It is the age of remixes, and many iconic songs are making a comeback in different versions. Some songs, however, should be left alone and Malaika Arora who shot to fame with her dance moves in Dil Se‘s ‘Chaiyya Chaiyya’ feels this is one song that should never be touched. “There are a few songs that I think you should never touch. They are iconic. There must be five or 10 songs over the years that you can pull out. Chaiyya Chaiyya is one of them. Don’t tamper with it, just let the original be and that’s how it should be,” she told IANS.
The evergreen dance number which features Malaika dancing atop a train, along with Shah Rukh Khan and other dancers, resonates with all generations. The song was filmed on top of the Nilgiri Mountain Railway in Ooty. Written by Gulzar, the song is composed by AR Rahman and sung by Sukhwinder Singh and Sapna Awasthi. The 1998 film directed by Mani Ratnam featured Khan, Manisha Koirala and Preity Zinta in lead roles, with Malaika making an appearance only for the dance number.
“When you play that song, you can’t help but get up and dance. It is an iconic song. When I shot the song, Geeta Kapur was assisting Farah Khan at that time. I used to study under Terence Lewis, Geeta assisted me on that dance. It was nice. We felt that let’s just go for it. The 46-year-old added, “I think some of the remixes are fantastic and go with today’s age and kids but yeah, there are certain things you should not tamper with like The Godfather or Mother India are iconic films. You should just let them be,” she told IANS.
On the work front, Malaika will be judging India’s Best Dancer along with Terrence Lewis and Geeta Kapur. The show will premiere on February 29, on Sony TV.