Showing posts with label Saaheb. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Saaheb. Show all posts
Ibrahim Ali Khan is not a fantastic dancer but a very hardworking one-Vijay Ganguly
9:16 AM
Choreographer Vijay Ganguly shares how he worked with every generation of Saif Ali Khan’s family, including Amrita Singh, Sara and Ibrahim
Upala KBR (MID-DAY; March 16, 2025)
While the Pataudi family was not blessed with great dancing skills, they made up for it with hard work. Choreographer Vijay Ganguly—son of National Award-winning director and screenwriter Anil Ganguly—who has been on movie sets with his father since childhood, shares that he has worked with every generation of Saif Ali Khan’s family, including ex-wife Amrita Singh, Sara Ali Khan, and Ibrahim Ali Khan who recently made his debut in Bollywood with his Netflix film, Nadaaniyan.
Although the Ibrahim-starrer was met with harsh criticisms, Vijay says that like his father, Ibrahim didn’t mind working hard and endlessly rehearsing dance numbers. “Ibrahim is not a fantastic dancer but a very hardworking one.”
They met on the set of the wedding track, Tirkit Dhoom. Vijay adds, “Though he comes from a Nawabi family, he is grounded. Every time he didn’t get a step right, my assistants would go out of our way to make sure he did it well.”
Reminiscing about being on the set with Singh during the shoot of Saaheb (1985), Vijay shares that he also played a small role in the Anil Kapoor-starrer. “I was a child artiste in the film. I met her properly during the shoot of Sara’s Zara Hatke Zara Bachke [2023] and she remembered that I had choreographed Sara’s song, Chaka Chak [from Atrangi Re, 2021]. Sara would wake me up in Goa at 4am to rehearse. She is transparent and has no filters. Sometimes we have to tell her to calm down,” he added. Vijay is also designing the dance in Sara’s Metro In Dino.
Vijay shares that he met Saif for the first time during rehearsals for an award ceremony. “Saif has improved over time. He will joke about things [but still] learn his steps.”
His first film with Saif was Chef (2017), followed by Bhoot Police (2021).
At every concert I have to sing Ooh La La at least three times on popular demand-Bappi Lahiri
8:08 AM
Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; November 28, 2020)
Bappida recalls walking into Sunny Super Sound for a 4 pm shift and bumping into Raj N Sippy, his Thanedaar director, who, on his way out, told him that they needed one last song in his trademark Disco style to be picturised on Sanjay Dutt and Madhuri Dixit. Thanedaar was the fourth highest grosser of 1990, but it is “Tamma Tamma Loge” with its quirky dance moves, inspired by Michael Jackson’s “Bad”, that we remember the film by, three decades later. “In 2017, on the request of Bhushan Kumar (T-Series head honcho), I re-dubbed the song in a LA studio for Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt’s Badrinath Ki Dulhania,” he reminds.
Bappida has a treasure trove of hits, but the one film whose songs play across the globe and are instantly associated with Mithun Chakraborty, and him, is Disco Dancer. Bring up the subject and he pinpoints his golden song, “Yaad Aa Raha Hai Tera Pyaar” which was to be re-dubbed by Kishore Kumar on his return from London. “But when Kishore mama heard the track I had recorded, he called Subhash ji (producer-director B Subhash) and urged him to retain my version saying he could not better it,” Bappi da recounts proudly.
A year later, for Anil Ganguly’s Saaheb, he composed and crooned, “Yaar Bina Chain Kahan Re” for a very young Anil Kapoor. “Anil danced so well, and the following year, when I won the Filmfare Award for Shaarabi, both of us took to the stage to sing ‘Yaar Bina Chain Kahan Re’ together. What a night that was!” he reminisces.
Bappida was in the US when Vishal called to say “Ooh La La” was the No 1 song in India. “Soon, it was playing all over the world. Now, at every concert I have to sing it at least three times on popular demand,” he shares, boasting that after half a century, he’s still making music, without even a gap of a year.
This year, there was “Arey Pyaar Kar Le” with Ayushmann Khurrana for Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan , “Bhankas” for Tiger Shroff’s Baaghi 3 and “Tim Tim Tim” for Kaamyaab . “But because of a rogue virus, I could not enjoy their success. I recorded a song with Akon before we were shut in, composed a few film songs in my home studio during the lockdown, and am waiting for her final approval to collaborate with Lady Gaga,” he rattles off, confident that life will get back on track soon and he will keep glittering bright in our galaxy.
For Yaar Bina Chain, we made Ayushmann Khurrana recreate the step of Anil Kapoor-Vijay Ganguly
8:36 AM
Vijay Ganguly on choreographing Yaar Bina Chain from Saaheb, which was directed by his father, for Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan
Sonia Lulla (MID-DAY; February 9, 2020)
During the shoot of Saaheb (1985), Vijay Ganguly, then five, would run about the set as his director father Anil Ganguly filmed Yaar Bina Chain with the movie's leads Anil Kapoor and Amrita Singh. Almost 35 years later, in a quirk of fate, Vijay found himself being appointed to choreograph the rehashed version of the song for Ayushmann Khurrana-starrer, Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan. "Initially, the team, including director Hitesh Kewalya, simply told me I would be working on a remix of Bappi da's [Lahiri] song, and that they were sure I would be excited about it. As soon as the track began, I was taken aback. I thought, what are the odds that of all the choreographers and all the songs, this one would come to me?" exclaims the choreographer, talking about the song that releases on Tuesday.In keeping with the theme of the same-sex love story, the track—now titled Arrey pyaar kar le—has Khurrana romancing his on-screen love interest, Jitendra Kumar. "Since the song didn't have [the usual] guy-girl dynamics, there wasn't much that we could [use] from the original. So, we decided to [reference] the period instead. When my dad made the film, the unit went to Ballard Pier, used water, and employed the star filter that made water [droplets] look like light. So, we used the same filter for our song to [evoke a sense of nostalgia]. We also made Ayushmann recreate a step of Anil sir." He adds that Khurrana, delighted to learn of the coincidence, urged him to invite his mother and actor sister Rupali Ganguly to the shoot.
Vijay Ganguly with Bappi Lahiri on the set
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)