Highway 2014 songs
The track "Wanna Mash Up" is a groovy western dance number composed entirely in English with rap and reggae which Alia's character Veera grooves to. Alia was made to sing to add more poignancy to the scene. In the film, as the journey moves from the plains of Punjab to the hills of Himachal, Veera sings this lullaby that reminds Mahabir of his childhood. I called Alia for a recording session and realised that her voice has a fine, natural texture which went well with the song. I was not aware that she could sing, but Imtiaz asserted that we should give her a chance. In Highway, we wanted a natural voice for a lullaby and Imtiaz suggested that we should try Alia. I think it adds a nice and real feel to the song. I am very fascinated with the concept of actors in Hollywood lip syncing to tracks sung by them. In an interview with The Indian Express, Rahman said: According to composer Rahman, he used a region as musical inspiration, while for others, he used the characters as the jumping off point to creating a song. Hence, the rhythms of both the songs are similar. After improvising a 20-minute track "Patakha Guddi", the composer decided that the last portion of it could be developed into a completely different song, despite knowing there might not be any place for it in the film. The track "Maahi Ve" was not even part of the film originally. "Maahi Ve" is a ballad focused on Veera (played by Alia Bhatt) and Mahabir (played by Randeep Hooda) as they go through the journey together. The track titled "Patakha Guddi" lyrically describes freedom and holds abstracts of purity and wildness. On the score of the film Rahman said: "The background score in Highway is more minimalist and it is not locked down to any choreography." In an interview for The Hollywood Reporter, director Imtiaz Ali stated that all of the songs on the soundtrack, except for "Sooha Saha", were recorded after filming was completed. Originally, the film was intended to have a background score without any songs.