Amaal Malik describes Ja janam ja, the upcoming song from Vivaan Shah’s film Inn Galiyon Mein, as a “mohalla” song. “It is a fun qawwali and performance-based track that features Vivaan and [actor] Avantika Dasani. The film’s name is Inn Galiyon Mein, and this song is a performance [set in] that gali. It has a quirky but important message, and it is that kind of number I haven’t attempted before,” says Malik, adding that given that the song needed to be rendered in a nuanced manner, he couldn’t think of anyone better than Sonu Nigam to sing it.

“He is a man of too many talents. He can sing a song like Kal ho naa ho, and Jeene ke hai char din too. A song that was a favourite at the time of its release, and continues to be so, is Tumse milke, which [had an element of] qawwali music. He did an amazing job with it. Furthermore, he knows how to enact for a character, even if it is being played by a young hero,” recalls Malik, whose last collaboration with Nigam, Dholna 3.0, was appreciated.