Barfi! (soundtrack)

The soundtrack album consisted of ten tunes – six original songs and four alternative tunes composed for three original tracks: "Ala Barfi", "Aashiyan" and "Phir Le Aya Dil"; the versions consisted of a reprised, redux and solo rendition. The soundtrack was influenced by Brazilian Bossa nova.^[4] One of the lead actors, Priyanka Chopra was supposed to sing a track for the film, but her contract with Universal Music prevented her from taking the offer.^[5] The album consisted of minimalistic use of instruments in the songs and score (mostly cellos and violins),^[6] due to the setting and treatment of the storyline.^[7] The soundtrack was conceptualised, when the film was under post-production stage and was ready by early-August 2012. The film only featured few lip-synced songs as they are placed according to the situation and the characters: Barfi (Ranbir Kapoor) and Jhilmil (Chopra) were deaf and mute.^[8]

The titular track "Ala Barfi" is a fun-filled number which explores the theme of the film.^[9][10] Kapoor recommended Mohit Chauhan to sing the title track of the film, after he received praise for the singing in the A. R. Rahman-composition "Sadda Haq" for Rockstar (2011), which was a chartbuster. He further stated that "Mohit babajee (Mohit Chauhan) has sung the title song Ala Barfi and I am very happy. A singer generally doesn't get the credit for the importance he brings to the career of an actor [...] But if you look at late singers Mohd Rafi, Mukeshji and Kishore Kumar, they used to add a lot to an actor's career."^{[citation needed]}

The ghazal track "Phir Le Aya Dil" consisted of three versions sung individually by Rekha Bhardwaj, Arijit Singh and Shafqat Amanat Ali, based on the moods of the characters.^[11] Manish Gaekwad of Scroll.in opined that "The songs are not categorised as happy or sad. Instead, for an age in which songs are remixed, reprised and reduxed, each of the versions has a distinctly new flavour. The ghazal blurs the line between the two polarised states of mind, finding a meeting point to coexist as one. It makes us happy and sad, both at the same time."^[11] The musical theme composed for the film, by Pritam, is inspired from the background score from the French film Amélie (2001).^[12][13]

The songs "Ala Barfi", "Main Kya Karoon" and "Kyon" were launched earlier prior to the official album release.^[7] On 9 August 2012, UTV Motion Pictures, the film's production company, released the audio under the exclusive license from Sony Music India.^[14] The songs were made available to streaming on the digital platforms and were released through audio CDs, few days later.^[15] In an attempt to promote the music album, the musical team led by Pritam and the cast and crew, hosted mini-concerts across India.^[16] The event that started from 31 August 2012 at Mumbai, continued to be held on Kolkata, Bangalore and Delhi during 1, 3 and 5 September.^[16]

The soundtrack album also contains a song titled "Fatafati", sung by Pritam Chakraborty, Arijit Singh and Nakash Aziz, which was not used in the film, but the song was released as a promotional single on YouTube on 10 September 2012 with a video which contains some behind-the-scenes footage and the additional vocals are sung by Ranbir Kapoor.^[17][18] The song also has some Bengali lyrics written by Amitabh Bhattacharya.^[19] News18-based critic had stated that the shooting of "Fatafati" reminds of the viral Tamil song "Why This Kolaveri Di".^[18]