Chaiyya Chaiyya
Encyclopedia
"Chaiyya Chaiyya" is a Hindi
song from the 1998 Hindi
film Dil Se
directed by Mani Ratnam
.
The song was composed by A.R. Rahman, written by Gulzar, and sung by Sukhwinder Singh
and Sapna Awasthi. It quickly became popular upon release and its music video gained the same status, partly because it was filmed on a moving train
. The Hindustani
version of the song is called "Chaiyya Chaiyya", while the Tamil version is called "Thaiyya Thaiyya".
In 2003, the BBC World Service
conducted an international poll to choose the ten most popular songs of all time. Around 7000 songs were selected from all over the world. According to the BBC
, people from 155 countries voted "Chaiyya Chaiyya" ninth in the top 10 songs.
"Thaiyya Thaiyya" with lyrics by poet Bulleh Shah
. Singer Sukhwinder Singh
originally suggested the song to A.R. Rahman who was looking for a Punjabi devotional song to include on the soundtrack of Dil Se. Gulzar subsequently rewrote the lyrics and changed the name to "Chaiyya Chaiyya".
"Chaiyya Chaiyya" reached the top of the charts in India
and became popular in the United Kingdom
.
It is also featured in the opening of the second act of the musical Bombay Dreams
, in which the train sequence from Dil Se
is recreated on stage. Remixes of the song were used in the opening and closing credits of the 2006 film, Inside Man
, starring Denzel Washington
and Clive Owen
, directed by Spike Lee
and produced by Brian Grazer
. The opening credits have an abridged version of the original with additional trumpet accompaniment and the closing credits feature a hip-hop-inflected remix featuring Punjabi MC ("Chaiyya Chaiyya Bollywood Joint").
The song was featured in the pilot episode of the television show Smith
. A cover of this song was performed in episode 5 of season 5 of CSI: Miami
.
The original track and a live version of "Chaiyya Chaiyya" are featured in AR Rahman's compilation album, A.R. Rahman - A World of Music
.
The song was used during the opening ceremony
of the 2010 Commonwealth Games
held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi
on October 3, 2010.
"Chaiyya Chaiyya" became famous in Indonesia
, after Norman Kamaru
, a policeman from Gorontalo
, Indonesia
recorded himself lipsync-ing it and uploaded the video to Youtube
. The name of the video is "Polisi Gorontalo Menggila".
) in mountainous Tamil Nadu
, southern India while actor Shahrukh Khan
dances with model/actress Malaika Arora and other dancers. The film was directed by Mani Ratnam
and photographed by Santosh Sivan
. The choreography was completed in four and half days by Farah Khan
. No major back projections or post-production special effects were used in the music video. Malaika Arora, one of the performer 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."
Mani Ratnam was inspired by Kittu Puttu - Kaalavannu Thadeyoru Yaaru Illa, a 1977 Kannada movie song video, which used a similar "atop the train" sequence, and was directed by his friend, C.V. Rajendran.
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
song from the 1998 Hindi
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
film Dil Se
Dil Se
Dil Se is a 1998 Hindi film directed by Mani Ratnam. The film stars Shahrukh Khan, Manisha Koirala, and Preity Zinta. Mani Ratnam also co-wrote the screenplay for the film...
directed by Mani Ratnam
Mani Ratnam
Mani Ratnam is an Indian filmmaker, screenwriter and producer. He made his directorial debut with the Kannada film Pallavi Anu Pallavi starring Anil Kapoor in 1983...
.
The song was composed by A.R. Rahman, written by Gulzar, and sung by Sukhwinder Singh
Sukhwinder Singh
Sukhwinder Singh, Born as Sukhi Singh Lubana is an Indian singer best known for working as Bollywood playback artist. Singh is famous for singing "Chaiyya Chaiyya" for which he won the Best Male Playback Award at the 1999 Filmfare Awards. The song, from Mani Ratnam's 1998 film Dil Se, was composed...
and Sapna Awasthi. It quickly became popular upon release and its music video gained the same status, partly because it was filmed on a moving train
Train
A train is a connected series of vehicles for rail transport that move along a track to transport cargo or passengers from one place to another place. The track usually consists of two rails, but might also be a monorail or maglev guideway.Propulsion for the train is provided by a separate...
