Aanand L. Rai: When we thought of ‘Nakhrewaalii’, the song felt like it belonged here

Mumbai: Anand L. Rai has talked about bringing back Kishore Kumar’s classic “Nakhrewali" from the 1956 Hindi movie “New Delhi” for his upcoming film “Nakhrewaalii”. The filmmaker said that he felt the song belonged here.

Producer Aanand L Rai was keen to bring the classic into the film, finding a special connection between the song and the world of Nakhrewaalii.

Talking about this Rai said in a statement: “Kishore Kumar ji’s voice has a beauty that is truly eternal. There is so much warmth, mischief and charm in this song, and it has stayed with us across generations.”

“When we thought of Nakhrewaalii, the song felt like it belonged here. It brings back nostalgia, but there is also something incredibly timeless about it and I am sure the younger generation will cherish this version as much as we have loved the older one.”

For the film, the classic song has been reimagined with vocals by Priyankit Jaiswal alongside archival vocals by late Kishore Kumar. This new track has lyrics written by Vayu and the music has been created by Vayu and Vaibhav Pani alongside the archival composition by Shankar-Jaikishan.

The original song was written by Inder Raj Anand and Radha Kishan. It’s music by Shankar Jaikishan. The film 1956 “New Delhi” was directed by Mohan Segal.

The film starred Vyjayanthimala and Kishore Kumar in the lead, with Jabeen Jalil, Nana Palsikar, Nazir Hussain, Prabhu Dayal, Dhumal, Brahm Bhardwaj, Radhakrishan, Mumtaz Begum, Mirza Musharraf and Shivraj as the ensemble cast.

The story is about the Punjabi boy Anand and the Tamil girl Janaki who fall in love with each other, but are unfortunately separated by their families.

Directed by Rahul Shanklya, Nakhrewaalii features newcomers Ansh Duggal and Pragati Srivastava as its lead pair. Produced by Jio Studios and Colour Yellow, Nakhrewaalii releases in cinemas on 30 October 2026.

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