"Chaar Kadam" () is a Hindi song from the 2014 Hindi film, '' PK''. Composed by

Shantanu Moitra Shantanu Moitra (born 22 January 1968) is an Indian pianist, score composer and musician who has composed songs for the Hindi film industry, and is most known for his scores in the films ''Parineeta (2005 film), Parineeta'' (2005), ''Hazaaron K ...

, the song is sung by Shaan and

Shreya Ghoshal Shreya Ghoshal (; born 12 March 1984) is an Indian singer. Noted for her wide vocal range and versatility, she is one of the most prolific and influential singers of India. Often referred to as the "Queen of Dynamics'' for her remarkable voc ...

, with lyrics penned by

Swanand Kirkire Swanand Kirkire (born 29 April 1972) is an Indian lyricist, playback singer, writer, assistant director, actor and dialogue writer, who works in Marathi and Hindi film and television. Kirkire won the National Film Award for Best Lyrics twice: f ...

. The music video of the track features actors

Sushant Singh Rajput Sushant Singh Rajput (21 January 1986 – 14 June 2020) was an Indian actor best known for his work in Hindi cinema. He earned acclaim for his performances in several notable films, including ''Kai Po Che!'' (2013), ''Detective Byomkesh Bakshy ...

and

Anushka Sharma Anushka Sharma (; born 1 May 1988) is an Indian actress who works in Hindi films. She has won many awards including Filmfare Awards and IIFA Awards. Sharma has appeared in ''Forbes India''s Celebrity 100 in the 2010s and was featured by ''F ...

. The music is inspired from Ian Hughes - Valse Parisienne. The music is also inspired by Tchaikovsky - Waltz from Sleeping Beauty Op. 66.

Background

On 23 May 2013, Shaan confirmed through Twitter that he recorded the song for the film '' PK'' along with

. The song was composed by

, while the lyrics was penned by

. The song is based on one of Kirkire's poems. In an interview, Moitra stated: "It is actually the love song from the album and it is shot exactly the way romantic numbers were shot once upon a time in

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

. The visuals will remind you of ''

Silsila ''Silsila'' () is an Arabic language, Arabic word meaning ''chain'', ''link'', ''connection'' often used in various senses of :wikt:lineage, lineage. In particular, it may be translated as "spiritual genealogy" where one Sufi Master transfe ...

'', that iconic moment where the camera gently captures the love brewing between

Amitabh Bachchan Amitabh Bachchan (; 11 October 1942) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi cinema. He is often considered one of the greatest, most accomplished and commercially successful actors in the history of Indian cinema.* * * * * With a cinemati ...

and

Rekha Bhanurekha Ganesan (; born 10 October 1954), better known by her mononymous stage name Rekha, is an Indian actress who appears predominantly in Hindi films. Acknowledged as one of the finest actresses in Indian cinema, she has starred in mo ...

. There were no fast camera movement or loud shots. This is one of my favorite tracks from the album".

Rajkumar Hirani Rajkumar "Raju" Hirani (born 20 November 1962) is an Indian filmmaker known for his works in Hindi films. He is the recipient of several accolades, including four National Film Awards and 11 Filmfare Awards. Hirani is referred as one of the m ...

wanted to shoot this track in a new and unique place. He basically looked for three locations, canal, town hall and cobbled streets of Europe. Hence, the crew travelled 3,500 kilometres to search for it before finalising

Bruges Bruges ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders, in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is in the northwest of the country, and is the sixth most populous city in the country. The area of the whole city amoun ...

in Belgium. Prior to that, the crew looked for other major

European cities This list ranks metropolitan areas in Europe by their population according to three different sources; it includes metropolitan areas that have a population of over 1 million. Sources List includes metropolitan areas according only to the stud ...

like Paris,

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

and

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

. Shooting of the song was completed within two to three days. The whole song was shot in the Belgian city of Bruges. It was the first Hindi song to be shot in this city. Talking about the location of the song, Hirani stated, "I was spellbound by the picturesque architecture, landscapes, the strong historical background and clean refreshing environs. I decided that this is just the right place to shoot a part of the movie as it fitted in beautifully with the storyline". The song captures some of the landmark places like the Market Square, Howest Campus, Sint-Jorisstraat, the Beguinage and several streets and canals. The song is

choreographed Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer creates choreographies thr ...

by Stanley D'Costa.

Release and success

The music video of the song was released on 2 November 2014. The video of the music is the fourth song released from the film, after "Tharki Chokro", "Love is Waste of Time" and " Nanga Punga Dost". The audio of the song was officially released on 5 November 2014, through the YouTube channel of T-Series. It was available on music-streaming platforms and for digital download on the same day along with the other tracks from the album. The song received praise and positive feedback on the pairing of the two actors,

and

. In an interview, Sharma picked the song as her favourite track from the album.

Critical reception

The song received mixed response from critics. Though reviewers praised the singing of Shaan and

, many of them criticised the composition for having a heard-before feel to it. The song seems to draw inspiration from the romantic song "Waltz for a night" by

Julie Delpy Julie Delpy (; born 21 December 1969) is a French and American actress, screenwriter, and film director. She studied filmmaking at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and has directed, written, and acted in more than 30 films, including '' Europa Eur ...

from the movie ''

Before Sunset ''Before Sunset'' is a 2004 American romantic drama film directed by Richard Linklater, who co-wrote the screenplay with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, from a story by Linklater and Kim Krizan. It is the first film by Warner Independent Picture ...

''. Surabhi Redkar from Koimoi felt the song "has its own charm and is expected to become popular and high on likeability quotient" and he stated it "is quite sweet to the ears, though there is a clichéd and repetitive tune to it". Devesh Sharma reviewing from ''

Filmfare ''Filmfare'' is an Indian English-language fortnightly magazine published by Worldwide Media. Acknowledged as one of India's most popular entertainment magazines, it publishes pieces involving news, interviews, photos, videos, reviews, events, ...

'' stated "Shaan brings all the romance in his voice to belt out a breezy love duet in the able company of Shreya". Joginder Tuteja from

Rediff.com Rediff.com, stylized as rediff.com, is an Indian news, information, entertainment, and shopping website. Founded by Ajit Balakrishnan in 1996, it was the first Indian website to become a mainstream news media organization. It is headquartered i ...

found the song boring and commented "The start sounds dated. It also has a nursery rhyme feel to it, but it's not memorable even after listening to it several times".

Accolades

References

{{authority control Songs in Hindi Songs written for Hindi-language films 2014 songs Shreya Ghoshal songs Shaan (singer) songs Songs with music by Shantanu Moitra Songs with lyrics by Swanand Kirkire