KADAMBARI SRIVASTAVA
Nostalgic Notes :
When ‘Hum Tum’ went the ‘Fanaa’ way
Kunal Kohli may have started off with the starry debacle of
Mujhse Dosti Karoge, but he eventually went on to win hearts
with his stroke of brilliance at directing two brilliant Yash
Raj romances; Hum Tum and Fanaa. Starring Rani Mukerji
and Saif Ali Khan in the lead roles, Hum Tum reintroduced a
charming Saif Ali Khan as the imperfect, boyish hero – a fresh
respite from his earlier roles of a sidekick or supporting actor.
That was the time when YRF was at its peak of churning out
love sagas. Surely enough, two years after Hum Tum, the breezy
unofficial remake of Hollywood’s sweetheart When Harry Met
Sally, Yash Raj gave us Fanaa, which too was directed by Kunal
Kohli, and was based unofficially on Hollywood movie Eye of
the Needle, based on the novel of the same name, by Ken Follet.
However, them being unofficial yet amazing adaptations
directed by Kunal Kohli were not the only factors which bound
Hum Tum and Fanaa. There is an interesting musical anecdote
here as well, which connects these beautiful romances.
The music of Hum Tum and Fanaa both was composed by
Jatin-Lalit, the duo who were behind the superhit romantic
albums of almost every Yash Raj movie. Interestingly,
Fanaa was their last movie together. Fanaa was beautiful in
many ways; the debut of Aamir Khan and Kajol’s beautiful
chemistry, a tragic love arc, and Prasoon Joshi’s lyrical
phrases binding all of it, with Jatin-Lalit’s music. Its theme
still echoes into our hearts whenever we hear the movie’s
name. The theme of Fanaa was used as a whistle in Aamir’s
introductory song and later on as a full-fledged number
Chanda Chamke. But wait. If you are a hardcore fan of Jatin-
Lalit’s albums it would sound familiar; and the connection
would take you straight to the album of Hum Tum.
Yes, back in the days when cassettes existed and digital media
was zilch and nada, we all craved for some crazy connections
and felt amazing at having discovered something new. And
that was the feeling which persisted when many pointed that
the song Yaara Yaara in the Hum Tum album, which did not
make it to the movie’s final cut, was the tune used to bind
Fanaa. The original version was sung by Alka Yagnik and Udit
Narayan, and seems like it wasn’t even filmed, for we never
got to see a deleted video of it. Nevertheless, we found our
newfound love of the tune two years later in Fanaa and loved it.
While many fans noticed it at that time itself, it was only
on the tenth anniversary of Fanaa, that director Kunal
Kohli chose to divulge the same officially. As he shared
a lot of interesting trivia from the sets, he also stated
that since they were not able to use Yaara Yaara, they
thought of using the tune as a theme for Fanaa. Guess that
worked out perfectly. The fans were not deluded, after all.
We bet you’ll be going back to both the albums now.
The
Score Magazine
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