Kajra Re () is a song composed by

Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy () is an Indian musical trio consisting of Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani and Loy Mendonsa. They have composed music for over 50 soundtracks across five languages: Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Marathi and English. Amongst ...

, 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 the

playback singer A playback singer, as they are usually known in South Asian cinema, or ghost singer in Western cinema, is a singer whose performance is pre-recorded for use in films. Playback singers record songs for soundtracks, and the performers lip-sync the ...

Alisha Chinoy Alisha Chinai (born 18 March 1965) is an Indian pop singer known for her Indi-pop albums as well as playback singing in Hindi cinema. She began her singing career with the album ''Jadoo'' in 1985, and by the 1990s she had become known as the 'Q ...

Shankar Mahadevan Shankar Mahadevan (born 3 March 1967) is an Indian singer and composer who is part of the Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy trio that writes music for Indian films. In 2023, he was awarded an honorary doctorate (''honoris causa'' degree) by Birmingham Ci ...

and

Javed Ali Javed Ali is an Indian playback singer who predominantly sings in Hindi. He has also sung in various Indian languages including Bengali, Kannada, Malayalam, Gujarati, Marathi, Odia, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu. Early life Javed Ali was born as ...

. It is from the 2005 film ''

Bunty Aur Babli ''Bunty Aur Babli'' (transl. ''Bunty and Babli'') is a 2005 Indian Hindi-language crime comedy film directed by Shaad Ali, written by Jaideep Sahni from a story by Aditya Chopra, and produced by Chopra under the Yash Raj Films banner. The film s ...

'', starring

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 ...

Abhishek Bachchan Abhishek Bachchan (; born 5 February 1976) is an Indian actor and film producer known for his work in Hindi films. Part of the Bachchan family, he is the son of actors Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan. From 2012 to 2016, Bachchan appeared in ...

and

Rani Mukerji Rani Mukerji (; born 21 March 1978) is an Indian actress who works in Hindi films. Noted for her versatility, she is the recipient of multiple accolades, including eight Filmfare Awards. Mukerji has featured in listings of the leading and hi ...

Aishwarya Rai Aishwarya Rai Bachchan (; Rai; born 1 November 1973) is an Indian actress who is primarily known for her work in Hindi and Tamil language, Tamil films. Rai won the Miss World 1994 pageant and later established herself as one of the most-popu ...

plays a courtesan trying to express her desires to attract the male, or her client. It features Amitabh and Abhishek at a nightclub and Aishwarya Rai, making a special appearance in the film, sings for Amitabh while ignoring Abhishek's approaches. Amitabh eventually joins Abhishek and Aishwarya in the singing and dancing.

Production and development

''Kajra Re'' is inspired from a folk song from the

Braj Braj, also known as Vraj, Vraja, Brij or Brijbhumi, is a region in India on both sides of the Yamuna river with its centre at Mathura-Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh state encompassing the area which also includes Palwal, Ballabhgarh and Nuh in ...

region, in which the celebrated dark eyes are

Krishna Krishna (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God (Hinduism), Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, c ...

's. The words "''Tujhse milna Purani Dilli mein...''" ("''...meet you in

Old Delhi Shahjahanabad colloquially known as Old Delhi( Hindustani: ''Purāni Dillī'') is an area in the Central Delhi district of Delhi, India. It was founded as a walled city and officially named Shahjahanabad in 1648, when Shah Jahan decided to shi ...

''") have been rendered by Amitabh Bachchan. It was a very famous "

item number In Indian cinema, an item number or special song is a musical number inserted into a film that may or may not have any relevance to the plot. The term is commonly used within Indian films ( Bengali, Hindi, Kannada, Punjabi, Tamil, and Telugu c ...

" from the movie ''

''. Uncommon to other "item numbers", the music was influenced by the genre of

kajari Kajari is a folk song and dance form from Bhojpuri region of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. It is of the Hindustani classical music genre, performed during the rainy season usually late June to September when lush greenery reappears and agricultural l ...

. The trio have used

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in 19th-century India. Khusrau K ...

to make it sound more Indian. Amitabh Bachchan, after initially hearing the song, demanded a few changes, but the director,

Shaad Ali Shaad Ali is an Indian film director and screenwriter who works in Hindi films. Early life and education Ali was born to Muzaffar Ali and Subhashini Ali (née Sahgal), an Indian politician and member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). ...

, and producer,

Aditya Chopra Aditya Chopra (born 21 May 1971) is an Indian film director, producer, screenwriter and studio executive who works in Hindi cinema. He is the Chairman of India's multi-national film, media, and entertainment conglomerate Yash Raj Films (YRF).

, convinced him against them. The song was composed in half a day. Alisha was chosen for the female vocals since her anglicized accent was meant to provide an essentially different intonation.

Reception and impact

The melody of this song was used as the main method to promote the film and the soundtrack. The song became extremely popular among the masses and was hugely successful on Indian music charts. The

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media Limited, an entity controlled by the Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia, the daughter o ...

described it as "the reinvention of the qawwali by Shankar-Ehsaan-Roy and Gulzar" and called it "the

of the decade." ''Kajra Re'' featured on top in ''

Rediff 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 ...