. The Hindustani
Hindustani language
Hindi-Urdu is an Indo-Aryan language and the lingua franca of North India and Pakistan. It is also known as Hindustani , and historically, as Hindavi or Rekhta...
version of the song is called "Chaiyya Chaiyya", while the Tamil version is called "Thaiyya Thaiyya".
In 2003, the BBC World Service
BBC World Service
The BBC World Service is the world's largest international broadcaster, broadcasting in 27 languages to many parts of the world via analogue and digital shortwave, internet streaming and podcasting, satellite, FM and MW relays...
conducted an international poll to choose the ten most popular songs of all time. Around 7000 songs were selected from all over the world. According to the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, people from 155 countries voted "Chaiyya Chaiyya" ninth in the top 10 songs.
About the song
The lyrics of "Chaiyya Chaiyya" are based on the Sufi folk songSufi music
Sufi music is the devotional music of the Sufis, inspired by the works of Sufi poets, like Rumi, Hafiz, Bulleh Shah and Khwaja Ghulam Farid.Qawwali is the most well known form of Sufi music, common in India and Pakistan...
"Thaiyya Thaiyya" with lyrics by poet Bulleh Shah
Bulleh Shah
Bulleh Shah was a Punjabi Sufi poet, a humanist and philosopher.-Early life:Bulleh Shah is believed to have been born in 1680, in the small village of Uch, Bahawalpur, Punjab, in present day Pakistan. His father, Shah Muhammad Darwaish, was a teacher and preacher in a village mosque...
. Singer Sukhwinder Singh
Sukhwinder Singh
Sukhwinder Singh, Born as Sukhi Singh Lubana is an Indian singer best known for working as Bollywood playback artist. Singh is famous for singing "Chaiyya Chaiyya" for which he won the Best Male Playback Award at the 1999 Filmfare Awards. The song, from Mani Ratnam's 1998 film Dil Se, was composed...
originally suggested the song to A.R. Rahman who was looking for a Punjabi devotional song to include on the soundtrack of Dil Se. Gulzar subsequently rewrote the lyrics and changed the name to "Chaiyya Chaiyya".
"Chaiyya Chaiyya" reached the top of the charts in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and became popular in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
It is also featured in the opening of the second act of the musical Bombay Dreams
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,and produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber. The London production opened in 2002 and ran for two years...
, in which the train sequence from Dil Se
Dil Se
Dil Se is a 1998 Hindi film directed by Mani Ratnam. The film stars Shahrukh Khan, Manisha Koirala, and Preity Zinta. Mani Ratnam also co-wrote the screenplay for the film...
is recreated on stage. Remixes of the song were used in the opening and closing credits of the 2006 film, Inside Man
Inside Man
Inside Man is a 2006 crime-drama film directed by Spike Lee. It stars Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, Willem Dafoe and Jodie Foster. The film's screenplay was written by Russell Gewirtz and produced by Brian Grazer...
, starring Denzel Washington
Denzel Washington
Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. is an American actor, screenwriter, director, and film producer. He first rose to prominence when he joined the cast of the medical drama, St. Elsewhere, playing Dr...
and Clive Owen
Clive Owen
Clive Owen is an English actor, who has worked on television, stage and film. He first gained recognition in the United Kingdom for portraying the lead in the ITV series Chancer from 1990 to 1991...
, directed by Spike Lee
Spike Lee
Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee is an American film director, producer, writer, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, has produced over 35 films since 1983....
and produced by Brian Grazer
Brian Grazer
Brian Thomas Grazer is an Academy Award-winning American film and television producer who co-founded Imagine Entertainment in 1986 with Ron Howard. Together they have produced many acclaimed films, including Apollo 13 and A Beautiful Mind .- Career :Brian Grazer began his career as a producer...
