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Shah Rukh Khan thanks Ed Sheeran for King song Tu Mil Jaaye; singer reveals how their Mannat meeting for Sapphire music video led to Bollywood collab
The idea finally took shape during Ed Sheeran's last visit to India. He had dropped by Mannat to film a cameo for Sapphire, his 2025 song with Arijit Singh.
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British popstar Ed Sheeran's first Bollywood song happened almost by chance, thanks to a meeting at Shah Rukh Khan's home in Mumbai. The singer has now shared how a visit to Mannat to shoot a cameo for his music video eventually brought him together with composers Sachin-Jigar and led to Tu Mil Jaaye, his first song for a Hindi film, which also stars Deepika Padukone. The track, which also features Arijit Singh, is part of SRK's upcoming film King.
Ed Sheeran reveals how the collaboration came to be
Ed shared the story on Instagram along with a video of himself recording his vocals for the song. He also spoke about how his friendship with Shah Rukh grew over the years and recalled the actor's wish to have him sing for one of his films. “When I first met Shah Rukh, he said I must make a song to be in his next movie and also be my first Bollywood song,” he shared. “We've got to know each other over the years and I love him.”
The idea finally took shape during Ed's last visit to India. He had dropped by Mannat to film a cameo for Sapphire, his 2025 song with Arijit Singh. Shah Rukh introduced him to Sachin-Jigar during the visit, and things moved quickly from there. Sheeran revealed that he wrote and recorded his portion of Tu Mil Jaaye that very night. “Last time I was in India I went to his house to get him to shoot a cameo in the Sapphire music video for me and @arijitsingh,” he wrote. “He introduced me to @sachinjigar that day and I wrote and recorded my verse for Tu Mil Jaaye for his movie King that night.”
The singer was equally happy about having Arijit Singh on the track, especially since the two had already worked together on Sapphire. “I love that Arijit is singing on it with me too, all my favourite people on one project. King is out December 24th and Tu Mil Jaaye is out everywhere now x,” he concluded.
Shah Rukh also shared Ed's video on his Instagram Stories and thanked him for being part of the film. The actor gave a special mention to the Hindi portions of the song, writing, “Can't thank u enough my friend for doing the song, especially the Hindi bits. Love u @teddyphotos.”
Tu Mil Jaaye sets a new YouTube record
Tu Mil Jaaye was released on November 2, coinciding with Shah Rukh's 61st birthday. Featuring Ed and Arijit, the song also includes an English rap by the British singer. It quickly caught viewers' attention, crossing 60 million views across platforms within its first 24 hours.
The song registered 36.3 million views and more than 430,000 likes on YouTube in a single day. With that, it became the most-watched song from an Indian film on the platform in 24 hours. It also overtook Jawan's Zinda Banda, which had previously held the record with 34.6 million views.
Several other popular film songs were also left behind. These include Gujju Pataka from Satyaprem Ki Katha, which had 34 million views, Jai Shri Ram (32.2 million) and Ram Siya Ram (32.1 million) from Adipurush, and Sikandar Naache from Sikandar, which had collected 31.9 million views.
Shah Rukh Khan's King gears up for a Christmas release
King brings him back in a different avatar, with a sizeable cast including Suhana Khan, Abhishek Bachchan, Jackie Shroff, Arshad Warsi and Raghav Juyal, among others. Rani Mukerji, Deepika Padukone and Kareena Kapoor Khan are also set to make special appearances.
Directed by Siddharth Anand, King is an action entertainer produced by Red Chillies Entertainment and Marflix Pictures. The film is set to release in theatres on December 24, 2026.
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