Actor and dancer Jaaved Jaaferi has shared an interesting behind-the-scenes story about the making of the iconic song “Roop Tera Mastana” from the 1969 film Aradhana, revealing that Sharmila Tagore’s portion was filmed in just one day because of her packed schedule.
During an upcoming episode of the dance reality show India’s Best Dancer Season 5, Jaaved recalled how the celebrated track underwent significant changes before becoming one of Hindi cinema’s most memorable songs.
According to Jaaved, the song was initially composed by legendary music director S.D. Burman as a folk-inspired number. However, singer Kishore Kumar felt that it needed a more contemporary sound and worked with Burman to modernise the composition.
“So the original song was composed by S.D. Burman as a folk number. Kishore da felt that it should be made more contemporary and modernised it with S.D. Burman. The final version that we heard was different and had been modernised by Kishore da. His versatility gave the song its unique quality,” Jaaved said.
He also revealed that the filming took place under considerable time pressure because Sharmila Tagore had a busy schedule and very little time available for the sequence.
“Sharmila ji was busy at the time and did not have much time for the dance sequence. She got just one day, and her entire portion was shot in that one day,” he said.
Jaaved added that several elements of the song changed at the last minute, from the recording process through to the filming.
“From the recording process to the shooting process, everything changed at the last minute. And I think the result was fantastic, because sometimes work turns out better under pressure,” he said.
“Roop Tera Mastana”, picturised on Rajesh Khanna and Sharmila Tagore, went on to become one of the defining romantic songs of Hindi cinema, with Kishore Kumar’s rendition becoming particularly celebrated.