. The opening credits have an abridged version of the original with additional trumpet accompaniment and the closing credits feature a hip-hop-inflected remix featuring Punjabi MC ("Chaiyya Chaiyya Bollywood Joint").
The song was featured in the pilot episode of the television show Smith
Smith (TV series)
Smith is an American television drama that premiered on September 16, 2006 at 10:00 PM ET on CBS and on September 18, 2006 on CTV in Canada...
. A cover of this song was performed in episode 5 of season 5 of CSI: Miami
CSI: Miami
CSI: Miami is an American police procedural television series, which premiered on September 23, 2002 on CBS. The series is a spin-off of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation....
.
The original track and a live version of "Chaiyya Chaiyya" are featured in AR Rahman's compilation album, A.R. Rahman - A World of Music
A. R. Rahman – A World of Music
A. R. Rahman – A World of Music is a compilation album of score and songs composed by Film score composer A. R. Rahman. It was released on March 25, 2009 on Sony Music. It includes excerpts from soundtracks spanning 1992–2007 that changed the face of Indian film music. A. R....
.
The song was used during the opening ceremony
2010 Commonwealth Games opening ceremony
The opening ceremony of the 2010 Commonwealth Games was held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the main stadium of the event, in New Delhi, India...
of the 2010 Commonwealth Games
2010 Commonwealth Games
The 2010 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games, were held in Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 2010. A total of 6,081 athletes from 71 Commonwealth nations and dependencies competed in 21 sports and 272 events, making it the largest Commonwealth Games till date...
held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi
New Delhi
New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...
on October 3, 2010.
"Chaiyya Chaiyya" became famous in Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, after Norman Kamaru
Norman Kamaru
Norman Kamaru is an Indonesian police officer turned singer. "Catapulting" to stardom after a video of him singing "Chaiyya Chaiyya" by Shahrukh Khan while in uniform went viral in early April 2011, he has recently signed a billion rupiah recording contract.-Biography:Kamaru was born in Gorontalo,...
, a policeman from Gorontalo
Gorontalo
Gorontalo is a province in the north of Sulawesi, Indonesia.Other geographical meanings of Gorontalo are:* Gorontalo Regency* Gorontalo , the provincial capital....
, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
recorded himself lipsync-ing it and uploaded the video to Youtube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
. The name of the video is "Polisi Gorontalo Menggila".
Music video
The video was filmed on top of the Ooty train (the Nilgiri Mountain RailwayNilgiri Mountain Railway
The Nilgiri Mountain Railway is a railway in Tamil Nadu, India, built by the British in 1908, and was initially operated by the Madras Railway Company. The railway still relies on its fleet of steam locomotives. NMR comes under the jurisdiction of the newly formed Salem Division...
) in mountainous Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
, southern India while actor Shahrukh Khan
Shahrukh Khan
Shahrukh Khan , often credited as Shah Rukh Khan, is an Indian film actor, as well as a film producer and television host. Often referred to as "the King of Bollywood", Khan has acted in over 70 Hindi films....
dances with model/actress Malaika Arora and other dancers. The film was directed by Mani Ratnam
Mani Ratnam
Mani Ratnam is an Indian filmmaker, screenwriter and producer. He made his directorial debut with the Kannada film Pallavi Anu Pallavi starring Anil Kapoor in 1983...
and photographed by Santosh Sivan
Santosh Sivan
Santosh Sivan is an Indian cinematographer, film director, and producer who has worked in Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil, and Hindi cinema....
. The choreography was completed in four and half days by Farah Khan
Farah Khan
Farah Khan is an Indian film director and choreographer. She is best known for her choreographical work in numerous Bollywood films. Khan has choreographed dance routines for more than a hundred songs in over 80 Hindi films. Khan has since become a noted Hindi film director as well...
. No major back projections or post-production special effects were used in the music video. Malaika Arora, one of the performer 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."
Mani Ratnam was inspired by Kittu Puttu - Kaalavannu Thadeyoru Yaaru Illa, a 1977 Kannada movie song video, which used a similar "atop the train" sequence, and was directed by his friend, C.V. Rajendran.
Links
- An English translation available at BollyWhat.