Romance Reloaded with ‘If you hold my hand’

The challenge, as always, was how to package an old bottle of wine in a newer way?

A love song is the most cliched yet a mandatory situation for any Hindi film. In ABCD, we somehow ducked this situation but with Varun & Shraddha being in ABCD 2, it would be foolish to let go of a good romantic song. The challenge, as always, was how to package an old bottle of wine in a newer way?

Sachin and Jigar had the germ of this song since a long time ( or as they would say ‘from the time when boy-bands were cool’). In fact, the phrase ‘if you hold my hand’ was also there and Remo and Liselle had always liked it. Funny thing is, despite having this melody with them, Sachin-Jigar never played it to me (probably thinking that I may not like the boy band approach). It was only when Remo insisted, they played it to me. And I loved it the first time I heard it. I could see open skies, glorious sun and almost feel the first whiff of fresh young romance hitting my face when I shut my eyes and listened to it.

‘Like a bird that’s looking for the sky…’ was my first thought for the song and the rest of the lyrics just fell in place. Actually, I won’t take the full credit for it… A few of the lines were already there when Sachin-Jigar played the song to me and I retained them, writing around the existing thoughts.

My biggest contribution to this song probably is the healthy mix of Hindi-English. This is probably the first Bollywood song that uses both languages spoken by the urban youth of India, seamlessly flowing into each other.

We enjoyed working on this song but the real hero of this song is Remo. The way he visualised and shot it, is stupendous. The landscape of Grand Canyon! The kites in the sky! The post-modern mirror themed artefacts used in the production design – the song is a visual delight! Kudos to Remo and his team for shooting this song so brilliantly. Of course, it also helps when you have beautiful people like Varun, Shraddha and Lauren on screen.

This song grows on you with repeated hearings. I’m sure, out of all the songs of ABCD 2, this one will have the longest shelf life. Like my earlier romantic songs ‘Teri Oar’ and ‘Beintehaan’ – this one will play for years to come.

*The article was first published on Pandolin.com

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