Legendary music composer AR Rahman is known for his late-night musical epiphanies, and the creation of Vida Karo for the film Amar Singh Chamkila was no different. Director Imtiaz Ali shared the story of the song’s creation in a recent interview revealing a truly inspiring process.
In the interview, Imtiaz said that as he and lyricist Irshad Kamil were about to leave Rahman’s studio at 2:30 am, the magic began. “Rahman came and sat at his piano,” Ali recounted. Seeking a more intimate atmosphere, Rahman requested dimmed lights and lit candles. Lost in conversation about classic Hindi film music, particularly Guru Dutt’s soundtracks, Imtiaz found himself simply captivated by the emerging melody.
Inspiration struck quickly. “Irshad sat down and wrote the lines within 45 minutes. Rahman said let’s sit down and compose the song right now. While it was happening, some people started crying in the studio. Rahman joked ‘What have you done Irshad Kamil, you are making people cry,'” Imtiaz said.
Vida Karo, a poignant farewell to the ostracized characters Chamkila (Diljit Dosanjh) and Amarjot (Parineeti Chopra), is a powerful testament to overcoming prejudice. Inspired by a poem by Shiv Kumar Batalvi, the song finds Chamkila accepting his fate while challenging societal bias.
The filmmaker also discussed the selection of Arijit Singh as the vocalist, crediting Rahman for the suggestion. “When a composer sings their song, there is a gravitas and attachment to it. Sometimes you need a singer who can sing the melody with the same attachment. Arijit brings that to the music — he sings truthfully and without milawat. I also enjoy that he sings the whole song. He doesn’t sing one line to bring it in ‘sur’. In this era when people say you can auto-tune or get AI to sing the song, he sings truthfully,” he said.
