Vishal Bhardwaj on Tuesday said Darlings coproducer and Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan was so impressed by La Ilaaj that he sang the film’s song to the music composer over a phone call. Shah Rukh is producing Darlings, the upcoming Netflix film, via his Red Chillies Entertainment along with lead star Alia Bhatt’s banner Eternal Sunshine Productions. Vishal has composed the track which is penned by veteran lyricist-writer Gulzar. The duo is credited for creating hit songs for films such as Maachis, Maqbool, Omkara and Kaminey, among others. “Shah Rukh called me one night around 12-12.30 am. He started singing the song on the phone. He sang the entire song.
Then he started narrating the meaning of it... He said ‘It would have been more fun had the song been for me’,” the composer told reporters here. It was heartening to be praised by Shah Rukh, said Vishal. “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. Vishal was joined by Alia and 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. Vishal 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, Vishal 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.