"Nanga Punga Dost" (English: Naked friend) is a Hindi song from the 2014 Bollywood film, '' PK''. Composed by

Shantanu Moitra Shantanu Moitra (born 22 January 1968) is an Indian score composer, musician and pianist who has composed songs for the Hindi film industry, and is most known for his scores in the films '' Parineeta'' (2005), ''Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi'' (200 ...

, the song is sung by

Shreya Ghoshal Shreya Ghoshal (born 12 March 1984) is an Indian singer and television personality. One of the highest-paid and most well-established playback singers of Indian cinema, she has received four National Film Awards, four Kerala State Film Awar ...

, with lyrics penned by

Swanand Kirkire Swanand Kirkire (Marathi: स्वानंद किरकिरे) (born 29 April 1972) is an Indian lyricist, playback singer, writer, assistant director, actor and dialogue writer, both in television with Marathi and Hindi films. Kirkire wo ...

. The music video of the track features actors

Aamir Khan Mohammed Aamir Hussain Khan (; born 14 March 1965) is an Indian actor, film director and producer who works in Hindi films. Through his career spanning over 30 years, Khan has established himself as one of the most notable actors of Indian ci ...

and

Anushka Sharma Anushka Sharma (; born 1 May 1988) is an Indian actress and former producer who works in Hindi films. She has received several awards, including a Filmfare Award. One of the highest-paid actresses in India as of 2018, she has appeared in '' F ...

Background

The film's director,

Rajkumar Hirani Rajkumar Hirani (born 20 November 1962), also called Raju Hirani, is an Indian filmmaker, director, producer and editor known for his works in Hindi films. He is the recipient of several accolades, including three National Film Awards and eleve ...

, presented the idea of the song to the composer,

. The song was conceptualised well before the first poster of the film, which features Aamir posing

nude Nudity is the state of being in which a human is without clothing. The loss of body hair was one of the physical characteristics that marked the biological evolution of modern humans from their hominin ancestors. Adaptations related to h ...

with a strategically placed vintage

boombox A boombox is a transistorized portable music player featuring one or two cassette tape recorder/players and AM/FM radio, generally with a carrying handle. Beginning in the mid 1980s, a CD player was often included. Sound is delivered through ...

. On 14 November 2014, reports suggested that a song would be released, based on

's naked sequence in the film. Moitra confirmed the news: "Nanga Punga is an amazing, crazy and wild song, crooned by

. It is based on Aamir's nude sequence in the film." Regarding the vocals by Ghoshal in the song, Moitra stated: "Shreya has sung this quirky number beautifully and it shows her prowess as a singer". The crew of the song, Hirani, Moitra, Ghoshal, Kirikire along with Khan, had previously worked in the song "Zoobi Doobi" from ''

3 Idiots ''3 Idiots'' (stylized as ''3 idiots'') is a 2009 Indian Hindi-language coming-of-age comedy-drama film written, edited and directed by Rajkumar Hirani, co-written by Abhijat Joshi and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. Adapted loosely from Cheta ...

'' (2009). The first verse of the song with a different lyrics, was used in the film, in the introductory scene of

, while the original version of the song was used in the

end credits Closing credits or end credits are a list of the cast and crew of a particular motion picture, television program, or video game. Where opening credits appear at the beginning of a work, closing credits appear close to, or at the very end of a ...

. The song begins with a guitar riff and is accompanied by violin in the middle of the song. It also has some orchestral lines with an addition of Indian flavours. The lyrics of the song were penned by

. In an interview, Khan stated that the song does not "come in the bracket of item songs and when I talk about the lyrics by themselves would project bad things. When you listen to the songs while watching the film you will get the real meaning of them".

Release

The music video of the song was officially released on 1 November 2014, through the YouTube channel of T-Series. The music video of the song, was the third song released from the album, after the two singles, "Tharki Chokro" and "Love is Waste of Time". The song was released on 5 November 2014, along with other tracks in the album.

Chart performance

On 14 November 2014, the song debuted at position 81 in iTunes India Chart Top 100. It was ranked at position 20 on 20 December 2014, before jumping to its peak position, 4, on 28 December 2014. On 27 December 2014, the song entered 91.9 Friends FM Bollywood Top 20 at position 17. On 2 January 2015, the song had a direct entry at position 14 in ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...

'' Mirchi Top 20 Chart. The song also made its debut at No. 33 position in the Top 40 Asian Download Charts on 3 January 2015.

Critical reception

The song received mixed response from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

. The use of guitar and violin in the composition of the song, along with vocals by

were appreciated. ''

The Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, the group was split betw ...

'' reviewed the song as "one of the most uniquely composed numbers". They also mentioned the rendition by Ghoshal: "Known for her honeyed voice, the singer has further proved her versatility with this song". ''

Filmfare ''Filmfare'' is an Indian English language, English-language fortnightly magazine published by Worldwide Media. Acknowledged as one of Indian most popular entertainment magazines, it publishes pieces involving news, interviews, photos, videos, r ...

s Devesh Sharma praised the composition of the song and commented: "Sung with just the right amount of mischief by Shreya Ghoshal, the song is the " Behti Hawa Sa Tha Woh" quotient for PK, describing Aamir's mannerisms and antics".

Bollywood Hungama Bollywood Hungama (lit. "Bollywood Madness" in Hindi), previously known as IndiaFM (or IndiaFM.com), is a Bollywood entertainment website, owned by Hungama Digital Media Entertainment, which acquired the website in 2000. The website provides ...

's Rajiv Vijayakar commented: "Exquisitely sung, it is a piquant if outdated composition with good orchestration and a steady infectious beat". Swapnil Raje from

IBNLive Network18 Media & Investments Limited, (formerly SGA Finance and Management Service and Network18 Fincap Limited) commonly referred to as the Network18 Group and sometimes as the Network18–Eenadu Group, is an Indian media conglomerate owned b ...

predicted that the catch phrase "Nanga Punga Dost" might gain a fan-following of its own. Rafat from Glamsham.com described the song as a "very lively and cute song that thrives on its superb rhythm". Surabhi Redkar from

Koimoi Koimoi is a Bollywood entertainment website providing Bollywood news, box-office reports and film reviews. In January 2021, its Alexa ranking in India was 2530. Origin On 23 November 2009, Contest2win.com and Komal Nahta's Faith Entertainment j ...

felt the song may not gain much popularity but it could sound much better in the film's frame since it is more connected to the film's story line. He further stated "The lyrics are extremely cute, that totally give you the friendly feel". Joginder Tuteja from

Rediff.com Rediff.com (stylized as ''rediff.com'') is an Indian news, information, entertainment and shopping web portal. It was founded in 1996. It is headquartered in Mumbai, with offices in Bangalore, New Delhi and New York City. , it had more than 300 e ...

described the song as a situational

nursery rhyme A nursery rhyme is a traditional poem or song for children in Britain and many other countries, but usage of the term dates only from the late 18th/early 19th century. The term Mother Goose rhymes is interchangeable with nursery rhymes. From t ...

and felt the song could get popular with kids due to its picturisation but "as a stand-alone number, it is just about average".

References

{{authority control Hindi songs Hindi film songs Songs written for films 2014 songs Shreya Ghoshal songs Songs with music by Shantanu Moitra Songs with lyrics by Swanand Kirkire