Ali Abbas Zafar’s leads feature in a gender-bending wedding song for their Eid release
Himesh Mankad (MUMBAI MIRROR; May 7, 2019)

Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif’s equation in their upcoming release, the Ali Abbas Zafar-directed Bharat, has stood out with a sequence which shows the leading lady oneup the actor, even spawning a wide range of memes. Now, Mirror has learnt that the actors are taking it up a notch with the song “Aithey Aa”, a peppy dance number that is set against the backdrop of a wedding.

Ali informs that it is a celebratory track set in the 1980s. “Usually, in such a set-up in Hindi films, you see the boy teasing the girl, but because Katrina’s character (Kumud, also known as “Madam Sir”) here is as strong as Salman’s (the titular Bharat), the whole song was written from the point of view of women teasing the men,” the director reveals.

He goes on to add that the song is composed by Vishal-Shekhar while Vaibhavi Merchant has choreographed it. “Irshad Kamil has beautifully captured the flavour in his words. Just imagine, if 'Didi Tera Devar Deewana' was reversed with Madhuri (Dixit) and Salman switching places… that’s what our song is. The brief was to create a peppy dance number with the entire family shaking a leg,” Ali explains. Sung by Akasa Singh, Neeti Mohan and Kamaal Khan, the number was shot at Film City in Mumbai in January on a massive set with flowers and over a hundred background dancers. This is Ali’s second track with Salman to be set against the backdrop of a wedding after the 2016 hit “Baby Ko Bass” from Sultan.