Gulzar reminisces about working with KK on the singer’s last song, Dhoop paani bahne de

Veteran writer-lyricist Gulzar, says he was overjoyed when he was given the opportunity to collaborate with popular singer KK on a track titled Dhoop paani bahne de from Srijit Mukherji’s Hindi film Sherdil: The Pilibhit Saga.

Krishnakumar Kunnath, also known as KK, died last week at the age of 53 after suffering a massive cardiac arrest following a concert in Kolkata.

Gulzar, who first collaborated with the playback singer on his 1996 film Maachis, said the recently released song will always be special to him. “Srijit has done me a favour in Sherdil. Not only did I get to write for such a beautiful film, I got to meet KK after ages. KK had first sung a song of mine in Maachis, Chhor Aye Hum Woh Galiya….When he came to sing the song for Sherdil, it filled my heart with joy but It’s a shame that this had to go down as one of his last songs. It’s like he came to say goodbye,” the 87-year-old lyricist said in a statement

KK was best known for his memorable film songs such as Tadap Tadap, Beete Lamhe and Aankhon Mein Teri, as well as indie pop songs such as Pal and Yaaraon. Mukherji stated that working with Gulzar and KK on his film is a dream come true. “We have grown up on Gulzar saab’s poetry. We have grown up befriending KK’s voice in every matter of the heart. So, it is a double dream come true for me,” he said. Sherdil is billed as a family entertainer and tells an insightful story about the negative effects of urbanisation, man-animal conflict, and poverty, which leads to a bizarre practice in a village on the outskirts of a forest. Pankaj Tripathi, Neeraj Kabi, and Sayani Gupta play the lead roles.

T-Series, Reliance Entertainment, and Match Cut Productions released the song Dhoop paani bahne de on Monday night. The song was composed by Shantanu Moitra.

According to Moitra, KK was enthusiastic about the song and sang it as if it were ‘his own.’ “He told me this song has given Gulzar sahib back to him after two decades. He was also excited that he would sing this song in live concerts because it talks about conservation and the youth needs to listen to this.” 

Sherdil: The Pilibhit Saga will be released in theatres on June 24.