18 minute song in Half Girlfriend – fact or fiction?

A week go, a report claimed that Half Girlfriend, starring Arjun Kapoor and Shraddha Kapoor, could set a record by having an 18 minute-long song crooned by Arijit Singh, penned by Manoj Muntashir with Mithoon composing the track. That set off a frenzy in the film media with fans wondering what the track would be like. As it turns out, the report is nothing but fiction.

A source close to the project categorically denied the report. "18 minutes is an exaggeration," he said. "In fact, the duration of the song is not even in double digits."

The song will be longer than the usual four minutes. "We don’t make songs of a duration longer than 4.5 minutes today," the source said. "The song will be played at important junctures in the film.”

The buzz is that Muntashir never thought this work would become a song. “This was just one of the nazms he had penned in his early days," the source said. "He had no plan to use this as a song. At the time of Ek Villain (2014), Munstashir was asked by Ankit Tiwari [singer, music director] to say a few words at a rock concert. Mohit Suri, Ek Villain director, who was present, loved the nazm and since that day he was keen to have it as a song in future.”

Suri and Muntashir have joined hands again for Half Girlfriend, with Mithoon composing the score. The film is scheduled to be released on 19 May.