Vaibhavi Merchant shares that the key scene of 'Kajra Re' was Aishwarya Rai saying "Aye handsome" to Amitabh Bachchan

SHAAD ALI'S 2005 hit romantic comedy 'Bunty Aur Babli' marks its 20th anniversary today. It's also been 20 years since the release of the iconic song 'Kajra Re,' one of the most popular item songs in Hindi cinema.

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The song starred Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, and Abhishek Bachchan. It was composed by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, sung by Alisha Chinai, written by Gulzar, and choreographed by Vaibhavi Merchant. In an exclusive interview, Vaibhavi recalls her experience filming the song.

In an exclusive interview with SCREEN, Vaibhavi said she was surprised when she was told that the filmmakers wanted to do a song with Amitabh Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan. The song was meant to be a fusion of qawwali and mujra styles. She also mentioned that being part of the song recording was very special, as it was one of the first to be done at Yash Raj Studio. While many thought 'Kajra Re' would be a slow-burn hit, Aditya Chopra and Shaad Ali believed it had the right mix to become a popular mass song. After seeing the choreography, Aditya Chopra expressed his approval. "This is going to be a song revered for a long time. It's going to be extremely popular and going to go down in history."And, he had the vision to predict it would be a chartbuster.

Strong Bonds on SetShe shared how the choreography journey for the song began on a warm note. On the very first day of rehearsals, Abhishek Bachchan and Rani Mukerji, whom she considered her lucky charms, showed up to support her. Their friendship had grown during the making of Bunty Aur Babli, and they had become close. Off set, they often gathered at director Shaad Ali's home, enjoying good company along with delicious kebabs and biryani.