Shah Rukh Khan sang La Ilaaj song from his film Darlings to the music composer over a phone call. Khan is producing Darlings, the upcoming Netflix film, via his Red Chillies Entertainment along with lead star Alia Bhatt's banner Eternal Sunshine Productions. During the launch of La Ilaaj from Alia Bhatt starrer Darlings in Delhi, Bhardwaj shared how the film's co-producer Shah Rukh reacted to the song when he heard it for the first time. "It was late night and all of sudden I got a call from Shah Rukh. I picked up his call and instead of saying hello he started singing 'La Ilaaj'. He even narrated the meaning of the lyrics. He then said, 'agar ye song mere liye hota toh aur maza aata'. I felt really special that time. It was so nice of him," Bhardwaj recalled.
Sung by Arijit Singh, 'La Ilaaj' from Netflix film basically translates to incurable. The lyrics of the soulful track are penned by none other than Gulzar.
It was heartening to be praised by Khan, said Bhardwaj. "I felt so nice. He is the producer of the film. He listened to the song, called and appreciated it. This is what we, artistes, want in our lives. We only seek appreciation," he added. The composer was speaking at the launch event of La Ilaaj. Bhardwaj was joined by Bhatt, other Darlings cast members Shefali Shah, Vijay Varma, Roshan Mathew, film's director Jasmeet K Reen and producer and Red Chillies Entertainment COO Gaurav Verma.
Bhardwaj dedicated the song, the title of which means 'incurable', to his close friend and frequent collaborator Tabu.
As a filmmaker, he has worked with the actor on "Maqbool", "Haider" and the upcoming Netflix film "Khufiya".
"She is 'la ilaaj' for me, I'm 'la ilaaj' for her. I can't work without her," he added. Also an acclaimed director, Bhardwaj said he considers himself a music composer first. He started his career as a music director with films such as "Maachis" and "Satya", and went on to make his directorial debut with "Makdee" in 2002.
"I became a director so that I can employ myself as a music composer. Otherwise no one was taking me," he said.
Darlings, a Mumbai-set dark comedy, will stream on Netflix from Friday.
Watch the full song below:
