"Chaiyya Chaiyya" () is an Indian pop-folk song, featured in the soundtrack of the

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 ...

film '' Dil Se..'', released in 1998. Based on

Sufi music Sufi music refers to the devotional music of the Sufis, inspired by the works of Sufi poets like Rumi, Hafiz, Bulleh Shah, Amir Khusrow, and Khwaja Ghulam Farid. Qawwali is the best-known form of Sufi music and is most commonly found in ...

and

Urdu poetry Urdu poetry ( ) is a tradition of poetry and has many different forms. Today, it is an important part of the culture of India and Pakistan. According to Naseer Turabi, there are five major poets of Urdu: Mir Taqi Mir (d. 1810), Mirza Ghalib (d. ...

, the single was derived from the lyrics of the song " Tere Ishq Nachaya", written by

Bulleh Shah Sayyid Abdullāh Shāh Qādrī (; ), popularly known as Baba Bulleh Shah and vocatively as Bulleya, was a Punjabi revolutionary philosopher, reformer and Chishti Sufi poet, regarded the 'Father of Punjabi Enlightenment'; and one of the g ...

, with music composed by

A.R. Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967), also known by the initialism ARR, is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and philanthropist known for his works in Indian cinema ...

, written by

Gulzar Gulzar (born Sampooran Singh Kalra; 18 August 1934) is an Indian Urdu poetry, Urdu poet, lyricist, author, screenwriter, and film director known for his works in Hindi cinema. He is regarded as one of greatest Urdu poets of this era. He starte ...

, and sung by

Sukhwinder Singh Sukhwinder Singh (born 18 July 1971) is an Indian playback singer who primarily sings Bollywood songs. He sang " Jai Ho" in the film '' Slumdog Millionaire'', for which he won a Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Televisi ...

and

Sapna Awasthi Sapna Awasthi Singh is a Bollywood playback singer best known for her "Banno Teri Ankhiyan Soorme" from '' Dushmani'' (1995), "Pardesi Pardesi" from '' Raja Hindustani'' (1996), " Chaiyya Chaiyya" from '' Dil Se..'' (1998), "Angoori Badan" fr ...

. The accompanying music video was directed by

Mani Ratnam Gopalaratnam Subramaniam (born 2 June 1956), known professionally as Mani Ratnam, is an Indian film director, film producer and screenwriter who predominantly works in Tamil cinema and a few Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada films. H ...

and picturised on

Shah Rukh Khan Shah Rukh Khan (; born 2 November 1965), also known by the initialism SRK, is an Indian actor and film producer who works in Hindi cinema. Referred to in the media as the "Padishah, Baadshah of Bollywood" and "King Khan", he has Shah Rukh K ...

and

Malaika Arora Malaika Arora (born 23 October 1973) is an Indian actress, dancer, model, Video Jockey ( VJ ) and television personality who appears in Hindi-language films. She made her debut as a film producer in 2008 with her former husband Arbaaz Khan, f ...

, where they perform the song on top of a moving train.

Composition

The lyrics of "Chaiyya Chaiyya" are based on the Sufi folk song "Thaiyya Thaiyya" with lyrics by poet

. Singer

originally suggested the song to A.R. Rahman who was looking for a Punjabi devotional song to include on the soundtrack of ''Dil Se..''.

subsequently rewrote the lyrics and changed the name to "Chaiyya Chaiyya". In an interview called "Sadhanai Tamilargal" alongside Mani Ratnam and Vairamuthu,

A. R. Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967), also known by the initialism ARR, is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and philanthropist known for his works in Indian cinem ...

stated that the song was originally composed for his album ''Vande Mataram''. But as it didn't fit in, he decided to show it to

, who loves these kind of catchy tunes. The very first time hearing the song, Mani Ratnam decided to shoot the song on a train.

