How Katrina Kaif aced Prabhudheva’s tough demands for Thug of Hindostan’s Suraiyya. Watch video

If Suraiyya song teaser from Aamir Khan’s Thugs of Hindostan wowed you, check out its making video where one sees Katrina Kaif master some really tough steps designed by choreographer Prabhudheva.

When Suraiyya Jaan song teaser was unveiled on Wednesday, what was unmistakable was the vigour and energy with which it flowed. Katrina Kaif was in top form, dancing with an energy not seen before. If the movements seem a bit jerky at first, they certainly have it in them to grow on you with time. Now, the making of the Suraiyya video and a video clip shared by Katrina on Instagram throw more light on how the song became what it is today.

Katrina Kaif felt the song’s steps had bits of jazz, ballet, folk and more influences.

In the featurette, shared by Yash Raj Films, all the people associated with the song speak about the experience. Lyricist Amitabh Bhattacharya says the song basically showcases the relationship between Aamir Khan and Katrina Kaif’s characters in the film. Their passion for each other is camouflaged in a lot of sarcasm and humour, he says. Director Vijay Krishna Acharya explains how they wanted the song to appeal to Indians as well as be western in character as the scene in the film is one where a lot of British soldiers have come to watch Suraiyya’s performance.

Taking about Prabhudheva’s choreography, Katrina says how the song’s “speed was incredibly fast yet the movement was very fluid” and that is what made it so difficult to master. Meanwhile, Aamir jokingly adds that he wouldn’t have managed the steps even after 10 years’ of practice. “These are steps I wouldn’t have been able to do had I been rehearsing for like 10 years but somehow she manages to pull them off.”

Katrina Kaif and Aamir Khan in Thugs of Hindostan’s Suraiyya.

At one point in the video, Katrina reveals how she had to do a free fall while Aamir was to come and hold her in the nick of time. And while she was fine with a dancer during rehearsals, she just couldn’t trust Aamir.

Prabhudheva was, of course, all praise for Katrina, whom he called a hard worker. In fact, in the video, Vijay says Katrina and Prabhudheva deserve all the credit. “It is all credit to Prabhu sir and Katrina that Suraiyya is what it is today.”

Meanwhile, the song’s composers Ajay-Atul reveal why cracking Suraiyya was the hardest part of their work in the film. “As many as 19 versions of the song were made,” the duo adds. Even the singers had to push their limits. Shreya Ghoshal says how the song, while retaining its Indian roots, had the feel of Broadway musical.

 

Aside from this, Katrina too shared a video clip from her rehearsals for the song and the steps look really difficult. She felt it had bits of Jazz, ballet and folk in it, all at the same time. Sharing it, she wrote: “When I first saw the choreo for suraiyya, I was like is it jazz ,is it ballet, is it folk ,,, but that’s dancing with prabhudeva ... u cannot define his style it’s so unique ,he gives the song such a unique personality with his choreography. He spent a lot of time with me in rehearsals helping me figure the style , I loved it all (apart from a few moments of tears of frustration)but in the end it was the hook step which we had so much fun with . #ThugsOfHindostan @_aamirkhan | @ajayatulofficial | @vishaldadlani1 | @shreyaghoshal | #AmitabhBhattacharya | @prabhudheva | @yrf.”