मित्तर प्यारे नू

Mittar Pyaare Nu (मित्तर प्यारे नू) is a centuries-old Punjabi Sufi-devotional verse — traditionally sung as a shabad of longing between a disciple and a beloved spiritual friend — newly arranged and recorded by composer Julius Packiam for the Netflix film Jogi (2022), with vocals by veteran playback singer Richa Sharma. Released as part of the film's soundtrack on 9 September 2022, a week ahead of the film itself, the track functions less as a conventional item or romantic number and more as an emotional through-line for Jogi's story of friendship and brotherhood during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in Delhi. Director Ali Abbas Zafar's film, starring Diljit Dosanjh, uses the song's spirit of devotion to a friend as a musical mirror of its plot, in which the protagonist risks everything to save his neighbours. The track was mixed and mastered by Abhishek Ghatak with music arrangement by Joel Crasto.

Julius Packiam, who also scored Jogi's background music, kept the arrangement of Mittar Pyaare Nu restrained and devotional in character, letting Richa Sharma's voice carry the traditional shabad melody with minimal ornamentation — a deliberate departure from the more percussive, folk-inflected songs elsewhere on the soundtrack. Joel Crasto's music arrangement and Abhishek Ghatak's mix favour space and warmth over density, in keeping with the song's prayer-like, meditative register rather than a dance or item number treatment.

The verse's central address — 'mittar pyaare nu' (to the beloved friend) — comes from the Sufi-devotional tradition shared across Punjabi spiritual poetry, where the language of romantic longing is used to express a disciple's devotion to a spiritual master or an idealised friend. Words like 'mureed' (devoted follower) situate the song within that lineage rather than film-romance convention, giving Jogi's soundtrack an anchor in centuries of Punjabi devotional writing even as the film itself is a contemporary period drama.

Jogi (2022), directed by Ali Abbas Zafar and starring Diljit Dosanjh, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub and Kumud Mishra, is set during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots that followed the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The film follows Joginder Singh 'Jogi', a Delhi Jal Board employee who, with the help of a Haryanvi policeman and a Muslim truck owner, secretly transports his besieged neighbours to safety over three days of violence. Mittar Pyaare Nu was released as part of the soundtrack on 9 September 2022, a week ahead of the film's 16 September Netflix premiere, framing the story's core theme — devotion to one's friends and community even at great personal risk — before audiences had seen a single scene.

As a track built around a traditional shabad rather than an original composition, Mittar Pyaare Nu did not chart commercially, but it was singled out in reviews of Jogi alongside the film's background score for reinforcing the film's emotional register. The Netflix film itself received praise for its performances, direction and craft even amid mixed reviews of its screenplay, and the soundtrack — including this track — is credited by critics with helping ground the drama's tone.