I felt so rusty: Juhi Chawla on doing an item song

Juhi Chawla, who has never done an item song in B-Town, has done an item song and an extended cameo in the Kannada film Pushpak Vimana. Here is what the actress had to say about it.

On doing an item song

So any piece of work that I take up now is something that I feel excited about. I feel that its worthy of my time, I will be presented in the right way, then I go ahead and do it.  Once I do my work, I do it with all my heart and soul. Hence no film for me is big or small, nothing is more important or less important!

Why now?

My reaction to the offer initially was what would I be doing in an item song?  I have never done an item song, as it’s not quite my forte. But then they explained why they wanted me to do it. This film is set in the 80’s-90’s and it showcases a programme of a Hindi movie star at that time in the jail to celebrate an annual day function! So I am there as a movie star playing myself.

About the song..

It is a very prettily shot Indian number in the film. The lyrics are inspiring. They are about encouragement, having faith, and it’s about life as well! It also tells you that there is no reason to be scared. The tune is wonderful, the lyrics are very simple and nice and some of the lines are in Hindi as well. I’m sure it’s going to become a super hit song. I am a Hindi film artist and so when I am coming to work in a Kannada film, it kind of made better sense to also put some of it in Hindi. This was Ramesh Arvindji’s 100th film,  which is also one of the reasons I agreed to take up the project. The song was shot at a studio in Bangalore. I danced after a long time! They didn’t tell me I was dancing but gave me a reference where I’d look cool and strum a guitar, which I thought was quite easy and then when I got there they started giving me steps to dance on! After two shots I was like, ‘God  feel rusty’ but then i got into it and I had such a lovely time

The look

The two looks are just a cinematic liberty. They had this wonderful funky Indian look in mind where it had something to do with the colours of the peacock and its feathers and its grace and beauty as well. So the dancers and myself were dressed in turquoise, after which it went into reds and gold.I must say I was quite pleased with both the looks.

Family reaction

My husband and children are yet to see my look from the song, but whoever has seen them has been pleasantly surprised and really liked it! I too really liked it. In fact I thought that the entire look and the presentation looks magical!