By virtue of the films he chooses, Manoj Bajpayee has rarely got the opportunity to explore dancing on screen. That is not to say the actor does not enjoy shaking a leg in front of the camera — after all, don't we all remember his tapori dance in Sapne mein milti hai from Satya (1998)? For his upcoming film Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari, Bajpayee put on his dancing shoes, and matched steps with Karishma Tanna and Abhishek Banerjee in Basanti.

"I haven't explored dance, as an expression, as much as I would have liked to. When I said yes to the film, I was specifically looking forward to the dance sequences. I had a ball shooting for the song, and it made me realise I can do more of this," says Bajpayee, who filmed the track over two days at a Veera Desai studio in January.

Interestingly, the actor is unrecognizable in the number as he sports heavy prosthetics and a pot belly. Considering the Abhishek Sharma-directed venture is set in the '90s, choreographer Vijay Ganguly stayed true to the decade and encouraged the actors to adopt freestyle dancing. A unit hand reveals that during the shoot, Ganguly and Bajpayee spontaneously improvised the steps so that the latter could channel the Bhiku Mhatre within him.

Bajpayee says that as a viewer, he thoroughly enjoys the song-and-dance routine of Indian movies. "In mainstream Hindi movies, songs are an extension of the narrative, and even in this film, the song is crucial. I am not usually a fan of dancing in films, but I don't mind if it enhances the storytelling." The November 13 release sees Bajpayee play a wedding detective who engages in a battle of wits with a prospective groom, essayed by Diljit Dosanjh.