Yash’s ‘Toxic’ Gets a Sonic Fairy Tale From Composer Vishal Mishra: ‘I Understand the Language of Love’

This marks Mishra’s debut collaboration with both Mohandas and Yash, and he frames it less as a career milestone and more as a creative bond rooted in mutual confidence. “It does mark my first collaboration with Geetu and Yash bhai, and honestly, it’s not even about the number of songs,” Mishra tells Variety. “It’s about this journey we have been on for such a long time, and I am so glad that I have met collaborators who get the best out of me.” The trust between them is most evident in “Tabaahi,” the film’s first released single and, by Mishra’s own description, its emotional core. Penned by Raj Shekhar with Mishra composing and performing, the track had the daunting task of introducing an entire cinematic universe before audiences had glimpsed a single frame. Mishra calls it a song about destruction disguised as a love song—or perhaps the reverse. The collision of two people, he suggests, mirrors the scale of the world Mohandas crafted on screen, with every production choice following her creative lead. “Every beat, every instrument is synced to the frame of the visuals, which is magical,” he says. “And I am just very happy to be a part of this magic.”

Mishra challenges the notion that romance and darkness are incompatible in “Toxic,” arguing that some of the most profound love stories unfold in the bleakest circumstances—a belief that directly shaped “Tabaahi.” The melody carries the emotional weight, while the production injects the tension, with Mohandas and Yash granting him the freedom to steer clear of any conventional love theme. That same appetite for experimentation fueled “Waqt,” which blends EDM and dubstep-leaning production into a traditionally romantic Hindi film melody, complete with an English verse. Mishra credits the film’s visual language for demanding something hybrid rather than a straightforward ballad, and he singles out Yash as a collaborator who allowed him to develop the idea at his own pace. “You find magic in the spaces where nothing exists,” Mishra says. “I always believe in leaving that space, and you know, Yash bhai, I found a brother in him.”

The film also embraces India’s multilingual diversity, releasing its songs in five languages, with the English-language track “Peekaboo” drawing talent from both Los Angeles and Mumbai. Mishra estimates that over 150 people contributed to the album’s various iterations. The rest of the soundtrack includes “Madhosh,” composed by Bagchi, Nizami, and Abdullah with vocals from Siddharth Basrur; “Chingariyaan,” sung by Jonita Gandhi; and “His Aura Hits You,” composed by Ravi Basrur with Mishra on vocals. Zee Music Company handles the release. Mishra arrives at “Toxic” following a streak that has cemented his status as one of Bollywood’s most sought-after melody crafters, anchored by last year’s “Saiyaara,” which featured his composition “Tum Ho Toh,” written by Raj Shekhar and sung alongside Hansika Pareek. That momentum builds on earlier milestones: “Kaise Hua” from 2019’s “Kabir Singh” and “Pehle Bhi Main” from 2023’s “Animal,” both among the biggest Hindi film songs of their respective years.

Mishra dismisses the idea that such hits generate pressure. “I really don’t think about numbers,” he says. “I feel they’re vaguely overrated and I really don’t understand that. I understand the language of love, and that’s what I believe in.” He points to “Kaise Hua” as his true turning point, the track that first wove together threads he had been composing across languages for years. Since then, his catalog has stretched across the country, and he insists that every Indian language holds equal weight for him—the goal has never been about language, but about connecting with as many listeners as possible. Looking beyond “Toxic,” Mishra reveals he’s scoring his first Telugu-language film with Vijay Deverakonda attached, alongside upcoming projects with Salman Khan, Ahaan Pandey, Sandeep Reddy Vanga, and Mohit Suri, plus a slate with production banner Cine1. “The urge of creation right now that I have has never been there like this,” he says. “I hope that I get to create even more, and I hope that I get to touch more souls and touch my fans who are like my family, in a way that it becomes a memory.”