Rashid Khan passes away: How Ustad was convinced to sing Aaoge Jab Tum for Jab We Met

Noted classical singer-musician Rashid Khan passed away this afternoon. The singer was undergoing treatment at a Kolkata-based hospital for prostate cancer. While the singer was immensely well-respected in the classical music world, the singer attained a whole new level of fandom with his rare foray into Bollywood in 2007 when he sang the cult song Aaoge Jab Tum Saajna for the movie Jab We Met. Even though the song was an instant hit, Rashid Khan didn’t sing too many songs for Hindi films later. In a throwback interview, Aaoge Jab Tum Saajna composer Sandesh Shandilya opened up about how he convinced Rashid Khan to sing his composition.

Only a trained classical vocalist could sing Aaoge Jab: Sandesh Shandilya

In a 2022 interview with Planet Bollywood, Sandesh Shandilya stated that he was always sure about having a trained classical vocalist for Aaoge Jab Tum Saajna. He added, “When somebody does riyaaz for several years, his voice acquires a sense of divinity. As a listener, you can feel it when you listen to them singing. I have always been a huge admirer of Ustad Rashid Khan saab.”

‘You cannot say no to me’, Shandilya told Rashid Khan

Shandilya further recalled how when he first approached Rashid Khan to sing Aaoge Jab Tum, Rashid Khan, in turn, quoted a big price for it. Shandilya elaborated, “I told him honestly that we wouldn’t be able to give them such a huge remuneration. At the same time, I told him that he cannot refuse to sing this song. Khan saab got a little angry and asked me why he couldn’t say a no. I told him, “aap mana nahin kar sakte kyonki main aap se bahut pyaar karta hun” (You cannot refuse me because I love you a lot.)

Shandilya reminisced this is when Rashid Khan relented, noticing Shandilya’s dogged perseverance, and said, “Theek hai Sandesh bhai, aap Kalkatte aa jaao. Main record kar dunga”. 

After a few rehearsals in Mumbai, Sandesh Shandilya and Rashid Khan eventually recorded the final track in Kolkata. Aaoge Jab Tum Saajna was the only song composed by Sandesh Shandilya in the Jab We Met soundtrack and enjoys a cult following of its own even 15 years later.