Brahmastra director Ayan Mukerji has dropped the teaser of the dancier version of Kesariya, soon after revealing that the team had to rework the song after filmmaker Karan Johar expressed his strong disapproval of it. In the dance mix version of the romantic track, which Ayan dubbed as ‘dancier and groovier,’ lead stars Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt dance together on the streets of Varanasi surrounded by several background dancers. Also Read| Karan Johar asked Ayan Mukerji ‘what’s wrong with you’ after watching Kesariya
Ayan Mukerji shared the teaser on his Instagram account on Friday, alongside a note about why he decided to release a different version of the song in the film. He wrote, “So…Before Kesariya became the song we all know and love today, it was… this! A dancier groovier version of the song! As you can now see, we even shot it. Then I realised that the film needed a more romantic version of the song, the true version of Kesariya was created, I pleaded and convinced everyone to reshoot it.”
The filmmaker added, “I thought we would never show anyone this earlier version of Kesariya. But now – our film has done really well, the festive season is upon us, and while this version of the song wasn’t right for the film… it’s still great fun and we all love it! So we’re thinking of having some fun, and releasing it this weekend with the video we shot! (Shall we?!!!) Let’s call it Kesariya Dance Mix!”
The teaser started with an aerial shot of Varanasi, and moved closer to show Ranbir Kapoor‘s Shiva following Alia Bhatt’s Isha and hitting her with flowers. Alia dances to the hook line of the song with background dancers while Ranbir looks on. He also joins her and the two groove together while being showered by flower petals. While the romantic version was sung by Arijit Singh, this version features vocals by a female singer.
The team of Brahmastra apparently filmed the romantic version of Kesariya in March, just months ahead of the release of the film. Ayan revealed at a recent event that it was Karan Johar‘s feedback that made him change it. As quoted by Times Now, Karan said about his reaction, “Kesariya was shot in another way. Kesariya was shot with Ranbir dancing quite feverishly. When we saw the song, I said ‘What the hell is going on? What is wrong with you Ayan?’. Why were they dancing? Kesariya was shot differently. Same tune melody but treated differently. It is then that Ayan realised it has to be treated differently.”
Brahmastra Part 1: Shiva, which also stars Amitabh Bachchan, Mouni Roy, and Nagarjuna among others, released in theatres on September 9. It is the first part of a planned trilogy by Ayan. The filmmaker intends to release Brahmastra Part 2: Dev in 2025.