"Chikni Chameli" is a song from the 2012 Indian

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

action drama The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...

film '' Agneepath'', directed by Karan Malhotra and produced by

Karan Johar Karan Yash Johar (born Rahul Kumar Johar; 25 May 1972), often informally referred to as KJo, is an Indian filmmaker, producer and television personality who primarily works in Hindi cinema. He has launched the careers of several successful ac ...

. A remake of

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India **Marathi people (Uttar Pradesh), the Marathi people in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Mar ...

song " Kombadi Palali" from the 2006 film '' Jatra: Hyalagaad Re Tyalagaad''. The song was first revealed on 16 December 2011 and features

Katrina Kaif Katrina Kaif (; born Katrina Rosemary Turcotte, 16 July 1983) is a British actress who works in Hindi-language films. One of the highest-paid actresses in India, she has received numerous accolades, including four Screen Awards and four Zee C ...

as the lead, along with

Hrithik Roshan Hrithik Roshan (; born 10 January 1974) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi cinema. He has portrayed a variety of characters and is known for his dancing skills. One of the highest-paid actors in India, he has won many awards, including si ...

and

Sanjay Dutt Sanjay Balraj Dutt (born 29 July 1959) is an Indian actor, playback singer and film producer who works in Hindi cinema in addition to a few Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, Punjabi films. Dutt has won several accolades and acted in over 160 films. ...

. The song was sung by

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 ...

and the dance choreographed by

Ganesh Acharya Ganesh Acharya is an Indian choreographer, director and actor who works in Hindi cinema. He won the National Film Award for Best Choreography for the songs "Hawan Kund" from Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (2013) and "Gori tu lath mar" from Toilet: Ek Pr ...

Background

It is a remake of the Marathi song " Kombadi Palali" from the film ''Jatra'' (2006), which was acted by

Bharat Jadhav Bharat Jadhav (born 12 December 1973) is an Indian actor and producer in Marathi movies, theatre, and TV shows in India. He is the first actor of Marathi cinema to own a vanity van. He play Sahi re Sahi is the blockbuster the play has completed ...

& Kranti Redkar and sung by Anand Shinde &

Vaishali Samant Vaishali Samant is an Indian music composer, lyricist and playback singer who is popularly known for her work in the Marathi film and music industry. Her career on television has included being a judge on the reality singing competition shows. ...

. The music is composed by the National award-winning Marathi composer duo Ajay and Atul Gogavale, known as

Ajay–Atul Ajay-Atul is an Indian music composer duo comprising brothers Ajay Ashok Gogavale and Atul Ashok Gogavale. Known for their works in Cinema of India, Indian cinema; predominantly in Marathi cinema, Marathi and Hindi cinema, Hindi films. They are ...

, who had earlier worked on '' Natrang'', ''

Viruddh ''Virruddh... Family Comes First'' () is a 2005 Indian Hindi-language drama film directed by Mahesh Manjrekar. The film stars Amitabh Bachchan, Sharmila Tagore, John Abraham and Sanjay Dutt .''Viruddh'' is not a musical, instead the soundtrack i ...

'', '' Singham'' and ''My Friend Pinto''.

Music video

Chikni Chameli is an item song, although the video is provocative, it also boost the plot forward as it shows the communication between the hero and villain. It consists of

, a prostitute hired by

's character, Kanchana to welcome

's character, Vijay. The official music video has over 478 Million views as of March 2025 on video sharing application You tube.

Filming

The choreographer for the song was

and Amitabh Battacharya was the lyricist. Karan Malhotra, in an interview revealed how he got the inspiration for the song after an assistant sound designer, Lochan Kanvinde, recommended the original song, " Kombadi Palali". The choreography was not easy for

, she expressed the difficulty in an interview by saying "The response to Chikni Chameli has been fun so far. It was hard work. It was very fast and it was not a style I was used to, but I took it as a challenge. I think we all went for it as a team and did the best we could. I am happy people are liking it". During the song, most of the dancing done was on barefoot, which took place on cement. This injured the soles of Katrina Kaif, as revealed by Ganesh Acharya in an interview, “The song is a rustic number, so she had to dance bare-feet on the uneven ground. Halfway through the number, she injured the soles of her feet as the continuous pressure peeled off her skin. Despite everyone telling her to attend to her injuries, she continued with the dance without a whimper”.

Synopsis

Reception

The song was well received by critics and audiences alike.

Awards and nominations

References

* {{authority control Songs written for Hindi-language films Indian songs 2012 songs Shreya Ghoshal songs Songs with lyrics by Amitabh Bhattacharya Songs with music by Ajay–Atul Pop-folk songs