‘Sara Ali Khan was in tears after pulling off Chaka Chak,’ says choreographer Vijay Ganguly

Sara Ali Khan, Vijay Ganguly and Aanand L Rai on the sets of Atrangi Re/picture courtesy: Vijay Ganguly

Atrangi Re, featuring Akshay Kumar, Sara Ali Khan and Dhanush has just released its new song ‘Chaka Chak' that is already trending over social media. Choreographer Vijay Ganguly tells mid-day. com all about what went into it's making.

Vijay says, "Chaka Chak was planned two years ago, before the pandemic hit because I had done a song ‘Yaar Bina Chain Kaha Re' from Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan for Aanand sir. He told me ‘I like the way you tell stories through your songs and I want to you to do a song composed by AR Rahman for Atrangi Re. I didn't take it seriously because it's a big film, an AR Rahman musical! Would he trust someone who is six years into the industry doing independent work? The pressure was humungous and I was in two minds but it was a huge opportunity so I started working on it. Aanand sir liked what I had planned and Sara and I had already bonded while shooting ‘Haan Main Galat' for Love Aaj Kal 2."

Watch the song right here:

Speaking about the challenges he faced while working on the song Vijay reveals, "I choreographed according to what Sara could pull off and the character brief which was that of a crazy girl, who is loud and out there, without going overboard. We were all set to shoot in Madhurai when the pandemic hit and everything was put on hold. Even when things started opening up no one was ready to take the risk so we had no dancers. I went to Madurai with my assistant Abhishek and other guy Jai Prakash and three of us used to work on the song non-stop. There was no girl even though it's a girl's song. As the first lockdown eased out we finally managed to shoot the song."

When the team finally did shoot the song, there were different challenges Vijay and team had to deal with. "There's an entire music portion where Sara had to seem all macho and fearless. We had got male dancers from the South who were fantastic so we were scared how Sara who pull this off. When we rehearsed with Sara she was good but the boys were over powering her completely. Ultimately we shot that 30 second dance portion as a one take shot and no one looked at the boys. Everyone started clapping and Sara had tears in her eyes, it was an emotional moment for all of us."

Speaking about Dhanush's portion, who is also an important part of the dance number he adds, "Dhanush sir had nothing to do in the song but he's an important part because the story revolves around him. It's his wedding in the film and Sara's character is seen teasing him. By the second day Dhanush sir knew he had to walk from point A to point B and exit. We used to feel so bad we couldn't make him dance. In the film the song is 5-6 minutes long and the small expressions by Dhanush sir add so much to the number."

Also Read: Atrangi Re trailer: Sara Ali Khan wants both Akshay Kumar and Dhanush as lovers!