"Chaiyya Chaiyya" (Hindi: ैंय्या चैंय्या, Urdu: چیّا چیّا, "[walk] in the shadow") is the first song in the famous Hindi film Dil Se directed by Mani Ratnam. The song was composed by film composer A. R. Rahman. It became popular quickly upon release and its music video gained the same status, partly because it was filmed on a moving train. The song was called Thaiyya Thaiyya in the Tamil version of the film. In 2003, BBC World Service conducted an international poll to choose ten most famous songs of all time. Around 7000 songs were selected from all over the world. According to BBC, people from 155 countries/island voted. Chaiyya Chaiyya was nine in top 10 songs.
About the song
"Chaiyya Chaiyya" not only reached the charts in India, but also became popular in England. The song is sung by Sukhwinder Sing and Sapna Awasthi with lyrics by Gulzar. It is also featured in the opening of the second act of the musical Bombay Dreams, in which the train sequence from Dil Se is recreated on stage. Remixes of the song were used in the opening and closing credits of the 2006 film, Inside Man, directed by Spike Lee and produced by Brian Grazer. The opening credits have the original version by A.R. Rahman with additional trumpet accompaniment and the closing credits feature a hip-hop-inflected remix featuring Punjabi MC (Chaiyya Chaiyya Bollywood Joint). The song was also featured in the pilot episode of the television show Smith. A cover of this song was performed in episode 5 of season 5 of CSI Miami. And also was featured in the movie 'Inside Man'
The video was filmed on top of the Ooty train in mountainous southern India while actor Shahrukh Khan dances with model/ actress Malaika Arora and other dancers. The cinematography of the film was handled by Santosh Sivan.
The choreography by Farah Khan is considered among the most difficult ever done; a few dancers sustained minor injuries.
Lyrics
Composer A R Rahman has declared that "Chaiyya Chaiyya" is "a Sufi song". Its lyrics are notable for their use of religious (especially Islamic) metaphors to characterize love, including references to heaven, the Shahadh (Muslim declaration of faith), and a verse from the Quran.
