"Dilbar" is a Bollywood song, originally released as part of the soundtrack for the 1999 Indian film ''

Sirf Tum ''Sirf Tum'' () is a 1999 Indian Hindi romance film directed by Agathian. It was released on 4 June 1999. The film features Sanjay Kapoor, Priya Gill, Sushmita Sen, Jackie Shroff and Mohnish Behl. The movie was filmed in Nainital, Kerala and ...

''. The songs was originally composed by Nadeem-Shravan and sung by

Alka Yagnik Alka, AlkA or ALKA may refer to: People * Alka Ajith (born c. 1997), Indian multilingual playback singer * Alka Amin (active from 2011), Indian television actress * Alka Balram Kshatriya, Indian politician, Member of the Parliament of India repr ...

, with lyrics by

Sameer Samir (variantly spelled Sameer) is a male name found commonly in the Middle East, Central Asia and Europe. In Arabic, Samir () means holy, jovial, loyal or charming. In Albanian, it translates literally as “so good” but the connotation is clo ...

. The song's original music video features

Sushmita Sen Sushmita Sen (born 19 November 1975) is an Indian actress, model and the winner of the Miss Universe 1994 pageant. She is the first Indian to win the Miss Universe pageant. She was previously crowned Femina Miss India 1994 at the age of 18. A ...

and

Sanjay Kapoor Sanjay Surinder Kapoor (born 17 October 1965) is an Indian actor and film producer. He works in Hindi cinema, Indian television and web series. He is a member of the Surinder Kapoor family. Kapoor is the founder and director of Sanjay Kapoor ...

. The ''Sirf Tum''

soundtrack album A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' ...

sold 2.2million units, and was the ninth best-selling

Bollywood music Hindi film songs, more formally known as Hindi Geet or filmi songs and informally known as Bollywood music, are songs featured in Hindi films. Derived from the song-and-dance routines common in Indian films, Bollywood songs, along with danc ...

album of 1999. The song was recreated for the 2018 film ''

Satyameva Jayate Satyameva Jayate (, ) is a part of a ''mantra'' from the Hindu scripture '' Mundaka Upanishad''. Following the independence of India, it was adopted as the national motto of India on 26 January 1950, the day India became a republic. It is inscri ...

'', recomposed by

Tanishk Bagchi Tanishk Bagchi (born 23 November 1980) is an Indian music producer, composer, singer and lyricist in Hindi films. He is known for tracks like "Bolna", "Ve Maahi", "Aankh Maarey"(recreated), " Dilbar" (recreated), "Jehda Nasha" (recreated) and "L ...

with

Middle-Eastern The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (European ...

influences, and sung by

Neha Kakkar Neha Kakkar Singh (; née Kakkar; born 6 June 1988), is an Indian playback singer. She is the younger sister of playback singer Sonu Kakkar. She began performing at a very early age at religious events. In 2005, she participated in the second s ...

Asees Kaur Asees Kaur (born 26 September 1988) is an Indian singer. She has participated in various singing reality shows including ''Indian Idol'' and'' Awaz Punjab Di''. In 2021, her song "Raatan Lambiyan" from '' Shershaah'', with Tanishk Bagchi, becam ...

and

Dhvani Bhanushali Dhvani Bhanushali (born 22 March 1998) is an Indian pop singer. Born in Mumbai, she gained popularity with her single ''Vaaste'' in 2019 which has crossed 1.3 billion views on YouTube, making her the youngest Indian pop star to have the fa ...

. Its music video is an

item number In Indian cinema, an item number or item song is a musical number inserted into a film that may or may not have any relevance to the plot. The term is commonly used within Indian films (Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Kannada, Punjabi, and Be ...

, featuring Bollywood actress/dancer

Nora Fatehi Nora Fatehi (born 6 February 1992) is a Canadian actress, model, dancer, singer, and producer who is predominantly known for her work in the Indian film industry. She has appeared in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam films. She made her debut ...

performing Egyptian

belly dancing Belly dance (Egyptian Arabic: رقص بلدي, translated: Dance of the Country/Folk Dance, romanized: Raks/Raas Baladi) is a dance that originates in Egypt. It features movements of the hips and torso. It has evolved to take many different f ...

. The song later had an

Arabic language Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

version, sung by Nora Fatehi with

Moroccan hip hop Moroccan rap music is a Morocco, Moroccan musical style related to Rap music, rap and hip hop culture. Chronology Moroccan's hip-hop and urban culture history dates back to the mid-1990s, when, after hip-hop's emergence in Western culture, Morocc ...

group Fnaire, released on 30 November 2018.

''Satyameva Jayate'' version

The recreated version of the song was released with the title "Dilbar" in Satyameva Jayate under the banner of T-Series on 3 July 2018. It was written by Shabbir Ahmed and

Ikka Singh Ankit Singh Patyal, better known by his stage names Ikka and Ikka Singh (formerly Young Amli), is an Indian rapper and lyricist. He debuted in Bollywood with the song "In Da Club" for the 2014 film ''Tamanchey Tamanchey () is an Indian Hi ...

, composed by

, choreographed by Adil Shaikh and

and sung by

and

, with rapping by

. Bagchi made use of the

Oud , image=File:oud2.jpg , image_capt=Syrian oud made by Abdo Nahat in 1921 , background= , classification= * String instruments *Necked bowl lutes , hornbostel_sachs=321.321-6 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded with a plectrum , ...