Music video

The video was filmed on top of the

Ooty Ooty (; officially Udagamandalam (), Anglicisation, anglicized: Ootacamund , abbreviated as Udagai, ) is a town and municipality in the Nilgiris district of the Indian States and territories of India, state of Tamil Nadu. It is located north ...

train, powered by X-Class Steam Locomotive (the

Nilgiri Mountain Railway The Nilgiri Mountain Railway (NMR), colloquially called the "Toy Train" by locals, is a railway in Nilgiris district, Tamil Nadu, India, built by the British in 1908. The railway is operated by the Southern Railway and is the only rack railwa ...

) in mountainous

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

, southern India, while actor

Shahrukh Khan Shah Rukh Khan (; born 2 November 1965), also known by the initialism SRK, is an Indian actor and film producer who works in Hindi cinema. Referred to in the media as the " Baadshah of Bollywood" and "King Khan", he has appeared in more th ...

dances with model/actress

and other dancers. The film was directed by

and recorded by

Santosh Sivan Santosh Sivan ISC (born 8 February 1964) is an Indian cinematographer, film director, producer and actor known for his works in Malayalam, Tamil and Hindi cinema. Santosh graduated from the Film and Television Institute of India and has, to ...

. The choreography was completed in four and half days by

Farah Khan Farah Khan Kunder (; born 9 January 1965) is an Indian film director, writer, film producer, actress, dancer and choreographer who works predominantly in Hindi films. Khan has choreographed more than a hundred songs in over 80 films, winning th ...

. No major back projections or post-production special effects were used in the music video.

, one of the performers, recalls: "Would you believe it? Well, the "Chaiya Chaiya" song was shot exactly as you see it on the screen: No camera tricks, no back projection, no post-production special effects!" She also said that "...One of the unit members tripped and hurt himself. Other than that, things were safe."

Reception

"Chaiyya Chaiyya" was a critical and commercial success, selling over six million units in India and earning a

cult following A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The latter is often called a cult classic. A film, boo ...

internationally, and is often cited as an influential track in

Hindi cinema 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 ...

. In 2002, the

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is a British Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC. It is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception area, language selection and audience reach. It broadcas ...

conducted an international poll to choose the ten most popular songs of all time: "Chaiyya Chaiyya" finished ninth.

Awards and nominations

Legacy

Chaiyya Chaiyya became especially popular and the song has been featured in the film ''

Inside Man ''Inside Man'' is a 2006 American crime thriller film directed by Spike Lee and written by Russell Gewirtz. It centers on an elaborate bank heist-turned-hostage situation on Wall Street. The film stars Denzel Washington as Detective Keith Fr ...

'' (2006), in the musical ''

Bombay Dreams ''Bombay Dreams'' is a Bollywood-themed musical, with music by A. R. Rahman, lyrics by Don Black and the book by Meera Syal and Thomas Meehan, originally produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber. The London production opened in 2002 and ran for two ...

'', and in the television shows ''

Smith Smith may refer to: People and fictional characters * Metalsmith, or simply smith, a craftsman fashioning tools or works of art out of various metals * Smith (given name) * Smith (surname), a family name originating in England ** List of people ...

'' and '' CSI: Miami''. The

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

dub of "Chaiyya Chaiyya", titled "Thaiyya Thaiyya", and the

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of South India ** Telugu literature, is the body of works written in the Telugu language. * Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Tel ...

language dub also gained popularity in

South India South India, also known as Southern India or Peninsular India, is the southern part of the Deccan Peninsula in India encompassing the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well as the union territories of ...

. In Indonesia, the song hits its popularity peak in 2010, following the viral video of First Police Brigadier rank Norman Kamaru covering the dance choreo.

References

External links

* English translation of this song is available a
Chaiyya Chaiyya Lyrics Meaning & Translation
* An English translation available a

{{authority control 1998 songs Indian songs Sufi music Songs with music by A. R. Rahman Songs with lyrics by Gulzar Sukhwinder Singh songs Songs in Urdu Sufi songs