Veer-Zaara (soundtrack)

Veer-Zaara is the soundtrack to the 2004 film of the same name directed by Yash Chopra under the production of Yash Raj Films, starring Shah Rukh Khan Preity Zinta and Rani Mukerji. The film features 11 songs with music based on old and untouched compositions by the late Madan Mohan, that was revised by his son Sanjeev Kohli. The vocals are provided by Lata Mangeshkar, Jagjit Singh, Udit Narayan, Sonu Nigam, Gurdas Mann, Roop Kumar Rathod, Ahmed and Mohammed Hussain and Pritha Mazumder and lyrics were written by Javed Akhtar. The soundtrack was released on 18 September 2004 becoming successful both critically and in terms of sales and is a recipient of numerous accolades.

Development
Chopra wanted Veer-Zaara to have the "old-world charm" in the film music actually deviating from the Western influences in the late 20th and early 21st century as the storyline is being set in the 1960s. He met several music directors discussing the same but ultimately never came into fruition. When he met Sanjeev Kohli, who was the then-CEO of Saregama, he explained the need of traditional music that actually replicating the era and needs the old-world charm. Kohli said that he had found Mohan's unused recordings in his cupboard shortly after his death. Over 100s of his tunes were compiled, out of which only 30 of them—mostly dummy recordings—had been selected, which Chopra found "impressive" and fitted his theme. Later nine songs and two bonus tracks were finalized for the film and has been revised by Kohli himself.

All the songs from the album were arranged by R. S. Mani & recorded at Empire Studios, Mumbai. Pramod Chandorkar, Daman Sood & Vijay Dayal played the roles of sound engineers of this project. R. S. Mani also scored the background music for the film.

Chopra further demanded Mangeshkar to sing for all the female vocals as she used to sing with Madan Mohan, according to Chopra. Upon coming for the recording, with tears in her eyes, she told him, "Madan Mohan was like my brother. You [Chopra] are like my brother. I feel I have gone back in the past". Although Kohli felt hesistant, he and Chopra felt that "only Lataji could sing those tunes". The other male vocals were provided by different composers. With Veer-Zaara, Chopra wanted the music to give homage to Madan Mohan and his legacy.

Release
Chopra further launched the music division of Yash Raj Films, as YRF Music with Veer-Zaara being the first official album being distributed by the company. The soundtrack was released on 18 September 2004 through CD, LP record and on Audio DVD, After its release, Chopra did not allow radio-stations to air its songs to generate curiosity. Yash Raj Music also released complete background music of the film titled The Love Legend Themes on 30 August 2007.

Reception
In a soundtrack review, Syed Firdaus Ashraf of Rediff.com states, "It will disappoint you at first, but if you listen to it repeatedly, the music will grow on you." Ashraf felt that "Kyon Hawa", sung by Sonu Nigam, was the best song in the album. Derek Elley of Variety agrees with Ashraf on the first point, writing, "While not instantly hummable, they do the job effectively." In a review of "Tere Liye", a Sify editor writes, "Madan Mohan's mastery with tunes is quite apparent in this number, parts of which are used often in the movie." Joginder Tuteja of Bollywood Hungama rated it 4 stars out of 5, writing, "Veer-Zaara is a mixed bag varying from a rich collection of love songs to emotional tracks to a patriotic number, a qawwali, a folk song and a ghazal. While the first half of the album is instantly appealing the second half will slowly grow on you." A reviewer for the BBC applauded the album, calling it "unique and special". The soundtrack was the highest-selling music album of the year in India, with sales of around 3 million units.