According to Mukherjee, also referred to as Arko, they studied the film's scenes prior to first composing the music. Subsequently, Muntashir explained how he filled the composition with words. He later recalled that the aim was to reflect a dying soldier's last thoughts. In writing the lyrics he said in the same dialogue that he kept in mind a reference to Kaifi Azmi's words in "Kar chale hum fida", the sentiments of which Anurag Singh, "Kesari's" director, intended to re-create. The song plays at the end of the film, in the scene of the final battle. Mukherjee, having previously been responsible for romantic songs, said it was the "most emotional" song he had composed. Following its release, he reported that "Twitter, Instagram were flooded for all three of us. Even Karan Johar was teary-eyed after listening to the song.” The song played high on Indian charts during early 2019. By 22 July 2019, the song video crossed the 100-million views mark on YouTube. In February 2020, the song made headlines in the press in India when following its nomination for the 2020 Filmfare Award for best lyrics, the award went to someone else. When Muntashir subsequently tweeted his disappointment at the decision, which he said made both himself and millions of Indians cry, he gained support from fans and other lyricists including Neelesh Mishra and Neha Bhasin. The message he tweeted contained a verse from the song itself and a pledge not to attend future award ceremonies;  In response, Major Gaurav Arya stated that the lyrics reflected the thoughts and feelings of soldiers. Following the awards, a surge of Indians were reported to have been searching for "Teri Mitti" on Google. After the film's lead actress and singer Parineeti Chopra was discovered to be constantly humming the theme tune to the film during its promotions, a proposal from the producer, Azeem, led to the making of "Teri Mitti" in her voice. Accompanied by a video consisting of clips from the film, it took a total of four hours, according to Chopra. This female version was released on 17 April 2019, and was the second of her recordings, the first being Maana Ke Hum Yaar Nahin from the film "Meri Pyaari Bindu". On 23 April 2020, Kumar announced that the original song had inspired a reprise version, in light of recent incidents towards healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in India and lockdown in India.