Earlier this month, mid-day had reported that Kartik Aaryan was shooting a last-minute song for Shehzada, which was one of the reasons the film’s release was deferred (Taking a chance on dance, Feb 2). It appears that the team didn’t look too far for inspiration. The makers of the Aaryan and Kriti Sanon-starrer recently released Character Dheela 2.0, a recreation of Salman Khan’s hit number from Ready (2011).

Production designer Rajat Poddarr reveals that Aaryan — who is also one of Shehzada’s producers — suggested incorporating a promotional song to amp up the buzz around Rohit Dhawan’s directorial venture.

“Kartik wanted to [reimagine] this number from Ready, in his own way. Initially, the team felt that the situation didn’t require a song, but he insisted it would enhance the movie’s promotions. He contacted Bosco [Martis] for the choreography, and me for the sets. He suggested to the producers that this would be his team, as we had done the title track of Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 together,” shares Poddarr. 

With the team in place, it was time for execution. The leading man prepped for two days with choreographer Martis, before the dance number was shot over three days in the last week of January at a Madh Island bungalow. Building the set in such a short time was no mean feat.

“We were constructing one part of the set, while Kartik would be shooting in the other part. We built different sets, including a swimming pool, ramp, and a colourful scooter. We submerged the ramp in water so that Kartik could do his slide step. He had referenced videos with Bosco, Manu [Anand, director of photography] and me [to determine the song’s treatment].”

Character dheela had become a rage when it was released. Aaryan knew that stepping into Khan’s dancing shoes was a huge responsibility. So, instead of recreating the track, step for step, he did the next best thing. Martis says, “Recreating Salman bhai’s song could have created a backlash. So, we decided to celebrate the song. We wanted to make it peppier and relevant.”