हम आपके बिना

Hum Aapke Bina (We Without You / Without You, We Are Nothing) is the second Arijit Singh grief ballad on Sikandar (T-Series, 2025), composed by Pritam and written by Irshad Kamil. Where Tere Bina uses the informal 'tere' address (suggesting an intimate established relationship), Hum Aapke Bina uses the formal 'aapke' — a subtle but significant shift. In Hindi-Urdu, using 'aap' (formal you) can suggest reverence, deep respect, or the early stage of love when one has not yet moved to informal address. Here it likely evokes a relationship so sacred that even after the beloved's death, the formal address is maintained — grief that expresses itself through maintained formality. At 4:51, it is Arijit Singh's most formally restrained performance on the album.

Pritam creates a completely different sonic environment for Hum Aapke Bina compared to Tere Bina — where that song used piano as its centrepiece, this uses a sustained string drone as its opening, with tabla entering in a slow, contemplative pattern suggesting a qawwali or dhrupad influence. Arijit Singh's voice is at its most restrained and formal — almost speech-like in the verses before opening in the chorus.

The formal-informal pronoun distinction in Hum Aapke Bina is Irshad Kamil's most sophisticated lyrical choice on this album. Hindi-Urdu poetry has long explored the grammar of love — the shift from 'aap' to 'tum' to 'tu' as a map of increasing intimacy. Using 'aap' for a deceased beloved reverses this journey: the poet returns to the most formal address as the ultimate act of reverence.

Released 26 March 2025, four days before the Eid theatrical opening. The timing — placing the second grief ballad so close to release — was unusual and revealed the studio's confidence in Pritam's soundtrack as a standalone emotional experience.

The only 2025 Bollywood album to have two major grief ballads by the same composer-singer-lyricist trio — a rare sustained exploration of a single emotional register.