That's right! Masakali, the crown jewel of what many consider to be AR Rahman's best ever Bollywood soundtrack, Delhi-6, has been remade into an unforgivable mess of an abomination.
Titled Masakali 2.0, the new version has been arranged by music composer Tanishk Bagchi, the one who started the new-age remake wave in Bollywood with The Humma Song in OK Jaanu (2016).
Since then, Tanishk has produced around 60 remakes, most of which are popular party numbers, including the likes of Tamma Tamma Again, Coca Cola Tu, Dheeme Dheeme, Dilbar, Ole Ole, and many others such as the Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan gem, Mere Rashke Qamar.
Coincidentally, Tanishk's biggest hit of his career is the Ranveer Singh-starrer Aankh Maarey, which is also a remake and happens to be the most-streamed song in the history of Bollywood.
Almost all his remakes have been hits so far, even though there are many who deplore them. But the Masakali blunder seems to be the final straw for fans, as a majority of them have dissed the track on YouTube, calling it an unwanted mistake and an unnecessary decision by T-Series.
The remake, which has Sidharth Malhotra and Tara Sutaria dancing in an apartment (ala The Humma Song style), features new corny lines by Tanishk himself but is nowhere near the original in terms of musical quality. Tulsi Kumar and Sachet Tandon do try hard to impress, but they fail to match the vocal prowess of Mohit Chauhan.
The original, penned by lyricist Prasoon Joshi and featuring Sonam Kapoor and Abhishek Bachchan, was one of the most critically acclaimed songs of 2009 and was a regular track on radio stations and music channels. It is presently a nostalgic track for the '90s generation that grew up watching the era of New Bollywood, and remains one of Sonam Kapoor's best ever hits as well.
Watch Masakali 2.0 below: