Time for a throwback: the date is July 23, 1990 and Mahesh Bhatt’s romantic drama “Aashiqui” has just hit theaters across India. Rahul Roy and Anu Aggarwal play their namesakes in the movie, and “Aashiqui” is the story of the ups and down of their pyaar ki kahaani.
The movie was a phenomenal box-office success, almost entirely in part thanks to the soundtrack. After an almost unbearable 10 or so years without a single decent Bollywood soundtrack, listeners across the world were shocked by the melodious songs in the “Aashiqui” soundtrack. Playback singers Anuradha Paudwal and Kumar Sanu, along with music directors Nadeem-Shravan and lyricist Sameer, all won Filmfare awards for their work.
Now, 25 years since the release of this mega hit soundtrack, rapper Yo Yo Honey Singh chose to pay tribute to Gulshan Kumar, the founder of the T-Series music label and one of the producers of “Aashiqui,” by recreating the classic “Dheere Dheere.”
Singh keeps the main refrain from the original song, but much of the rest is distinctly different and strongly influenced by his personal style. Since the music video’s release on YouTube on September 1, it has already gotten more than 20 million views.
This success is largely thanks to the glamorous cinematography in Turkey along with the impressive onscreen presence of both Sonam Kapoor and Hrithik Roshan. Some people love Singh’s version of “Dheere Dheere,” while others hate it—decide for yourself and watch this video ASAP if you have not seen it yet!