Raazi's 'Ae Watan' song is Gulzar's tribute to Urdu poet Mohammad Iqbal

Last week, the makers of Raazi released the patriotic song 'Ae Watan' from the film. They have now released the making of the song.

What is intriguing about the video is that the writer of the song, Gulzar, has called it his tribute to the iconic poet Muhammad Iqbal, who lived in Lahore during the British Raj. Iqbal is famous for writing the 'Saare Jahan Se Accha' poem.

Gulzar revealed that he was inspired by Iqbal's Urdu poem 'Lab Ape Aati Hai Dua'.

“Dr Iqbal is the poet laureate of Pakistan. He wrote a prayer, 'Zindagi Shamma Ki Soorat Ho Khudaya Meri', [a line from 'Lab Pe Aati Hai Dua']. We have been singing that since childhood, it was recited in our school in pre-partition days,’ said Gulzar.

One is surprised to learn that music directors Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy were unaware that 'Saare Jahan Se Achha' was written by Iqbal, the legendary poet who passed away in Lahore in 1938.

“'Ae Watan', for me is very special for we are hearing a patriotic song after a long time. Also, it is operating at two levels, Sehmat, [Alia Bhatt’s character] is teaching it to the [Pakistani children] who are singing it for their country, while she is singing it for hers,” said director Meghna Guzlar.

While Alia Bhatt didn’t comment much on the song, she praised Arijit Singh.

‘I’m a huge fan of Arijit Singh. I was really looking forward to this version, to see what he does with this song. It almost gives you goosebumps, when I heard the song for the first time, I really got goosebumps,” Bhatt said.

Raazi is set to be released on 11 May.

Watch the making of 'Ae Watan' below.