Meet Rachid Taha, the Algerian music icon behind the sound of this Aamir Khan hit

Remember Aamir Khan and Rani Mukerji’s Mann (1999)? One of its songs, Kaali Nagin Ke Jaisi, has an unexpected musical connection to Algeria. But the more interesting story is the man behind that connection: Rachid Taha, the Algerian-French singer who spent his career smashing musical boundaries.

Who was Rachid Taha, the singer who inspired Aamir Khan’s Kaali Naagin Ke Jaisi?

Born in Algeria in 1958, Taha moved to France with his family while he was young. Growing up between two cultures shaped his music. He absorbed Algerian raï and chaâbi alongside the punk, rock, reggae and electronic sounds that surrounded him in France.

In the early 1980s, he co-founded Carte de Séjour, a band that became known for bringing North African sounds into the French alternative-music scene. Their 1986 version of Douce France, originally a nostalgic song by Charles Trenet, turned the track into something far more pointed, reflecting the experiences of France’s North African immigrant community.

Taha eventually went solo, developing the genre-bending sound that would become his trademark. He could move from traditional Algerian melodies to punk guitars and electronic beats without making the transitions feel forced.

One of his most famous songs was Ya Rayah, originally written and recorded by Algerian chaâbi legend Dahmane El Harrachi. Taha’s 1990s version gave the song a modern, energetic arrangement and introduced it to a new international audience, including inspiring Aamir Khan’s Kaali Naagin Ke Jaisi from Mann. Its themes of departure, homesickness and displacement also resonated with Taha’s own experience of living between Algeria and France.

His catalogue was wonderfully unpredictable. Barra Barra brought together North African rhythms and contemporary production and later appeared in Black Hawk Down. Rock El Casbah reworked The Clash through an Arabic musical lens, while Voilà Voilà tackled immigration and identity with characteristic urgency.

Taha also worked with artistes including Brian Eno, Carlos Santana and Damon Albarn, further cementing his reputation as a musician who treated cultural boundaries as something to play with rather than respect.

Taha died in 2018, aged 59. But his music still feels remarkably modern, restless, cross-cultural and impossible to categorise. His real legacy wasn’t simply a hit song. It was the idea that Algerian music, punk, rock and electronic music could all belong in the same conversation.

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