Besides winning awards, the music of Lootera (2013) also earned a lot of respect from music aficionados. So much so that the six-track album continues to feature on their playlists. For composer Amit Trivedi, the experience of working on the songs of the Ranveer Singh and Sonakshi Sinha-starrer “was amazing”.

He shares, “I always enjoy working with Vikramaditya Motwane (director), as he always has clarity on the music he wants in his films. He gave me the script of Lootera and there was so much clarity in the way things were described that I knew exactly how to go about it. Working with Amitabh Bhattacharya as the lyricist and some amazing singers was a great experience too.”

“The era was set in the ‘50s and ‘60s. Vikramaditya Motwane suggested Piya Tose Naina Laage Re (Guide; 1965) as a reference. I made Sawaar Loon keeping that song in mind. It gave me an idea about the kind of vision he had and I just followed that,” says Trivedi.

“Working on the songs of Lootera was very smooth and we managed to come up with all of them in one go. When you work with people who have a clear vision and similar wavelengths, things get easy. When they enjoy your music, you get the freedom to create. I made only six songs and all of them made it to the album of Lootera,” he says.

Trivedi recalls, “Zinda was not supposed to be in the album. It came to me when I was going through a really tough time, personally. I was low and I just sat down with the harmonium and came up with the tune and lyrics of the mukhda. The song eventually became the climax of the film.”

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I had come to Mumbai with the vision of becoming a singer and I became a lyricist by chance. I had just found a footing as a lyricist in the industry around the time Lootera happened, so it was a special project,” says lyricist Amitabh Bhattacharya, who penned all the songs of the film. Teaming up with composer Amit Trivedi, his collaborator on many projects even before Lootera, was a memorable experience for the writer.

“Amit and I make a good team. Since we had worked on projects like Aamir (2008), Dev D (2009) and Udaan (2010) by then, we had a great tuning. He would share the melody with me and I would write the lyrics after listening to the track. All the songs in the film were the first drafts I wrote,” he says, adding, “Working on a classic like Lootera while I was also writing songs for a commercial masala film like Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (2013) was interesting. As an artiste, I enjoyed the variety.”

“I remember Amit had already composed and written the lyrics for the mukhda of Zinda Hoon Yaar and it was a beautiful thought. I realized that the words were so apt that rewriting the mukhda was not possible. For me, the responsibility to live up to the benchmark of the mukhda with impactful antras was a challenge. But mujhe khushi hai ki main uss gaane ko accha likhne ki zimmedari nibha paaya,” he recalls.

Bhattacharya reminisces, “My favourite track from the album is Shikayatein. There’s something in the melody. Amit and I were in Goa when he shared the melody with me and I wrote the song. There are some songs that you write and feel a sense of relief and catharsis. Shikayatein is that song for me. With (singer) Mohan Kannan’s voice, the song went to another level.”

“While composing the song, Amit came up with the phrase Sawaar Loon. And I remember the way I’d written wasn’t going well with that thought. I had written the phrase Mori Mori Kije Kori in Bangla, which translates to ‘Haaye marr jaun, main kya karoon?’ But the crew liked Sawaar Loon more, so I connected the thought of the mukhda to Sawaar Loon and it worked out well.”