Haider (soundtrack)

The original songs and film score are composed by Vishal Bhardwaj. The song, "Roshe Valle" was sung live at the shooting spot by actress Tabu as it was a part of her act.[5] Actor Sumit Kaul helped actress Tabu get the right enunciations when she sang the folk song.[6] The track's studio recording was completed in August 2014. Shraddha Kapoor has sung the Kashmiri folk part of the song titled "Do Jahaan". The first single "Aao Na" is a composition that dominates electric guitar instrument with the drum kit providing background beats with upbeat rock elements.[7] The track is a narration of protagonist who breaks his own shallows and sets out in Kashmiri valleys for seeking revenge. The track was called "musically energetic, visually it’s vengeful" with composer Vishal Daldani's voice tones ranging from mild to vociferous.[8]Firstpost called the second single "Bismil" as lyricist Gulzar's richly embellished lyrical work with tantalising symbols and innuendo that reflect the story of Haider. According to Bhardwaj, Bismil was the toughest song to compose for the album. It took over four months to compose. He recorded it in Srinagar, Mumbai and London, but wasn't satisfied to a great extent.[9] In Summer 2014, first attempt was made to record the track was at Bhardwaj's music studio in Andheri. He called the track as 'The Mousetrap' (the play within the play) of Hamlet. The song is placed in the film when Haider re-enacts the murder but Bhardwaj chose to portray the situation retaining the poetic flavour.[10] The track marks the point at which Haider (played by Shahid Kapoor) transforms from being conflicted and undecided to being committed to the idea of avenging the injustice meted out to his father. At the crux, Hamlet is a young prince grappling with the knowledge that his uncle and mother have conspired to kill his father.[10] The song was made different from the regular song-and-dance routine, thus the choreography more of performance art than a dance number with Shahid Kapoor's angsty expressions and staccato dance steps.[10] The track employs heavy use of violins and oud with the tune infused with Middle Eastern musical influences while retaining a folksy sound.[10] The drums were replaced with a Rubab prelude followed by ghatam beats for "Bismil".[11] The song was shot at snow-capped Martand Sun Temple, near Anantnag in Kashmir under presence of over 6,000 locals gathered.[10]

Shahid Kapoor and Shraddha Kapoor launched the music of the film along with Vishal Bhardwaj at Radio Mirchi studios in Mumbai in mid-August 2014.[12] The soundtrack had a digital as well as physical release on 12 September 2014.

In Haider, I needed the grave-diggers song, so I made "Aao Na". I wrote some lines, but Gulzarsaab only retained "Aao Na" and changed the rest. You’ll be surprised to know that Gulzarsaab and I have never composed a song, sitting at a place. All our songs have been written and composed at airports or in cars. Most of the times, he is standing in a queue saying the lines, while I sing it back to him on the phone.

— Bhardwaj on composing the songs for the soundtrack album (in an interview with The Indian Express)[9]

The soundtrack as well as the score gained mostly positive reviews from music critics.

Credits adapted from CD liner notes.[32]

• Music producer: Ketan Sodha (All songs)
• Additional music producer: Tushar Parate (for the song "Do Jahaan") | Simaab Sen (for the song "Jhelum")
• Recording engineer: Salman Khan Afridi
• Mixing engineer: Steve Fitzmaurice (All songs except the track "Jhelum") | Tre Nagella (for the track "Jhelum")
• Assistant mix engineer: Darren Heelis
• Mastering engineer: Christian Wright
• String engineer: Steve Price (at Angel Recording Studios, London)
• String engineer assistance: Jeremy Murphy

Musicians

• Guitars: Arijit Singh, Ankur Mukherjee, Tushar Parte, Mayukh Sarkar
• Tabla: Vinayak Netke
• Violins: Perry Montague Mason, Patrick Kiernan
• Viola: Bruce White
• Cello: Ian Burdge

For the track "Bismil"

• Choir arrangements: Neuman Pinto
• Choir vocals: Neuman Pinto, Bianca Gomes, Francois Castellino, Vivienne Pocha, Rajiv Sunderesan, R. N. Iyer, Kaustubh Date, Mandar Apte, Arun Ingle

For the track "So Jao"

• Choir vocals: Mayukh Sarkar, Aalaap Majgavkar, Sourabh Joshi