Speaking to ETimes, Sajid reveals how he composed this track during the pandemic and it’s one of the last songs to feature his brother Wajid’s voice. In Sajid’s own words…
The making of Tere Bina song from KKBKKJ
I wanted Wajid to get back to music so that it would take his mind off his illness. Somehow, writing was never my thing. I never liked writing lyrics. But I started writing lyrics for him. I wrote the lyrics of Tere Bina. Wajid told me, “Sajid bhai yeh gaana kuchh alag hee cheez bann gaya hai.”
When he was feeling a little better, he attempted to sing this song. He sang the mukhda of Tere Bina and said that he would make the mukhda of the song. That’s how we used to work. If I made the mukhda then he would make the antara and vice versa. But then he told me to make the antara too. I used to push him so that he would get his mind off his illness. Sometimes, he would visit the studio even when the drip would be attached to his hand. He was a hardcore workaholic.
I called him to the studio to work on the antara of Tere Bina. He said that he was not in the mood. So, I told him that I’ll work on it, and you just dub it. But he said, “Sajid bhai mera mood nahin hai.” I never knew that I will have to complete this song without him.
Salman Khan’s incredible memory revived Tere Bina
I have written and sung songs before but I was never interested in giving my name in the credits. Salman bhai’s memory is so strong that he remembered liking this song. I tried this song after Wajid passed away. It took me five and a half hours to sing it. Because every time I would try to sing, I would cry. Finally, I stood on the mic, closed my eyes, and told Wajid to come inside me and do the song. Then I sang that song. That’s how we completed Tere Bina. Our songs always had both our names on them. This was the first time I gave music as only Sajid. I am not happy about that.
Salman insisted on using the song in KKBKKJ
After Wajid’s passing away, Salman bhai called me to stay with him during the lockdown for 20-odd days. Every night, even Salman bhai used to hide his face from me and he used to cry. We were at his farmhouse, crying in separate corners because I guess neither of us wanted to make the other weak. That time he told me to complete the song and that he wanted to use it somewhere. At that time, the film was not in the picture. This is his love. If needed, I could have sung the antara. But Salman bhai said, “Do anything and keep Wajid’s portion in the song.” After a long time, a Sajid-Wajid song has released.
Wajid should be happy wherever he is
If Wajid is happy, then why am I so sad? The thing is that my family thinks that I’m strong because I portray myself that way. But I don’t know why am I so alone. I haven’t revealed anything to Salman bhai either.
Wajid was very touchy. It’s not easy to earn money in this industry. Getting work is altogether a different game, to begin with. Wajid was weak in the money game because of this we did so many films but didn’t get paid anything. If I take the names of those big producers, people will laugh. I have respect for them but without money how will we survive? For that, I had to be a little upfront. And when you become upfront with big people, they don’t like it. They never liked me. They always tried to differentiate between us brothers. But our bonding was such that we used to laugh when some people would take Wajid aside and badmouth me or vice versa. I used to tell Wajid, “Abhi payment ka time aa gaya, tu hatt jaa. Ab main hee baat karunga iss mein.”
The brothers had an indelible bond
This was bonding between us. I had made so many songs at that time. I had uploaded a song on my channel called ‘Jeet Jaayenge Hum’. I had made that song just for Wajid. I used to sing that song, ‘Yeh waqt dhal jaayega’. I used to tell him that this time shall pass. There will come a time when you won’t even remember these things.
Whenever I created a song, I wanted only Wajid to sing it. I never wanted anyone else to sing. We got into music because he wanted to become a music composer. God was with us.
Living Wajid’s dream
My father was an ace musician. When I went to see him when he was hospitalized, i found out all of his savings were gone in one shot. Once he fell sick, we became poor. We had to sell our house, car and mom’s jewellery.
I knew that I could never do the practice my father did. And when I saw all of his earnings being washed away in one single shot, I wanted to become a businessman. Though we were musicians, I wanted to do something else too.
One fine day, Wajid was chucked out of a studio so he came to me and told me the situation. I don’t remember whether we were in college or I had passed out of college at that time. I felt angry because Wajid said that he was blamed for somebody else’s fault and thrown out of the studio. I just wanted to go to that composer and give him a piece of my mind.
Then I asked Wajid, “Yeh music composer bahut bada aadmi hota hai kya?” Because Wajid valued him a lot. So, I told Wajid, “I am with you. I want to see you become a music composer.”
Sajid always looked out for his younger brother Wajid
Nobody could or can stop me from singing but I always wanted Wajid to become a singer and composer. Even when we used to play music with our father on stage, Wajid used to be in front and I used to be behind him. When my father would ask me why don’t I stay in front, I would tell him, “Let Wajid be in front. He is a star.” He was a thousand times better than me as a singer, musician, and everything else. He was my younger brother. He was my prince.
Wajid was naïve since childhood. My maternal grandfather used to call him Bholu. He would not even shop for himself by his choice. He would wear whatever our mummy bought for him. He never fought. I used to fight for my shoes and clothes.
Wajid used to gift our albums. He gifted the Deewana album to Sonu Nigam. We made that album for Wajid. There were so many songs that he gifted to his friends and colleagues.
