Hindustan Times ST (Jaipur) - Hindustan Times (Jaipur) - City
Nargis represents that Eastmeets-west swag: Parichay
Indo-canadian composer and singer, Parichay (right), cites the North American connect as reason for collaborating with actor Nargis Fakhri (above) for his latest single — Habitaan Vigaad Di, which also features Canadian rapper Kardinal Offishall. Shot in Toronto, the music video features Nargis as a fantasy chick. On why Nargis was the best choice for this song, Parichay says, “This song has an international sound with a sensual vibe. I knew we had to get Nargis to feature in it — she’s hot and represents that East-meets-west swag. I wanted to make this a mainstream Bollywood/ Punjabi collaboration and knowing she is from NYC, I thought she would fit in well, as Kardinal and I are from Toronto, so we all have that North American connection.” Asked how he managed to get her dialect right, since Nargis is not well-versed with Punjabi and Hindi, Parichay shares, “Actually she made my life easier just by wanting to get it right. We kept dubbing her part until she nailed the lead-vocals and harmonies. She’s singing a catchy part of the hook section, which is in Hindi and Punjabi — she sounds great,” says the singer. There were reports that Nargis took as many as 100 takes to get her pronunciation right. Nargis, however, refutes the reports. “I think 100 is an exaggerated figure but I did take a lot of takes. First of all, I’m not a trained singer. Secondly, I don’t know Punjabi. So I took a chance and it was great,” she says. “But now that I’ve tried this, it has sparked an interest in me. So, maybe I’ll take some singing lessons soon,” she adds.
Filmmaker Sabbir Khan (above), who launched actor Tiger Shroff (right) in the film Heropanti (2014), is elated and proud that he was able to spot the star potential in actor Jackie Shroff ’s son before anyone else. “I had just finished writing a script, when I saw Tiger at an event. At that point, he had just started to get a feel of how the movie industry works. But I was sure that I had found the hero for my next film. Nobody had to tell me that I have to launch this star kid, it was my call,” says Sabbir, who also directed Tiger in his second film Baaghi (2016). Now, the filmmaker is working with the 27-year old actor for the third time in Munna Michael. Sabbir says he remained unperturbed when people made fun of Tiger’s looks during his initial days in Bollywood. “Just like when you enter a new school or college, everybody tends to ignore you or make fun of you. But if you are good enough, the whole thing just dies down. The same happened with Tiger. Everyone made fun of his looks and name, but since he has become an actor to reckon with, those people who criticised him, have now become his fans,” says Sabbir. The director says there’s one thing, which only people close to Tiger know about him. “He is always tagged as a ‘good-boy’, which he is, but once he gets comfortable, you are in for a great time. He has a wicked sense of humour and can really crack you up!” adds Sabbir.