There’s hardly anyone who hasn’t danced to Dholi Taro Dhol Baaje or Nimbooda during garba dandiya nights. Even the other songs from the Salman Khan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan-starrer are considered evergreen. As the film completes 25 years, music composer Ismail Darbar reminisces about the good old times.

“When I did Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (HDDCS), Sanjay (Leela Bhansali, director) and I fought in every recording. But we also managed to strike a long-lasting friendship,” recalls Darbar, who made his Bollywood debut with the blockbuster.

Recalling how he landed the project that her terms “difficult”, the composer says, “Kunal Ganjawala (singer) randomly recommended my name to Sanjay. I had composed an album that never came out, and I made Sanjay listen to those tunes during our music sitting. I made him listen to the title track, and he loved the song and complimented me.” 

The 59-year-old revealed that, despite lauding his strong sense of music, Bhansali refused to officially get Darbar onboard even after four months. “After four months, I gave Sanjay an audio tune that he heard nine times and even cried. That song was Tadap Tadap Ke. That’s when Sanjay said, ‘Today I’ve completed my film’. It was such a powerful song. According to Sanjay, he now knew the film’s interval and the end,” shares the musician. The director finally signed Darbar after six months, when he composed the classical number Albela Sajan, based on Raah Ahir Bhairav. 

Looking back now, Darbar feels Chand Chupa might sound like a simple composition, “but even today people can’t sing it correctly.”

The 1999 hit was a risk for Darbar because that was the era of A R Rahman (music composer) supremacy. Although he believes, “if I had thought A R Rahman’s style would work, this album would’ve never been made,” giving credit to Bhansali’s confidence in him. “He might fight with you, but he’ll listen to you too. We had a different kind of madness that I’ll always cherish,” Darbar adds.

Revealing some trivia about the film’s title, Darbar tells us that the film was originally titled Duvidhaa, which he didn’t like. When he questioned Bhansali, the filmmaker changed it to Afreen. Darbar again pointed out that, for a film based in Gujarat, having an Urdu title didn’t seem right. Ultimately, on the composer’s suggestion, the movie got its final title — Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam.