Marathi film ‘WhatsApp Love’ released in theatres in 2019 but the music of the film, for some reason, was not released as a standalone entity back then. The makers are now finally releasing the songs on digital platforms one by one. The first song to be released individually has been ‘Mere Maula’, a qawalli sung beautifully by Shabab Sabri. Incidentally, the song was released on the auspicious occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr.
Sahil Sultanpuri, who is the lyricist of the song, says, “The song comes at a very important juncture in the film. When people watched the film in the theatres, they really appreciated the song. Now, I am happy even the ones who have not seen the film can watch and listen to the song. ‘Maula Mere’ has a touch of divinity. Writing such songs is a blissful experience”
Writing qawallis come quite naturally to Sahil who grew up in Uttar Pradesh and closer to Lucknow which is famous for hosting renowned qawwals. In the past he had written qawallis for films like the Neeraj Pandey produced ‘Saat Uchakkey’ (‘Husn Waale Farebi’). Working on ‘WhatsApp Love’ was also a special experience for the lyricist as it reunited him with composer Nitin Shankar.
“I had worked with Nitin Shankar ji on the film ‘Maai’ and a few other projects in the past. I have had a very wonderful working association with him. He is a legendary composer and arranger who has worked with everyone ranging from RD Burman to Jatin-Lalit to Pritam. He is someone who understands the value of lyrics and whether a particular line or word would go well with the song or not. I get to learn something new every time I collaborate with him on a project.”
‘WhatsApp Love’, featuring Raqesh Bapat and Anuja Sathe Gokhale in leading roles and directed by Hemantkumar Vitthalrao Mahale, is a bilingual film shot in Marathi and Hindi.
“In the Marathi version, I have written two songs. In the Hindi version, all the songs, including the two that were used in the Marathi version, have been written by me. ‘Maula Mere’ features in both the versions of the film. There is a beautiful song called ‘Sona Re’ which has been sung by Asha Bhosale ji and Javed Ali. Asha ji had tweeted about the song the day she recorded it. I had earlier done a Marathi film called ‘Mulga’. Madhu Bhosale ji had composed the song and Jaspinder Narula ji had sung it.”
A few months before the lockdown happened, Sahil delivered a huge hit in the form of ‘Akhiyaan Milavanga’ from the Vidyut Jammwal starrer ‘Commando 3’.
“The song became much bigger than any of us could have imagined it to be. I still get messages and calls from people congratulating me on the song. I will forever be grateful to composer Mannan Shaah and Vipul Shah ji, the producer of the film, for giving me the opportunity to write it. The song proved to be a major milestone in my career”, he says.
Though the industry has been taking things a little slow amidst the pandemic, Sahil has written a couple of songs for films and non-film projects which will be out later this year.