Apr 06, 2026 1:23pm IST
Anu Malik on Reuniting with Anupam Kher and Mahesh Bhatt: ‘I Hope To Justify The Faith They Have Reposed In Me!’ (EXCLUSIVE)
Anu Malik enters a new phase in his 45-year career with Anupam Kher’s play, “Jaane Pehchaane Anjane…” due for release in May 2026, and has also scored music for the Mahesh Bhatt-presented love story, “Tu Meri Poori Kahani”.
The composer states that the best people to speak about why he is still a popular pick. He simply adds, “I hope I have justified the faith they have reposed in me!”
Kher worked with Anu on his debut directorial, “Om Jai Jagadish” (2002) and Mahesh Bhatt first associated with Malik in “Awaargi” and “Maarg” in 1990-1992. Bhatt and Malik followed it with a spectacular comeback with “Sir” and “Phir Teri Kahani Yaad Aayee” in 1993.
As star and producer for the play directed by Gajendra Ahire, Kher says, “I just thought about who has the same passion, fire and brilliance today as in 2002 and Anu was the only one who came to mind! He has made so many amazing songs down the decades and I thought that the theatre audience would hear his songs for the first time and would love them! I have four songs that will come at different junctures as they all are seven to eight minutes long. Shaan, Sukhwinder Singh and Anandi Joshi are our singers.”
Kher adds, “Nowadays, I have heard that people send music to you digitally. But that does not make sense to me! I have attended so many recordings of Laxmikant-Pyarelal, Kalyanji-Anandji and R.D. Burman that I prefer to hear songs live at a studio. And let me say, Anu has delivered!”
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Mahesh Bhatt’s “Tu Meri Poori Kahani” had an extremely limited theatrical release in September 2025 with barely anyone aware of such a film having arrived in the theatres. Stating a dispute between the producers as the cause for this, Bhatt is hopeful that the film’s OTT release later this year will give it the attention it merits.
He adds, “Anu Malik and I again came together for ‘Sir’ and ‘Phir Teri Kahani Yaad Aayee’ at a time when he had hit rock-bottom and after a phase when I was mainly working with Nadeem-Shravan. And I have seen this again and again — when a person begins to feel the breath of extinction, something primal awakens. The survival instinct in a creative person often brings out their very best. It is not for nothing that despair has been called the womb of creativity!”
The veteran filmmaker later went on to do “Naaraaz” (1994), “Naajayaz” (1995), “Tamanna” (1997), “Duplicate” (1998) and other films with Malik besides Bhatt’s home productions like “Saaya” (2003), “Zeher” (2005) and “Begum Jaan” (2015).
He adds, “When “Tu Meri Poori Kahani” was being filmed, I sat down with Vikram Bhatt and his writing team. The director was a bright young girl named Suhrita Das from Bengal — my protégée — and we had a gifted lyric writer, Shweta Bothra. The idea, in fact, came from Vikram. He felt that since this was a love story, then the combination of Anu Malik and me could create something special.”
Bhatt goes on, “Strangely, the circumstances echoed the past. Anu was once again standing at the edge — uncertain, vulnerable, almost facing oblivion. And once again, he responded the only way an artiste can — by giving his heart, completely. The music that emerged was powerful. It worked. It connected. But the film itself got caught in a crossfire between two producers and lost its rightful release. Now, slowly, through OTT, it has begun to find its way. And I believe that once the legal knots are untangled, the film and its fabulous music will finally see the light it always deserved. That, in a way, is also Anu Malik’s story — falling, rising, and creating from the edge!”
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