Raveena Tandon Opens Up About Rejecting Chaiyya Chaiyya, Says ‘I Started Getting Offered Only…’

Chaiyya Chaiyya song featuring Malaika Arora and Shah Rukh Khan continues to remain among the favourites among Bollywood lovers. While Shah Rukh and Malaika gave us some iconic steps that are often recreated, even by Ranbir Kapoor, did you know Malaika wasn’t the first choice for the dance number? It is revealed that Raveen Tandon was offered the Dil Se song but she rejected it. During an interaction with an entertainment portal, the Padma Shri recipient revealed her reasons to turn down the Shah Rukh Khan song.

Mohra actress told Bollywood Bubble that she was offered Chaiyya Chaiyya song just after Sheher Ki Ladki. “In those days it was very easy to get stereotyped. For example, how many people would know that I left a song like ‘Chaiyya Chaiyya’ because I had just done ‘Sheher Ki Ladki’ and after that, I started getting offered only item songs,” the actress said.

It became a norm that if Raveena is present, there will be a superhit song, said the Shool actress. “And which I am very grateful for because till date, people also know me for my superhit songs, all of them are getting remixes, they are getting a new life, it’s all working out very well,” she added.

Well, not many know that the superhit song was also offered to Shilpa Shetty. In 2019, Farah Khan spoke about this at the International Film Festival Of India (IFFI) in Goa and said, “We had approached Shilpa (Shetty) to Raveena (Tandon), a lot of actors but no one did it. Malaika did the song and became a star after that.”

Dil Se was written and directed by Mani Ratnam. Set against the backdrop of Insurgency in Assam, the film starred Shah Rukh Khan and Manisha Koirala. Preity Zinta made her acting debut in a supporting role in the film.

Meanwhile, on the work front for Raveena, she will be next seen in the romantic comedy film titled Ghudchadi. The film also stars Sanjay Dutt, Parth Samthan and Khushali Kumar.