'Border 2' incomplete without 'Sandese Aate Hai', I'm sure they will credit us: Anu Malik

Mumbai: Veteran musician Anu Malik says "Border 2", the upcoming sequel to the hit 1997 war drama "Border", is incomplete without "Sandese Aate Hai" and he hopes the reimagined version of the song includes him and lyricist Javed Akhtar in the credits.

The new rendition of 'Sandese Aate Hai', renamed 'Ghar Kab Aaoge', has been reimagined by composer Mithoon, with additional lyrics penned by Manoj Muntashir.

This reinterpretation includes an ensemble of vocalists like Sonu Nigam, Arijit Singh, Vishal Mishra, and Diljit Dosanjh, "I believe the song is recreated. I’m not a part of it. I’m sure they will give my name to it as I’ve created the song. They should because people know about our contribution, they can't get away. They can't make ‘Border 2’ without ‘Sandese Aate Hai’... Both Anu Malik and Javed Akhtar are up there (in their contribution), so they will have to put our name somewhere,” the musician told PTI in an interview.

"Border" was directed by JP Dutta and starred Sunny Deol in the lead alongside Jackie Shroff, Suniel Shetty, and Akshaye Khanna. The new film is directed by Anurag Singh and it boasts of an ensemble including Deol, Varun Dhawan, Diljit Dosanjh, and Ahan Shetty among others.

Malik is hopeful the new version of ‘Sandese Aate Hai’ is as "brilliant" as the original song as it has two powerful singers – Nigam and Singh. Nigham and Roop Kumar Rathore sang the original.

"I think it is going to be brilliant because Sonu is a fabulous singer. He is one of the best singers that we’ve today and Arijit is a magical singer. So, it will be a magical combination of Arijit and Sonu together but the tune is going to be Anu Malik. You can't get away from Anu Malik and Javed sahab, the song he has written is so great,” he said.

Malik said he poured his heart and soul into the original score of “Border”, especially ‘Sandese Aate Hain’.

"When I was offered a chance to do this, I gave it all that I had for my love for my country. I believe that there is no country better than India, and I’m not saying it because I am an Indian, I’m not saying other countries are bad,” he said.

Recalling how they created the track at his house in just seven-and-half minutes, Malik said while he and Akhtar were brainstorming ideas for the song, an old melody sprung in his mind and that's how it all came together.

"While I was doing this song, this note came in my head, ‘Aye Guzarne Wali Hawa Bata…’ and suddenly Javed sahab heard it and said, ‘Sing it again’. It reminded me of an early tune I had made for some other director, which was not used. He said, ‘Can you join that phrase we had written?’, I said, ‘Okay’,” the composer said.

"I remember the phrase, ‘I said I will sing’. Javed sahab suddenly got up and gave me a huge hug. He said you’ve made this song in seven and a half minutes." Malik praised JP Dutta, and said he subtly guided him while working on the soundtrack of “Border”. The two later collaborated on films like “LOC Kargil”, “Umrao Jaan”, and “Paltan”.

"JP Dutta was the one who inspired me in a silent way, I love him very much. He is a terrific human being, he speaks less but he knows what he wants and his father OP Dutta, these two people when they were in front of me, I used to look up to them,” Malik said.

"Border 2” produced by T-Series and JP Dutta’s J P Films, will release theatrically on January 23, 2026.