Salil Chowdhury stepped in to compose this song since Roshan was unavailable at the time. Roshan had fallen ill while on a visit to Russia and had requested Krishan Chopra to have Salil record two musical pieces - this song, and the film's title music. Salil Chowdhury was not credited for the song either in the film or the records but was one of the individuals acknowledged for their "co-operation in the making of the film" in the film's opening credits. For this song, Salil ended up reusing a tune he had composed in the 1940s when he was associated with the Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA). He had previously used the same tune for the Bengali film song "Aay Re O Pousali Bataasey" ("Rikshawallah", 1955) as well. However, the Bengali song was never released.[1][2]