dummy lyrics just to give him a feel. The only line he kept from my dummy lyrics was the last one ‘Main Kya Karun’. I think he penned the other lines around it: ‘Teri yaad aayi toh jal utha mera bheega badan, ab tu hi bata o sajan main kya karun...’

It was only after he came up with this line that it turned out to be a rain song and (director) Rajiv Rai thought of picturising it that way. In those times, rain songs were very popular, maybe because of the dance and the sensual element. Take Mr India’s ‘Kaante Nahin Kat Te’, for instance. But the song also has to have some beat. If ‘Tip tip’ only had visuals, why would people still listen to it?

Nowadays, there are much fewer rain songs in films. Similarly, there have been no mujras and qawwalis for many years, maybe because youngsters are not open to that. Everyone wants to play safe, and everything is either Punjabi or rap. Today’s directors say they want “halke phulke words jo logo ko samajh aaye” and insist on some English words. But I think people will listen to a good track.

Everything that you hear in ‘Tip Tip’ — even the tabla — was electronic, created with 12 synthesisers. The only acoustic element came from the violin. We had first tried this approach of going all out with electronic in Tridev in 1989, just to give it a new sound.

Today, even I can’t recreate the opening sound of Tang Nanana Tang Nanana — that just happened and is the life behind the song. It is what people remember. After I recorded it in 1993, many producers would demand this same sound but even I didn’t know what the combination was. If I hear it and try to analyse it, I may come close, but it wouldn’t be identical.

Honestly, I never expected it would still be playing after 27 years. It has been remixed so many times, with another one in a forthcoming film. But it is only the basic arrangement that these remixes change. The singing is nowhere close to Alka (Yagnik) and Udit’s (Narayan).