Rooted in semi-classical ragas and drawing on Carnatic influences, the single brings together a 50-piece live string ensemble featuring musicians from Chennai Strings and the Sunshine Music Orchestra, founded by A R Rahman. Bollywood composer Mannan Shaah has ventured into independent music with ‘Mohabbat Ki Zabaan Hai Khamoshi’, a romantic ballad penned by veteran lyricist Javed Akhtar and sung by Anuradha Juju.
Recorded with 55–60 musicians, the track features no synthesizers or digitised sounds. This is probably one of the few Indie songs in India in at least two decades to have been recorded completely 100% live,” he said. It was one of the fastest songs he has written — he completed it in just 20 minutes. ”
Speaking about the composition, Shaah said, “‘Mohabbat Ki Zabaan Hai Khamoshi’ is a traditional semi-classical raga-based song with influences of Carnatic music at its core. Recalling how the song came together, the composer said, “He’s like a mentor, a father figure to me, and working with him feels effortlessly creative. The song explores silence as an expression of love, capturing the emotions that remain unspoken between two people. For Shaah, the release is an attempt to revisit the warmth of traditional Indian music through contemporary storytelling. Its instrumentation includes a live sitar by Sweekar Katti, a Carnatic violin solo by violinist Embar Kannan, and santoor and Indian percussion by Krishna Kishor. It is purely a romantic love ballad, with a traditional melody powered by Javed saab’s profound lyrics. I wanted to explore traditional musical roots through modern-day storytelling. Explaining why the song felt right for his independent debut, he added, “‘Mohabbat Ki Zabaan Hai Khamoshi’ felt like the perfect song to mark my entry in the indie space. It represents our cultural roots and expresses love with a certain etiquette — ‘adab’, as we call it in Urdu. That is the beauty of the song. The decision to record the track entirely with live musicians was central to Shaah’s vision. “I had always dreamt of creating an independent song completely live, without any digitisation and totally synth-free. The collaboration with Akhtar was particularly significant for Shaah, who considers the lyricist a mentor and father figure. I created the melody first, and Javed saab wrote the lyrics on it.
Because talent of this calibre simply cannot remain unnoticed, the film industry is already well aware of his talent, and those who may not have known him are discovering him now,. Akhtar, in turn, praised the composer’s musical sensibility and the distinct character of the melody. “Mannan Shaah is immensely talented. The melody Mannan created for this song is becoming increasingly rare these days. “AI can assist musicians, but it still cannot replicate the human imagination required to compose strong melodies or create intricate music rooted in specific ragas. Live musicians bring an emotional and human dimension that technology cannot reproduce. You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test Get the latest Lifestyle News and more. Download the TOI app.
There is a certain warmth and stillness in it, a sense of peace, repose and quiet comfort that you often don’t find in songs today. ” As artificial intelligence increasingly enters music production, Shaah believes human creativity and live performance continue to hold their own.