, a fretless

stringed instrument, along with

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

drums to re-envision the classic song for the new film. The music video of this song features Moroccan-Canadian dancer

in an

. The video heavily references

Arabic culture Arab culture is the culture of the Arabs, from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arabian Sea in the east, and from the Mediterranean Sea in the north to the Horn of Africa and the Indian Ocean in the southeast. The various religions the Arab ...

, and the actor

John Abraham John Abraham (born 17 December 1972) is an Indian actor, film producer, writer and former model working in Hindi films. He has won a National Film Award and received five Filmfare nominations. After modelling for advertisements and companies ...

also makes an appearance. In the music video,

performs

, an Arabic dance style that was previously featured in a number of popular Bollywood item numbers, performed by actresses such as

Helen Helen may refer to: People * Helen of Troy, in Greek mythology, the most beautiful woman in the world * Helen (actress) (born 1938), Indian actress * Helen (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) Places * Helen, ...

in "Mehbooba O Mehbooba" from ''

Sholay ''Sholay'' (, ) is a 1975 Indian Hindi-language action-adventure film directed by Ramesh Sippy, produced by his father G. P. Sippy, and written by Salim–Javed. The film is about two criminals, Veeru (Dharmendra) and Jai (Amitabh Bachchan), ...

'' (1975),

Zeenat Aman Zeenat Khan (born 19 November 1951), better known as Zeenat Aman, is an Indian actress and former fashion model. She first received recognition for her modelling work, and at the age of 19, went on to participate in beauty pageants, winning both ...

in "Raqqasa Mera Naam" from ''

The Great Gambler ''The Great Gambler'' is a 1979 Indian crime action film directed by Shakti Samanta. The film stars Amitabh Bachchan, Zeenat Aman, Neetu Singh in lead roles. It was based on the Bengali novel ''Great Gambler'' by Vikramaditya. The film's stor ...

'' (1979),

Mallika Sherawat Reema Lamba (born 24 October 1976), better known as Mallika Sherawat, is an Indian actress who predominantly works in Hindi language films. Known for her bold onscreen attitude in films like ''Khwahish'' (2003) and ''Murder'' (2004), Sherawat ...

in "Mayya Mayya" from ''

Guru Guru ( sa, गुरु, IAST: ''guru;'' Pali'': garu'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: traditionally, the guru is a reverentia ...

'' (2007), and

Rani Mukerji Rani Mukerji (pronounced ; born 21 March 1978) is an Indian actress who works in Hindi films. Noted for her versatility, she is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Rani Mukerji, multiple accolades, including seven Filmf ...

in "Aga Bai" from ''

Aiyyaa ''Aiyyaa'' () is a 2012 Indian Hindi-language parody film starring Rani Mukerji and Prithviraj Sukumaran in the lead roles. It was written and directed by Sachin Kundalkar and jointly produced by Anurag Kashyap and Viacom 18 Motion Pictures. Th ...

'' (2012).

Reception

The remake received 20 million views on the first day of its

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

release. It became the first Indian song to reach number three on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' YouTube Music Chart. The ''Satyameva Jayate'' version of the song has received about 1.2billion views on

, making it one of the most-viewed song on the T-Series YouTube channel. Devansh Sharma from

Firstpost ''Firstpost'' is an Indian online news and media website. The site is a part of the Network 18 media conglomerate owned by Reliance Industries, which also runs CNN-News18 and CNBC-TV18. The ''Network 18'' group was originally owned by Raghav ...

remarked, "The soul of the new track is Neha Kakkar who brings a sensual-yet-never-raunchy appeal through her vocals. Her range allows her to switch from the meditative stanzas to the uninhibited chorus like a chameleon." Shravan Shah from Missmalini said, "The original one was done so well and is so engraved in our hearts that the reprise version just doesn’t match up to it." Nora's belly dancing has received wide praise, but the song has also received some mixed reactions from fans of the original song.

Arabic Dilbar

"Arabic Dilbar" is the

version of this song, featuring a mix of three languages (Arabic, Hindi, and French), was released on 30 November 2018 under the banner of T-Series. Nora Fatehi made her debut as a singer in this song, as a collaboration with

group . The song was composed by Mohcine Tizaf, with lyrics by Khalifa Mennani and Achraf Aarab, and the performance in the video for the release was choreographed by Caeser Gonsalves. Whereas the ''Satyameva Jayate'' music video heavily referenced Arabic culture, the music video for the Arabic version instead heavily references

Indian culture Indian culture is the heritage of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, belief systems, political systems, artifacts and technologies that originated in or are associated with the ethno-linguistically diverse India. The term al ...

. In contrast to the Arabic belly dancing in the ''Satyameva Jayate'' video, Nora Fatehi and Fnaire instead perform standard Bollywood dance routines in the Arabic version.

Reception

According to ''

Zee News Zee News is an Indian Hindi-language news channel owned by Subhash Chandra's Essel Group. It launched on 27 August 1999 and is the flagship channel of the Zee Media Corporation. The channel has been involved in several controversies and has ...

'', "The song easily crossed 100 million views on YouTube within days of its release and no sooner was the social media flooded with several mashups and dance videos." Srishti Kapoor of Mumbai Mirror said, "Her debut song as a pop artist in the Middle East and North Africa, just like the original, will make one want to dance. What makes it unique though, is the use of Moroccan instruments."

References

{{authority control 1999 songs 2018 songs Alka Yagnik songs Arabic-language songs French-language songs Hindi film songs Hindi-language songs Moroccan songs Macaronic songs Neha Kakkar songs Dhvani Bhanushali songs Pop-folk songs Songs written for films