# Dum Laga Ke Haisha (soundtrack)

Dum Laga Ke Haisha is the soundtrack album to the 2015 film of the same name directed by Sharat Katariya and produced by Maneesh Sharma under Yash Raj Films, starring Ayushmann Khurrana and Bhumi Pednekar. The soundtrack featured seven songs composed by Anu Malik with lyrics written by Varun Grover and was released under the YRF Music on 6 February 2015 to positive reviews from critics and won two National Film Awards, including Best Female Playback Singer for Monali Thakur and Best Lyrics for Varun Grover, for the song "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage".

## Background

   "There was no reason for him [Chopra] to call me. We’d never interacted socially. I asked Anju, ‘Aditya Chopra has called me to Yash Raj, shall I go?’ She looked at me with this incredulous expression and asked me to drop everything and rush to the meeting [...] He told me that my job was to convince Sharat and producer Maneesh Sharma who were ‘hard to please’. I concentrated on giving my best and won the assignment."
Anu Malik composed the seven-song soundtrack to Dum Laga Ke Haisha. It was his first sole composition in the 2010s, where Malik had contributed for multi-composer soundtracks during that period due to lack of big offers. He received a text message from the YRF chairman Aditya Chopra, who had not worked with the composer, and upon Chopra's request, Malik met the YRF office in November 2013. Chopra then told him that he met several composers and was not satisfied with them, while further admitting that he had to convince Katariya and Sharma. Malik then played it with his old-school music, in contrast to the current generation of film music trends that emphasized. Both Katariya and Sharma were impressed with Malik's tunes, which led him to be on board for the film.

## Development

   "The film has a great story and there is a song for every season of the human heart — from falling in love for the first time, of laughter, of rain and of heartbreak."
The album consisted of tunes that were reminiscent of the 1990s Hindi film music. Malik explained that it came from his 60-year-old melodic tradition that his father Sardar Malik had emphasized on, and the trends of Shankar–Jaikishan, Naushad, O. P. Nayyar, C. Ramchandra, R. D. Burman and Laxmikant–Pyarelal, which he grew up listening to. All the songs were written by lyricist Varun Grover.
Malik explained on the song "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage", saying "The words speak of a coming together of two different people. It’s a situational song and conveys how we unwittingly fall in love. Varun wrote the mukhda and it made a place in my heart. I came up with the tune two days later." Papon provided vocals for the male counterpart of the song, which Malik admitted it as a "Hemant Kumar kind of texture, which I admire." Monali Thakur provided the vocals for the female version. Malik enlisted Thakur to record that version, after he was impressed with her voice when she was a contestant at the reality singing television show Indian Idol 2, and Malik was one of the judges. After recording the song, Thakur felt emotional after watching the visuals. She admitted that "Anu ji [Malik, the composer] was like, only you can sing this song and no one else [...] Beneath all that madness, he is a real genius and a most sincere person."
Kumar Sanu provided vocals for two songs; one being a duet number "Dard Karaara" with Sadhana Sargam, which marked her comeback. Malik, on working with Sanu, stated that he sang "Dard Karaara" in a single take. On collaborating with new age artists, such as Rahul Ram, Nooran Sisters, Malik stated "When you work for so many years in the industry, you form your cliques. But I quickly realised that I have to be open to work with new talent". Most of the songs had a new age quality, which Malik had adapted to.

## Reception

Calling it as "the surprise of the season", Joginder Teja of Rediff.com admitted that the music "makes one nostalgic for a bygone era." Devesh Sharma of Filmfare stated "Anu Malik is back from hibernation with this one. And instead of going for obtuse forays into disco and techno, he has stuck to using melody as his gauntlet and has indeed issued a challenge to the young Turks out there." Karthik Srinivasan of Milliblog described it as a "minor comeback of sorts by veteran Anu Malik". Suanshu Khurana of The Indian Express wrote "We wish Malik had returned to his classic sound with an emphasis on grand melodies. For now, the album sees sporadic goodness." Rajiv Vijayakar of Bollywood Hungama wrote "Celebrate, for a genius, a legendary composer is back to show how far he is above the rookies who have made it big at a game in which he is a past master. All our living legends need to return to rescue music from the morass it has fallen into, but everyone does not get an Aditya Chopra to back him. In that sense, both, Anu and the music lover within us are extremely lucky."

## Track listing

All lyrics are written by Varun Grover; all music is composed by Anu Malik

## Awards and nominations

| Award | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref. |
| 63rd National Film Awards | Best Female Playback Singer | Monali Thakur (for the song "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage") | Won | |
| 63rd National Film Awards | Best Lyrics | Varun Grover (for the song "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage") | Won | |
| 11th Star Guild Awards | Best Music Director | Anu Malik | Nominated | [12] [13] [14] |
| 11th Star Guild Awards | Best Lyricist | Varun Grover (for the song "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage") | Won | [12] [13] [14] |
| 11th Star Guild Awards | Best Playback Singer – Female | Monali Thakur (for the song "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage") | Won | [12] [13] [14] |
| 61st Filmfare Awards | Best Lyricist | Varun Grover (for the song "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage") | Nominated | [15] [16] [17] |
| 61st Filmfare Awards | Best Male Playback Singer | Papon (for the song "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage") | Nominated | [15] [16] [17] |
| 61st Filmfare Awards | Best Female Playback Singer | Monali Thakur (for the song "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage") | Nominated | [15] [16] [17] |
| 22nd Screen Awards | Best Male Playback | Papon (for the song "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage") | Won | [18] [19] |
| 22nd Screen Awards | Best Female Playback | Monali Thakur (for the song "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage") | Won | [18] [19] |
| 2016 Zee Cine Awards | Best Lyricist | Varun Grover (for the song "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage") | Won | [20] [21] [22] [23] |
| 2016 Zee Cine Awards | Best Music Director | Anu Malik | Won | [20] [21] [22] [23] |
| 2016 Zee Cine Awards | Best Playback Singer – Male | Papon (for the song "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage") | Nominated | [20] [21] [22] [23] |
| 2016 Zee Cine Awards | Best Playback Singer – Female | Monali Thakur (for the song "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage") | Nominated | [20] [21] [22] [23] |
| 17th IIFA Awards | Best Lyricist | Varun Grover (for the song "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage") | Won | [24] [25] |
| 17th IIFA Awards | Best Female Playback Singer | Monali Thakur (for the song "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage") | Won | [24] [25] |
| 17th IIFA Awards | Best Male Playback Singer | Papon (for the song "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage") | Won | [24] [25] |
| 6th GiMA Awards | Best Male Playback Singer | Papon (for the song "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage") | Won | [26] [27] |
| 6th GiMA Awards | Best Lyricist | Varun Grover (for the song "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage") | Won | [26] [27] |
| 6th GiMA Awards | Best Female Playback Singer | Monali Thakur (for the song "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage") | Nominated | [26] [27] |
| 6th GiMA Awards | Best Film Song | "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage" | Nominated | [26] [27] |
| 8th Mirchi Music Awards | Best Lyrics | Varun Grover (for the song "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage") | Won | [28] [29] |
| 8th Mirchi Music Awards | Best Playback Singer – Female | Monali Thakur (for the song "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage") | Nominated | [28] [29] |
| 8th Mirchi Music Awards | Best Playback Singer – Male | Papon (for the song "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage") | Won | [28] [29] |