25 years of Baadshah: Anu Malik says SRK earned King Khan moniker after the film

Twenty-five years after it released, Abbas-Mustan’s action comedy Baadshah, starring Shah Rukh Khan and Twinkle Khanna, continues to have a cult fan following. A major chunk of this appeal owes itself to the music, especially the title song, which was composed by Anu Malik. “The title track, Baadshah O Baadshah, has a great recall value for me. In fact, I had hummed this tune to Shah Rukh on the flight with different words. He fell in love with the tune and then we thought of the word Baadshah. When Abbas-Mustan heard the idea, they felt that it goes with the title track. SRK earned the monikers King Khan and Baadshah after this song,” recalls Malik, who had previously scored for an SRK film in 1994 (Baazigar).
The 63-year-old also credits the director duo’s “interesting and unique” storytelling for the film’s success. “They bring a lot of thrill and suspense in their films. For Baadshah, everything fell into place perfectly, including the star cast. It was a team effort that paid off, and the film rightly deserves to be relevant 25 years later.”
Malik is “proud” of the work he has done in the years following the film. “It is a huge milestone; bahut hote hain 25 saal. It is an achievement for an artiste to know that their work has completed so many years. It makes me happy that I have made music that continues to make people happy even 25 years later,” he ends.
Congratulating HT City on completing the 25 year milestone, he says, “I would like to congratulate HT City for a successful 25 years, you did a commendable job. Many more successful years to follow and I hope I am around and can celebrate with you even on your 50 year anniversary.”