Mumbai, Jul 26 (IANS): Filmmaker Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, whose classic ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’ recently clocked 10 years of its release, has shared the key to such a brilliant earworm of a soundtrack of his film.

The filmmaker shared with IANS that music was a catalyst to crafting the soundtrack of the sports drama which starred Farhan Akhtar in the titular role of Indian track and field athlete Milkha Singh.

Walking down the memory lane, the director told IANS, “We only spoke about food and I used to cook food in the morning or the night before our sitting. Shankar Mahadevan (of Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy) used to do the same. When we met for music sessions we would only talk about, 'Aaj khane mein kya hai?'. Or what to do about the food. Khaane khaate khaate aur baatein karte karte sangeet kab poora ho gaya film ka pata hi nahi chala (We never realised when we got done with the soundtrack). The process was so fulfilling.”

The director, who is known for the timeless classic ‘Rang De Basanti’, the experimental ‘Aks’ and the more nuanced ‘Delhi 6’, then narrated an incident from the making of the song ‘Mera Yaar’ from ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’, and no marks for guessing at this point, the song was done during the lunch break.

He shared, “We had done the recording for ‘O Rangrez’, I and Javed bhai were having lunch in the studio, and Ehsaan (Noorani of Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy) was doodling something on the guitar. I instantly liked that tune. I told Ehsaan to keep playing and asked Javed to sing and hum something, something that had to do with words like 'Yaar' and 'Rab'. Being a Sufi singer, Javed started humming something and started building up on it, and it was done just like that. What came while having lunch was just beautiful and magical.”

‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’ has released again in theatres with sign language for the members of the audience with hearing and speech impairment.