Filmmaker composer Vishal Bhardwaj and veteran lyricist Gulzar are all set to release a song the duo recorded with singer Lata Mangeshkar over two decades ago on Tuesday, marking the legendary singer’s 92nd birthday. 

The track, “Theek Nahi Lagta”, was recorded 26 years ago for a film but was shelved. It is now going to be released in collaboration with Bhardwaj’s label VB Music and short video app platform Moj.

During a virtual press conference on Monday, Bhardwaj revealed that the song “Theek Nahi Lagta” was recorded with Mangeshkar even before “Maachis” – his first collaboration with her.

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“During that time, we had recorded this song too. Unfortunately, that film, for which we had made the song, got shelved. The song was lost with it too. For a long time, we thought the film would be revived but after 10 years, it was clear the film won’t be made,” the filmmaker told reporters.

Bhardwaj said the “tape on which Mangeshkar’s song was recorded got misplaced and the recording studio also shut down.”

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But as fate would have it, he got a call from another recording studio two years, where “somehow this tape landed” with his name on it.

“When we checked, it had this song. Lata ji’s voice was on another track. So we retrieved it and re-orchestrated the song because it was sounding a bit dated… It was important for the song to be lost and then found,” the 56-year-old director said.

Mangeshkar appreciated both Gulzar and Bhardwaj in an audio message for finding the tape out. 

“Vishal Bhardwaj was, back then, a new composer. But the songs he made were extraordinary. In ‘Maachis’, I recorded two songs, ‘Ae Hawa’ and ‘Pani Pani Re’. While the latter stayed, the former didn’t make the cut because there was no situation.”

“Later, we collaborated again for this song, but the film never got made. After many years, they are releasing the song and I am hopeful that the listeners will love the song, its lyrics,” Lata Mangeshkar said. 

Talking about the relevance of the song even to this day, Gulzar said, “The relationship that the boy and the girl shared in the film was uncommitted. It’s often found in today’s generation, where you’re not very certain on how far to go. In that situation, you feel, ‘Sab theek toh hai, lekin, kuch theek nahi lagta (All is well, but something is not ok)’.

“The lines are all the more relevant. Somewhere Vishal’s observation of the society, environment, the people he lives with… He’s aware of everything that is happening socially, politically,” he added.