Filmmaker and music composer Vishal Bhardwaj on Tuesday said Darlings co-producer and Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan was so moved by the song La Ilaaj that he sang it to the composer over a phone call.

Shah Rukh is producing Darlings, an upcoming Netflix film, via his Red Chillies Entertainment in partnership with Alia Bhatt’s banner Eternal Sunshine Productions.

Bhardwaj has composed the track which is penned by veteran lyricist-writer Gulzar. The duo are credited for creating hit songs for films such as Maachis, Maqbool, Omkara, Kaminey and Haider among others. The romantic number is sung by Arijit Singh with the chorus voiced by Debarpito Saha and Bhardwaj himself. La Ilaaj has crossed over 5 million views on YouTube within 24 hours of its release.

Check out the song here:

“Shah Rukh called me one night around 12-12.30 am. He started singing the song on the phone. He sang the entire song. Then he started narrating the meaning of it... He said ‘It would have been more fun had the song been for me’,” the composer told PTI.

For the 56-year-old composer, Shah Rukh’s appreciation was encouraging. “I felt so nice... He is the producer of the film. He listened to the song, called and appreciated it. This is what we artistes want in our lives. We only seek appreciation,” he added.

The composer was speaking at the launch event of La Ilaaj and was joined by Alia along with other Darlings cast members Shefali Shah, Vijay Varma and Roshan Mathew. The film’s director Jasmeet K Reen and producer and Red Chillies Entertainment COO Gaurav Verma were also present at the event.

Bhardwaj shared the song on his official Instagram handle and wrote, “After a long time, I got a chance to do a deep romantic song, beautifully written by #Gulzar Saab and sung by @arijitsingh.”

Bhardwaj dedicated the song, the title of which means incurable, to his close friend and frequent collaborator Tabu. The director-actress duo has worked together in films like Maqbool and Haider and are gearing up for their upcoming Netflix film Khufiya.

“She is ‘la ilaaj’ for me, I'm ‘la ilaaj’ for her. I can't work without her,” he added.

Also an acclaimed director, Bhardwaj said he considers himself a music composer first. He started his career as a music director with films such as Maachis and Satya, and then went on to make his directorial debut with Makdee in 2002.

“I became a director so that I can employ myself as a music composer. Otherwise, no one was taking me,” he said.

Darlings, a Mumbai-set dark comedy, will be streaming on Netflix from Friday, August 5.