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Actor-writer Adivi Sesh has revealed the reason for incorporating and acquiring rights for the iconic 90s song, Tu cheez badi hai mast from Mohra, for Dacoit, his bi-lingual actioner. Adivi Sesh has struck a nostalgic chord here as the inclusion is a creative yet deeply personal one for him, rooted as it is in cherished childhood memories.
For Adivi Sesh, Tu cheez badi hai mast was more than just a popular song of its time—it was his favorite track growing up. In fact, the song holds a special place in his life as it was part of the very first dance he ever did on stage during his school days. As a child, Sesh performed a medley of songs at a school event, with this song being one of the highlights, marking his first-ever experience of performing in front of an audience.
When the teaser of Dacoit was being conceptualized, Sesh was clear about wanting to recreate a sense of nostalgia. He consciously chose to acquire the rights to the song legally so it could be used in the film, allowing him to relive a piece of his childhood while sharing it with audiences in a new cinematic context.
Opening up about the emotional significance behind the decision, Adivi Sesh shared, “Some songs stay with you forever, and this is one of those songs for me. Growing up in the 90s, this track was everywhere, and I absolutely loved it. It was actually part of the first dance performance I ever did on a school stage, in a medley of songs, and that moment is still very vivid in my memory.”
Sesh added, “When we were working on the film, I felt an instinctive pull to bring this song in not as a gimmick, but as a feeling. Using it as one the songs in the film was my way of tipping my hat to that younger version of myself who fell in love with music, performance, and the joy of entertaining people. We made sure to acquire the rights properly because it mattered to me that this homage was done the right way.”
It’s a small, personal memory woven into a much larger film, Sesh said adding he hopes audiences feel that sense of nostalgia and energy when they hear it.”
(Interestingly, the music label is Venus, the same label whose Sandesen aate hain has been used in Border 2). The song has been composed by Viju Shah and written by Anand Bakshi. Udit Narayan and Kavita Krishnamurthi Subramaniam have sung the song that was already re-created in Machine (2017) earlier.
With this inclusion, Sesh showcases his ability to merge personal storytelling with cinematic vision, adding an emotional layer that goes beyond the screen.
When the song was out in 1994, Pakistani musician Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan had accused Viju of plagiarizing the tune and the hookline Mast mast from his devotional song. The late Indian composer Khayyam in a scathing interview in The Times of India, had then slammed Nusrat and revealed that the Pakistani artiste had himself lifted the tune from the 1948 Mukesh-Lata Mangeshkar duet, Ab darne ki koi baat nahin Angrezi gora chala gaya composed by Ghulam Haider in Majboor!
Incidentally, Viju Shah, who has done only around 30 films as a song composer, has had three other songs re-created earlier: Aankh maare (Tere Mere Sapne) was re-created in Simmba and Tip tip barsa pani in Sooryavanshi. Very recently, Saat samandar paar was re-created in the film Tu Meri Main Tera Main Tera Tu Meri.
