MUMBAI: We all have heard the cult song Aashayein from Nagesh Kukunoor’s film Iqbal. Sung by KK, composed by Salim-Sulaiman and written by Irfan Siddiqui, the song establishes an instant connection with the listeners and offers hope to all of us to date. The writer of the song, Irfan Siddiqui, shared with us how this song was made. He says, "Aashayein
was my first ever film song. I never thought this song will mean so much for so many people who got motivated and felt positive in their lives via this song. Salim had very casually asked me once whether I will write this song. I was indeed thrilled and it was an instant yes! For some reason, we couldn’t meet and he sang the melody over the phone which I had recorded. And we didn’t have WhatsApp back then! The brief I had received from Salim & Nagesh was that this movie Iqbal is all about Hope. HOPE for me was AASHAYEIN.” 

He also adds, "I sent the lyrics to Salim via SMS, and he just loved it! Eventually, Nagesh & Subhash Ghai both loved the song and KK just nailed it with his singing. It was a pleasure to work with Nagesh. He is not only an excellent director, but a wonderful human being as well. We had worked together on Tasveer 8x10 as well. With Salim-Sulaiman, the journey then just took off and we worked together on a lot of projects after that. It was a blessing that I started my career with Aashaayein.” 

When asked do you feel the song has got it’s due? He says, "I didn’t get a single nomination let alone the award, but few years later when I met Nagesh again, he mentioned that Aashayein was being played at a school in Hyderabad as morning prayers. This is the best I could have earned as a writer. I felt elated and honoured!”