Apr 05, 2026 11:52am IST
‘Sajan Re’ Music Video Review: This Badshah-Nora Fatehi Drop Makes You Bop And Pop And Makes You Stop Thinking Of Their Last ‘Flop’
The first thing that strikes you is how sanitised Badshah and Nora Fatehi’s “Sajan Re” feels at first glance and listen. Nothing screams whitewashing as loudly as setting the music video for your next in a Mumbai slum, hanging loose with kids of all ages, even as the world bays for your blood or at least, writes that it is, anonymously for an obviously ill-timed and probably unnecessary line or an ill-informed who’s buying this explanation one in songs that could’ve been better worded, really.
It takes Sanjoy Deb’s beats to distract you from the obvious noise around the vocalists of this foot-tapping number that will have you bopping in no time. The Bangladeshi-American DJ, composer, and electronic music producer known for hits like “Tu,” “Qatal,” “Oh Mama! TETEMA” and more, creates a high-energy track with a stickiness not seen since Badshah and Simiran Kaur Dhadli’s “Kokaina.”
“Sajan Re” screams ‘Song of Summer’ more as a statement of intent than an imploration. It helps that the two vocalists – Nora and Badshah know the words they’re mouthing and repeating aren’t going to raise eyebrows or pitchforks. Lyrically, this is as safe a single as you can hope for without losing the populist vote.
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It would be too early to call it anthemic but it does tick most of the boxes that would give a single like this lasting power. And while Nora has far less experience in singing, she confidently holds her own against the rapper, outdoes him in the moves department and feels far more at ease in her surroundings than Badshah does.
As the bridge heads towards the chorus and that rather catchy refrain which develops into a chant, you can’t help but bop along. Rajit Dev’s choreography gets the job done with Nora doing all the heavy lifting, stylistically speaking.
The music video, directed by Inflict, goes as gully as it gets, even though scenes cut to Nora shaking it like there’s no tomorrow against a rather stoic but sharply street-outfitted Badshah. The visuals do bring strong hints of deja vu and that’s probably intended (tried and tested always works better, no?). The work put in by production designer Ketki Ghuge, art direction led by Nilesh Morya shows. The DOP doubles up as the DI Colorist and that cohesiveness shows and that’s the same with Inflict, who has also edited the visualizer.
The equivalent of your fav frappe, “Sajan Re” looks the part, plays the part, is frothy enough to give you a feeling of contentness while quickly making you realise that you only picked it because it just works. It’s a guilty pleasure that makes you come back for more and think less and less about the cold-brew or Americano that would’ve been better for you.
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