Have you ever wondered about that little chuckle Madhushree added in the second line of 'Kabhi Neem Neem' (Yuva)? It happens at 0:34 in the following video: There's a funny little story behind that chuckle.
Madhushree lives in W Bengal from where she travelled to Chennai to record this song with #ARRahman. Usually this would take just a few days, but with 'Kabhi Neem Neem', it took a while! She was in Chennai for as many as thirteen days for this one song!
Since this song was going to be picturized on a lower-middle class couple with a certain lifestyle, Mani Ratnam wasn't happy with the first version of this song that ARR had come up with.
They recorded the first version in a matter of few days but when Mani Rathnam and ARR listened to it, the song and its melodic contours sounded a little too pristine and "sophisticated" for the destitute couple in the movie. (The husband, Lallan, is a goon.)
They decided that the song needed some more playfulness, a dash of sizzle. So then ARR went back jamming -- he would compose a few lines, Mehboob would write some lines on it, and so on.
ARR then came up with that opening tune tara-ta-ta-tata (Kabhi Neem Neem) and asked Mehboob to write some repeat words, so he came up with neem-neem, shehad-shehad, etc.
Madhushree was also nervous about singing this song. It was the first time she was singing a romantic number for a big movie like this. So it took them a while to record the fresh lines composed by ARR.
On day 13, during yet another recording session around 3 o'clock in the morning, Madhushree was on the mic singing in front of ARR & Mehboob. She caught a glimpse of Mehboob falling into an involuntary nap while sitting on a chair. She immediately let out a giggle while singing.
Madhushree stopped singing, thinking that she will have to redo that line. But ARR immediately said (paraphrasing) "Why did you stop? I liked the way you smiled there. Let's keep it in the song!"
And that's how we ended up with that beautiful, playful little chortle in this track! If Mehboob had not fallen asleep during the recording, we would not have gotten that splash of levity.
Source: She talks about this -- and also sings that initial tune that ARR had composed -- in this podcast interview here:
PS: Madhushree's original name is Sujata Bhattacharya. She sang three songs in ARR's Tehzeeb (2003) and is credited with that name. 
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