Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani: Did you know Alia Bhatt visited Shah Rukh Khan ahead of the Tum Kya Mile shoot to prep? Vaibhavi Merchant spills the beans

Vaibhavi Merchant has become one of the most beloved choreographers this year. From choreographing the Pathaan song Besharam Rang to now making Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt, and Tota Roy Chowdhury dance to her tunes in Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, the ace choreographer has impressed cinephiles with her incredible dance moves. When Tum Kya Mile, starring Ranveer and Alia, was released, people instantly started comparing it to songs featuring Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol.

During a recent interaction with the Hindustan Times, Vaibhavi spoke about how Karan Johar paid an ode to Yash Chopra with the song. She stated, "Karan has also given a slight tribute to Aditya Chopra in Ho Gaya Hai Tujhko Toh Pyar Sajna (from Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge), where Kajol and Shah Rukh realise they've parted ways but fallen in love. This is a suspension of disbelief. Karan didn't have a doubt about whether it'd work or not. He was driven utterly by conviction."

Talking about making Ranveer lip-sync, the choreographer shared, "The only challenge was to make Ranveer do this. He's not done this lip-sync song except for one with Priyanka Chopra in Gunday. Otherwise, he's never done a love song where he's looking all dreamy and looking at the heroine with dove eyes. I wanted to do an exercise in rehearsals with him."

While talking about Alia, Vaibhavi revealed that she had visited SRK ahead of the shoot. She stated, "Alia had herself gone and visited Shah Rukh for a day to learn this, because she'd never done a song like this either, except a little bit of Ishq Wala Love in her first film. But then how to handle the pallu, handle the sari, see the hero gush at you, maintain your hair, and fight all the wind in a chiffon sari in sub-zero temperatures? We also use the fan to counter the wind and ensure the sari flows in a beautiful way. You're even listening to the song at a faster speed, so to maintain the sanity of your expression, to emote and lip-sync at high speed—for me, that was a challenge. Because these aren't veterans of this kind of music. You've seen Shah Rukh and Kajol do it a hundred times because it was the norm in those days."

On remembering Yash Chopra, Vaibhavi recalled, "When I met Yash ji for the first time for Veer-Zaara, I couldn't believe that I was meeting the man who has shot songs for legendary films like Chandni, Lamhe, Kabhi Kabhie, or Silsila. We were in school or college when we watched these. It was surreal to go to Switzerland with him and do a song with Preity Zinta and Shah Rukh Khan where he's wearing a jacket and she's wearing a chiffon sari and getting wet in the cold of Switzerland. It was the master at play. I'm yet to see anyone shoot the vistas of Switzerland like him. Little did I know that would be my crash course in shooting romantic songs."

Vaibhavi choreographed the Dola Re Dola sequence in the film and also the Dhindora Baje Re song.