Saanson Ki Mala almost wasn't in Mirzapur The Movie, reveal Rasika Dugal, Mohitt Maalik: 'Elevated the scene'| Interview

Rasika Dugal and Mohitt Maalik's track in Mirzapur The Movie features a pivotal scene set to a cover of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's Saanson Ki Mala.

Mirzapur The Movie is set to cross ₹300 crore worldwide this week. It would be an understatement to call it a hit. It has been nothing short of sensational. Among the actors who have shone in the large ensemble are Rasika Dugal and Mohitt Maalik, whose track has touched a chord with the audience, particularly how their romance unfolds and the use of a cover of Saanson Ki Mala Pe in a pivotal scene. As the film rakes in both love and money, the two actors sit down to have a chat with Hindustan Times about the response, the love, and more.

Rasika Dugal and Mohitt Maalik in a still from Mirzapur The Movie.

Spoilers for Mirzapur The Movie ahead!

In the film, Rasika reprises her role as Beena Tripathi, while Mohitt appears as Birju Lohar, a strongman associated with Ravi Kishan’s character but with ties to Beena’s past. They conspire to kill Kaleen bhaiya (Pankaj Tripathi) but are undone, leading to the film’s most talked-about moment where Beena shoots Birju dead in order to save herself from suspicion. Her line: ‘Love hi to hai, lifetime thode hi rahage (It’s just love, won’t last a lifetime)’ has since become an internet sensation. Mohitt says the line had become a rage on the set itself. “On the set, they would joke: ‘Kharab take hi to hai, lifetime thode hi rahega’. It had become a meme on set,” he says with a laugh. Rasika adds, “Yes, the line had stuck on set. So we should have known that it would become big, but we didn’t pay attention. On set, it was being used for a bad scene or any shot. There were so many versions.”

‘Makers toyed with another song’

The film’s mid-credits scene shows a fight between Birju and Kaleen with the former losing the fight. But what has made the scene a favourite among the viewers is how the violent fight is set against the background of the spiritual, romantic song Saanson Ki Mala Pe, sung by Madhur Sharma. Rasika credits the song for elevating the scene. “I had no idea the song was there till the a few days before the screening. I knew there’d be a song, but didn’t know which one. I thought it was a beautiful song for that moment. It said what the characters can’t say. It elevated the scene to a poetic level for me. I couldn’t have thought of a better song. At one point, I thought maybe Varoon would be put there. They toyed with that idea but it didn’t work out.”

She says that when she first heard the film’s version of the popular song, she wanted to reshoot her scene: “It has also been sung very well. At the music launch, when Madhur sang that song, I really wanted to do one more take of that song. Can we please redo this?”

Mohitt also first learnt of the song just days before the screening, when director Gurmeet Singh informed him. “I first saw it at the screening and it was wow,” he says. For Mohitt, the song’s presence in the sequence is very personal. Getting teary-eyed while talking about it, he says, “I am getting emotional because this song has been so close to me. I am a spiritual person. This song has been part of me. So, to be a part of this is a grace for me.”

‘As a Bollywood actor, you want that one song’

For Rasika, getting to be part of the sequence ticked something she wanted to do as an actor working in the Hindi film industry: have her own song. She explains, “Just a month before this, a thought had entered my mind. I was listening to Tu Kisi Rail Si Guzarti Hai, one of my favourite songs.” The song from Masaan was picturised on Vicky Kaushal and Shweta Tripathi, who later worked with Rasika in Mirzapur. The actor adds, “I keep telling Shweta that you are so lucky to have a song that is picturised on you. As an actor working in Hindi cinema, you want that one song that you have been a part of. In my previous work, I have never had that. I felt it would be so good to have that in my life. I didn’t even know if was already being done at that time.”

Mirzapur The Movie also stars Pankaj Tripathi, Ali Fazal, Divyenndu, and Ravi Kishan. The film is running in theatres.