Actress Neha Varma, who played the glamorous and multi-layered character of Swarna in Colors TV’s hit supernatural franchise Naagin 7, is now winning hearts with a completely different avatar.
After wrapping up her stint on ‘Naagin 7′, Neha has also featured in Balaji Telefilms’ YouTube series ‘Pyaar Kii Raahein 2’, where she was seen playing the role of Roma. The actress has now fabulously recreated the iconic cabaret number ‘Yeh Mera Dil’ for the music video by Saregama Music.
The track, which was originally made legendary by Helen and Amitabh Bachchan in the 1978 classic ‘Don’, was later recreated by Kareena Kapoor Khan for Farhan Akhtar’s 2006 action-thriller ‘Don’, starring Shah Rukh Khan. Now, Neha has added her own twist to the evergreen number.
Talking about the challenges of shooting the iconic song, Neha told IWMBuzz.com, “The biggest challenge for me was that we shot a major portion of the song on chroma. When you are on chroma, there is nothing around you; it’s just a green screen, so you have to imagine the entire world in your head. You have to perform, emote, and dance at the same time while visualising the grandeur that will be added later in post-production. It is not easy because your expressions have to match an environment that you cannot actually see.”
She added, “Honestly, I really enjoyed that challenge. What made it easier was that we had a very strong storyline to follow. It wasn’t just random dance shots. My character goes through a journey within the song, so I got to portray so many different emotions – from being vulnerable and innocent to being confident and seductive. That graph helped me stay in character. Dancing while emoting is always tricky, but when you have a story backing you, the steps feel more organic and meaningful.”
Opening up about her inspiration behind the recreation, Neha shared that she is a confessed Bebo fan.
“Both of them are absolute icons and have done complete justice to this song in their own eras, so it was a huge responsibility for me. I definitely studied both versions very closely. I love how Helen ji brings so much grace, elegance and that old-world charm to the song. The way she carries herself is just timeless; you cannot replicate that. But personally, I am a huge Bebo fan. I have always admired Kareena Kapoor Khan, not just as an actress but as a performer. The way she added that oomph, attitude and modern sensuality to the song in ‘Don’ was unforgettable,” she said.
The actress further added that she did not want to merely copy the legends but bring her own energy to the table. “The idea was to take inspiration from them and then bring my own interpretation and my own version of that energy to it, to make it relevant for today’s audience,” she said.
Recalling how she came on board for the song, Neha said, “I was approached by the team with the entire concept and the vision they had for the song. From the very first narration itself, I was quite excited because for them it wasn’t just about recreating the iconic dance steps. They had envisioned it through different backgrounds, different moods, and interesting camera angles to give it a fresh, cinematic feel. There is a narrative that runs parallel to the dance, which makes it more than just a dance number.”
