Bappi Lahiri and Asha Bhosle’s Raat Baaki has undergone a contemporary revision at the behest of Sajid Khan, of Sajid-Wajid fame. The composer, who counts Iulia Vantur among his friends, admits to have created this version keeping her singing sensibilities in mind, even though Vantur was never approached for the project.

“I wanted to make something that suited her personality. I didn’t tell her I was working on it. I caught her on a day when she was in a good mood, and decided to have her record it. Initially, I told her it was for someone else, but I merely wanted her to give it a go. I guided her on the process as she simply followed my cues, and after I created it, I sent her the final track,” says Khan, adding that the 1982 number has been a favourite.

“Nakal karne ke liye bhi akal ki zaroorat hai. Many people don’t use their brains while recreating songs. I wanted to give this number a party groove, and I use her accent to favour it. Just like we can’t speak English as well as foreigners can, regardless of how hard we try, she can’t speak in Hindi like we do. And that works in her favour. People believe that is her weakness, but I think it is her strength. I have used her accent, because, today, listeners are willing to consume the works of a diverse range of singers. Also, she is so hard-working that eventually people will like her,” says Khan, further crediting his music engineer Sajid Masood for the final product.