Lalit Pandit Opens Up As Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha Completes 26 Years: ‘Struck Gold When We Were Taken To Ajay Devgn’s Farmhouse, Kajol Was There’

Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha, blatantly lifted from the Meg Ryan-Kavin Kline starrer French Kiss, had one original element. The breezy romantic music score by Jatin-Lalit.

Recalls  Lalit, “I remember Ajay being a very passionate music lover and made us hear a lot of music and he was extremely involved and keen that the music was top-class in the film. We understood that from the start. The music sessions were going on and we recorded a few songs. But we struck gold when we were taken to Ajay Devgn’s farmhouse and we stayed there with our entire team of assistants and Kajol was there. Lyricist Sameerji joined us there and we started composing the tunes. My brother Jatin composed one of the best songs there which I love ‘Jab Kisiki Taraf Dil Jhukne Lage’. It was beautifully written by Vinoo Mahendra, a writer both me and Jatin enjoyed working, and thought he was very talented.”

Lalit credits Kajol with the inspiration for the title song. “I was at the same time trying to hit the right notes for the title song which needed to be THE SONG of the film… I remember one morning I was trying out a tune with some scattings that would land on the title words Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha… Kajol was sleeping and woke up hearing the tune and yelled, ‘This is sounding good!!’. Encouraged by her words I went on to pooling the time further. Later we all sat on the tune and I was singing the tune with the way it was with the beginning having no words leading to the title words ‘Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha’. I remember very correctly it was Kajol who said that we should not have any words for the song and it should be the way I was singing as it would be unique. I was not convinced about it as when we make tunes they don’t have words and words follow later. But Kajol loved the way it was and the way it led to the title ‘Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha!’. We went ahead with that idea and started preparing for the recordings!”

Remo Fernandez, who sang the title song, was selected after much deliberation. “We got stuck on the question of who should sing this song. I needed someone who would deliver the fun and energy the song required but none of us wanted a regular Kumar Sanu or an Udit Narayan to sing! We knew the song would fall flat on its nose. We locked Remo Fernandes for the song as he is someone who we knew also had a creative mind and who would add spice to the rendition of the song. This idea worked and I think Remo did wonderful and deserved the award that year. It was also the first time Jaspindar Narula sang a Jatin-Lalit song. Actually, we tried many female singers for this song but none had the desired effect that the song and I wanted. Jaspinder I knew hailed from the UK and Canada and we had heard she sang an English song with a certain attitude. Eventually, she was asked to come and try her voice on the song. The pitch being high of the song, the lady struggled and went red trying to match the spirit of the song but we could see she was doing more than her best!! Eventually, I okayed her voice, and the song was completed.”

Lalit rates this score very high in his repertoire. “The music of Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha was amongst the five nominations we had that year in 1998. We were nominated for Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Ghulam, Jab Pyar Kisi Se Hota Hai, Pyar Kiya Toh Darna  Kya and Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha! This was the best year we had of our career delivering so many memorable soundtracks. Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha went on to win the Best Female Singer award for Jaspinder, her only big achievement in her entire career. Remo was nominated too and I think he deserved an award too. It was quite an experience doing the music of  PTHHT  from many perspectives. Firstly it was a comedy love story which Ajay Devgn had never done before. He was an action hero and I remember during that time 1998 he was looking for an image change to being a romantic hero. Kajol told him that to be and make his presence as a romantic hero he needs to have the best music and that he should work with Jatin-Lalit. It was Kajol who suggested our name to do the music for this film. It was the second film that Anees Bazmee directed starring Kajol and Ajay Devgn (after Hulchal). From many angles, this has to be an important film for all of us. We were extremely busy during those days and were doing more than our best to keep up with our different projects. Simultaneously we understood the importance of PTHHT as it was Devgn’s home production and Kajol was there whose films always did record-breaking music. In fact, we were nominated for  Filmfare’s Best Music award that year for PTHHT and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, both Kajol starrers. Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha achieved its goal and established Ajay Devgn as a romantic hero.”