Unless one is living under a rock, there is no chance they wouldn't have heard the Saiyaara title track. Tanishk Bagchi’s composition is everywhere, from radio to YouTube, from the music streaming apps to Instagram Stories. So, we catch up with the man behind the sensation and understand how he composed the song for the Mohit Suri-directed love story. Excerpts from the interview:

It’s not the first time that I’ve composed something original and got rewarded for it. But now I feel that I am a versatile music composer. You can tell by listening to a song that it must be composed by so-and-so composer. But with my songs, you won’t be able to tell if it’s Tanishk’s music or someone else’s because I’m so versatile.

It’s 100 per cent because of the market demand, survival, and what the director wants. My first preference will be original songs. But there are instances where if I don’t [create a remix], somebody else will. When a work opportunity comes to me, I can’t reject it immediately. 

The past two years [were trying] for me because there were lots of issues in my work and family. At that time, I met Mohit sir and he supported me. I didn’t have anybody to show me the way. So, I started following his vision. He told me that he needed a song for his film. I was working on a single for the last two years with Faheem [Abdullah] and Arslan [Nizami]. When Mohit sir said he needed a song, we had one called Saiyaan Mera, and Arslan had written this line, ‘Saiyaan mera tu rootha nahin hai, mausam zara sa rootha hua hai.’ We completed it and pitched it to Mohit sir. Then Irshad bhai [Kamil] wrote the entire track.

With him, there’s always an emotion behind a song. He will never say, ‘We want a promotional track.’ He’s a music-oriented director. 

After you give a super hit song, there is a lot of competition in the market, and when you say no to certain things, people think, ‘He doesn’t know how to create original music, or he only does recreations.’ This stress would seep into my personal life. Sometimes I used to earn money, at other times I didn’t. There were times when my song would be placed fourth or fifth in an album and it wouldn’t be promoted. I had composed Raataan Lambiyaan [Shershaah] and Bolna [Kapoor & Sons], but people still doubted me. 

Absolutely! I have never followed a trend. If someone asks me to make a song catering to a 15-second reel, I won’t do it. I will make a four-minute song. After Saiyaara, people are saying, ‘We believe in your original music’.

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As the popularity of Saiyaara’s soundtrack grows, Tanishk Bagchi feels like he has finally found vindication.

While the composer has delivered some of Bollywood’s biggest hits in the last few years, his success has been overshadowed by the criticism that he is inclined towards recreations.

However, the title track of Mohit Suri’s recently released romantic drama has gone on to shatter records, becoming the first-ever Bollywood song to break into Spotify’s Global Top 5. “People didn’t know the number of good original songs I composed. Par ab logon ko pata chal raha hai ki Tanishk Bagchi original songs mein bhi baap hai,” says the 44-year-old.

He’s loving the appreciation, but Tanishk also admits that this success helped him overcome a mental rut. “For two years, I was very affected by the trolling. Now, I’m happy and at peace,” he says.

As for Saiyaara’s success, the composer reveals, “Despite its new stars, I had hope ki yeh fatega.” The success was made sweeter by the fact that the song doesn’t rely on gimmicks. “There’s pressure to create viral hits. But if a track has soul and emotion, it’ll work, no matter how long it is,” Tanishk ends.