''s 2005's list of top 5 songs. It was voted as the song of the year by three radio stations, including

Lotus FM Lotus FM (formerly, Radio Lotus) is a South African national radio station based in Durban, loosely similar to the BBC Asian Network in the United Kingdom, that caters for the needs of the Indian South African community. It combines a mix of Ind ...

, a station popular among the

Indian diaspora Overseas Indians (ISO 15919, ISO: ), officially Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and People of Indian Origin (PIOs) are people of Indian descent who reside or originate outside of India (Including those that were directly under the British Raj). Acc ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. The song was also featured in '' Caminho das Indias'', a marathon telenovela that ran on

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

's popular

Rede Globo TV Globo (stylized as tvglobo; , ), formerly known as Rede Globo de Televisão (; shortened to Rede Globo) or simply known as Globo, is a Brazilian free-to-air television network, launched by media proprietor Roberto Marinho on 26 April 1965 ...

. The track was featured in

' ''Songs of the Century'', which deemed it to be the "undisputed item song of the decade."

Music video

Before the song sequence, Amitabh Bachchan, playing a cop in the movie, relates his story of unrequited love in the city of

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

to Abhishek Bachchan (his real-life son who plays a criminal pursued by the cop), which is later alluded to in the song. Aishwarya Rai's character, a bar girl, sympathizes with Amitabh's character and plays courtesan. The dance, choreographed by

Vaibhavi Merchant Vaibhavi Merchant is an Indian dance choreographer working in Bollywood films. She won the National Film Award for Best Choreography for the song ''Dholi Taaro Dhol Baaje'' from ''Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam'' in 1999. Career Merchant born in Che ...

, features Aishwarya in a

brocade Brocade () is a class of richly decorative shuttle (weaving), shuttle-woven fabrics, often made in coloured silks and sometimes with gold and silver threads. The name, related to the same root as the word "broccoli", comes from Italian langua ...

choli A choli or ravike in South India is a blouse or a bodice-like upper garment, that is usually cut short or cropped leaving the midriff bare. It is worn along with a sari in the Indian subcontinent. In northern Gujarat is also known as ''polku''. ...

'' and dipped ''

ghagra Ghagra choli (also known as lehenga choli and chaniya choli) is a type of ethnic clothing for women from India, notably in the Indian states of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Punjab, India, Punjab, Himachal ...

'',

kohl Kohl may refer to: *Kohl (cosmetics), an ancient eye cosmetic *Kohl (surname), including a list of people with the surname *Kohl's Kohl's Corporation (Kohl's is stylized in all caps) is an American department store retail chain store, chain. ...

, and some

lip gloss Lip gloss is a cosmetic used primarily to give lips a glossy luster, and sometimes to add a subtle color. It is distributed as a fluid or a soft solid (not to be confused with lip balm, which generally has medical or soothing purposes, or lips ...

Awards

Alisha Chinai Alisha Chinai (born 18 March 1965) is an Indian pop singer known for her Indi-pop albums as well as playback singing in Hindi cinema. She began her singing career with the album ''Jadoo'' in 1985, and by the 1990s she had become known as the ' ...

won the 2005

Filmfare Best Female Playback Award The Filmfare Best Female Playback Award is given by ''Filmfare'' as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise a female playback singer who has delivered an outstanding performance in a film song. Although the award cerem ...

, 2005

MTV Immies The MTV Immies are held every year with an aim to award the best talents in the Indian music industry. In 2005 The Immies supported relief for the quake victims of India and Pakistan. Also, proceeds from donor passes were given to the Prime M ...

for the "Best Female Singer" and the 2005 Bollywood Movie Award - Best Playback Singer Female for the song, while

collected the best lyricist award in almost all major award functions including the IIFA and

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, ...

Awards, for the song.

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan Aishwarya Rai Bachchan (; Rai; born 1 November 1973) is an Indian actress who is primarily known for her work in Hindi and Tamil language, Tamil films. Rai won the Miss World 1994 pageant and later established herself as one of the most-popu ...

won the award for the "Best Performance In A Song - Female" at the 2005

won the following awards: * IIFA Best Choreography Award *Zee Best Choreography Award *

Star Screen Awards The Screen Awards was an annual awards ceremony held in India, honouring professional excellence in Bollywood. The nomination and award selection was done by a panel of distinguished professionals from the industry. The awards were introduced ...

- Best Choreography *Apsara Best Choreography Award

References

{{authority control Indian songs Songs written for Hindi-language films Songs with music by Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy 2005 songs Songs with lyrics by Gulzar Shankar Mahadevan songs Alisha Chinai songs Qawwali songs Songs in Urdu Songs about prostitutes Ghazal songs Songs about criminals Songs about police officers Delhi in fiction Filmi songs Indian courtesans Caminho das Índias