Nov 03, 2026 6:30am IST
‘King’ Song ‘Tu Mil Jaaye’: Shah Rukh Khan Wanted To Rehearse Till He Got It Right, Reveal Choreographers Piyush-Shazia (EXCLUSIVE)
The “Tu Mil Jaaye” track from “King,” featuring Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone, has dropped, and for choreographer duo Piyush Bhagat and Shazia Samji, it’s the biggest project of their careers. The pair has previously worked with director Siddharth Anand in Fighter (2024).
In this exclusive conversation with Variety India, Piyush and Shazia open up about the “surreal” moment when they landed the gig, working closely with the King of Romance, pushing SRK to lip-sync an Ed Sheeran rap, and why Shah Rukh Khan’s relentless work ethic left them speechless.
Recalling the moment when director Anand reached out to them to say, “You’re choreographing SRK and Deepika,” Piyush says, “We’ve had a prior association with Sidharth Anand, and perhaps he saw something in us — a different approach. He is the reason we got this song. Actually, we got the offer to choreograph this song one year back!”
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Explaining the thought behind the hook step for “Tu Mil Jaaye”, Shazia says, “It was a challenge conceptualizing and choreographing this song as it’s not an out-and-out dance number. It’s a mood, a vibe song. So, the choreography also had to be in that zone. Plus, we didn’t want to keep the treatment as that of a typical romantic song. We wanted to blend romance and the intensity of SRK’s character in the film. Also, while working with legends like SRK and Deepika Padukone, our main focus was to give them steps that match the vibe of the song and not go overboard with too many movements. In the end, the actors made the steps look effortless.”
“We designed the hook step’s body language with SRK in mind,” adds Piyush. “‘Tu Mil Jaaye’ is a romantic track, and since SRK is the king of romance, who better to bring those moves to life?”
About the unique collaboration between Arijit Singh, Sachin–Jigar, and an English rap section by Ed Sheeran, Piyush says, “It’s the biggest collab. The pressure was on us to mount this song in a very specific way. Sidharth gave us full liberty and space to work around the flow of the song, visuals, transitions from the romantic scenes into action, which has made the song very different from every song. Having SRK lip-sync Ed Sheeran’s part was always in the plan, but we pushed him to do it. SRK, of course, nailed the sync as always.”
Shazia reveals that the song was shot in Cape Town, South Africa, “It was a challenging shoot as the weather was rough. It was shot in harsh winter and the wind was strong. But the actors and the dancers gave us energy and support.”
The duo describes “Tu Mil Jaaye” as the biggest song of their career so far. “Not everyone gets to work with SRK so early in their careers, but maybe our work is different from other choreographers, and so we got this massive opportunity. The most challenging part was the responsibility to make them look the coolest they have ever been. And hats off to SRK for understanding our young approach. He was open to trying out new things, open to our new ideas of how we wanted to shoot the song, of how we were thinking of the visuals for a new SRK experience.”
Recalling their first meeting with Shah Rukh Khan, the pair states, “We went for his first rehearsal for his first “King” song in his gym. And he said, “Jab tak main achha nahi karu, please mujhe rehearsal karvate rehna” (Please make me rehearse till I get the steps right). He works very hard and makes everyone around him feel special.”
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