But like many of his fabled compositions, this one will also take time to make a lasting impact. The song is used mostly in the background, as Jodhaa and Akbar make love for the first time.
The number is sung by Sonu Nigam, and Madhushree who, in recent years, has emerged as one of Rahman's favourites.
The composer says the song challenged him considerably.
"It comes in the climax of the film," he says. "It was very important to have the song right. If it is too slow, it will bring the whole energy down. If it is too fast, it won't do justice to the situation. The end of the film shows Jodhaa finally loving Akbar for the first time since their wedding."
He had to play 'a kind of dynamic composition where it starts on a soothing note, and then goes to the big chorus,' he says.
"It has a full journey in it," he adds. "I think it is very good."
Many cannot understand how a big historical film like Jodhaa Akbar has only five songs. Old classics like Mughal-E-Azam and Pakeezah have quite a few songs in them.
"Numbers don't count," Rahman answers bluntly. "Roja, Dil Se, Bombay and Guru each had five songs. The real songs in that film were five; others were used in the background.
"Each song in Jodhaa Akbar has its own potential," he continues. "So we kept them simple. We did not want to overload things."
The music of Jodhaa Akbar is not confined to songs alone, he asserts.
"Once the film is released, they (UTV, the film's producer) may release the soundtrack, with the theme of the film and other compositions," he says.
"I take composing the background music for a film to be a very serious business," he continues. "There are a lot of people, who do just five songs and leave it for someone else to compose the background. You need 20 times the energy (of composing songs) to produce the background score. You need three to four months."
The time he took to compose the background score for Jodhaa Akbar, he adds, he could have used to compose songs for five to six films.
"It (the background score) is a commitment to the movie," he continues. "It is all about artistic honesty. It also helps you grow musically. In this film, I loved doing the background music because of the depth of the subject and interesting situations."
But on many occasions, when a filmmaker tells him the film's story, he knows in his heart, that he should not take up the film.
"When I am doing a song," he says, "the director has to live with the song and when I am doing a film's background music, I have to watch the film and have to live with the film all my life."
That is why he rejects many films, he adds.
Working for the third time with Gowariker reinforced Rahman's admiration for the filmmaker.
"Very few people recognise the kind of warmth in music, the pulse, the soul of the music," Rahman says. "He is one of them. Mani Ratnam and Subhash Ghai also are like him. Ashutosh has the talent for spotting fine music. There are so many ideas that he has to consider while working on a film. But to pick the right things and give them to the people, to present them in a very dignified way, is very important to him.
"There is no use in us in composing beautiful stuff and then getting it thrown away, without any respect to the music," Rahman continues. "It is very important for a director to sit and like something, and challenge the composer from time to time. Ashutosh does it."
Courtesy: Rediff.com
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