- Shashwat Sachdev broke down emotionally while composing the song Phir Se for Dhurandhar
- The team visited a temple together, which inspired the melody for Phir Se
- Aditya Dhar encouraged Shashwat to develop a tune he had been humming before the temple visit
Shashwat Sachdev has revealed the emotional story behind Phir Se, one of the most talked-about songs from Aditya Dhar's Dhurandhar. The composer recalled breaking down while working on the track and shared how an unexpected visit to a temple helped shape the melody that eventually made it into the Ranveer Singh starrer. Speaking on Shekhar Tonite, Shashwat said, "I was in a terrible state" when he first sat down to compose the song.
The composer said the track, which features during the climax of Dhurandhar: The Revenge, came together only a few days before the film's release. But before that happened, he found himself unable to work despite spending time in the studio with his team.
“I Was In A Terrible State”
Recalling that day, Shashwat said, "The day came when we were supposed to compose the piece. Around 6 or 8 pm, I woke up and went downstairs to our music room. Everyone was there. I sat down and tried working on something for 15-30 minutes, but nothing was really happening. I was in a terrible state that day."
He said producer Lokesh Dhar walked into the room soon after, and he could no longer hold back his emotions.
Shashwat shared, "Lokesh (Dhar) bhaiya, who was one of the producers, came into the room. I was deeply disturbed about something that day and I broke down crying. Everyone got worried, wondering, 'What's happened to him?' They all came inside and comforted me, saying, 'Don't stress. It'll happen. We'll figure out the music.'"
The team then decided to visit a temple together. On the way back, Aditya Dhar reminded Shashwat of a tune he had been humming before they left, a moment that ended up changing the direction of the song.
Shashwat recalled, “Around the same time, we all went to a temple together for prayers. After that, we returned to the music room. On the way back, Aditya said, ‘You were humming something upstairs before we left for the temple, it sounded really good.' I said, ‘Yeah.' He replied, ‘No, seriously, I have a feeling about it.' At the time, I thought he was just trying to cheer me up. Then he said, ‘Don't let that melody go. We're done. That's it'.”
Finished Just Days Before Release
Even after that breakthrough, Phir Se was still not complete. Shashwat Sachdev said the team returned to the melody only a few days before Dhurandhar: The Revenge hit theatres.
He recalled, "Then the 13th or 14th came around, and the film was close to release. The first show was on the 17th. On the 14th, Aditya came into the room where we usually worked and said, 'Let's, make that song, yaar. You still have that voice note, right?' He came into the room, we listened to the voice note, and I sang something to him, I just kept humming it over and over again. Then he said, 'It's done now'."
Lyricist Irshad Kamil later wrote the lyrics, completing the track. When Shashwat finally played the finished version to Aditya Dhar, the filmmaker was convinced they had something special.
Recalling Dhar's reaction, the composer said, "He said, 'This is your best song. I'm telling you, this is your best song'."
