Bhupen Hazarika had used the tune of this song earlier for the Assamese film song "Buku Ham Ham Kore" ("Moniram Dewan", 1964). Gulzar fell in love with the Assamese phrase "ham ham" to describe the beating of the heart and decided to use it in this song instead of the usual "dhak dhak". There were some who were not so sure about using an unfamiliar phrase in a Hindi film song but Gulzar persisted.[1][MR25]