"Zaalima" () is an Indian

Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

song from the Bollywood film '' Raees''. The song is written by

Amitabh Bhattacharya Amitabh Bhattacharya (born 16 November 1976) is an Indian lyricist and playback singer who works in Bollywood films. He shot to fame with the film ''Dev.D'' with the song "Emotional Atyachar" turning an instant hit. He sang this song under the ...

, composed by

JAM8 JAM8 is a founded by Indian music composer/director Pritam. The platform provides facilities up and coming musicians. Pritam and his team supervise the young talent and some artists become part of Pritam's musical projects. History On 9 April 2 ...

and sung by Arijit Singh and

Harshdeep Kaur Harshdeep Kaur (born 16 December 1986) is an Indian playback singer known for her Bollywood Hindi, Punjabi,English and Sufi songs. She is popularly known as "Sufi Ki Sultana" because of her soulful Sufi renditions. After winning titles in two ...

. The music video of the song is picturised upon actors Shah Rukh Khan and

Mahira Khan Mahira Hafeez Khan (; born 21 December 1984) is a Pakistani actress. She started her career as a VJ in 2006. Khan is best known for portraying the role of Khirad Hussain in the romantic-drama ''Humsafar'' for which she received numerous acco ...

. The song was choreographed by Bosco-Caesar.

Background

Actor Shah Rukh Khan shared multiple teasers of the song "Zaalima" on

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along with some

lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a " libretto" and their writer, ...

before the full release of the song. The female singer of the song

informed to the Indian media in an interview, that the female pitch of the song had to be sounded different than the male pitch in the song. She further said, when I heard 'Zaalima' for the first time, I knew this song would be a hit. It's a very catchy song and has a big recall value. For the first time ever we have heard the word 'Zaalima' in a romantic song.

Release

Upon its release within three days the song garnered over 20 million views. As of October 2021, the song has more than 283 million views on

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official video, which makes it one of the most-streamed

Bollywood songs 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 dance ...

on the platform.

Critical reception

Bollywood Hungama's Joginder Tuteja in the review of the song Zaalima wrote, "

's lyrics carry a mature flavour to them and the moment Arijit Singh starts rendering these words, 'Zaalima' goes to a different level altogether. Moreover,

's voice is an added asset to this wonderful song that has in it to find running on a repeat mode after it has been heard once".

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 se ...

in its review of the song wrote "JAM8's 'Zaalima', showcases Shah Rukh Khan at his romantic best. The melody is striking, and Arijit Singh and Harshdeep Kaur stand out in the number, which gives the word zaalima (oppressor) a poetic twist".

Personnel

The song credits mentioned in the official music video's description of the song Zaalima on YouTube are, *

– music *

– lyrics * Arijit Singh and

– vocals * Dj Phukan, Sunny M.R – sound designers * Sourav Roy, Dj Phukan, Sunny M.R. Rohan Chauhan, Arijit Singh – programmers * Shadab Rayeen – Mixing and Mastering Engineer * Abhishek Sortey – Assistant * Ashwin Kulkarni – Shoot mix * Ashwin Kulkarni, Himanshu Shirlekar, Aaroh Velankar, Kaushik Das – recording engineers *Akashdeep Sengupta, Kaushik Da, Tushar Joshi – vocal conductor. *Firoz Shaikh – harmonium *Alan Hertz – drums * Ernest Tibbs – bass * Iqbal Azad – duff * Pawan Rasaily and Arijit Singh – acoustic guitars * Pawan Rasaily – electric guitars.

Accolades

References

{{Arijit Singh 2017 songs Songs written for films Hindi film songs Songs with lyrics by Amitabh Bhattacharya Arijit Singh songs