Choreographer Vaibhavi Merchant has created some iconic Bollywood numbers in her career of 25 years but one of her most popular dance numbers of all time is Bunty Aur Babli's 'Kajra Re' that had Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai dancing to her steps. The song is now considered one of the most famous songs of the decade but at the time, Vaibhavi asked lyric writer Gulzar if he could simplify the lyrics of the song. The lyrics of 'Kajra Re' are celebrated as one of Gulzar's most popular contemporary works. In a chat with ABP News, Vaibhavi recalled that at the time of the song's recording, which was composed by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy and sung by Shankar Mahadevan, Javed Ali and Alisha Chinai, she found the lyrics to be quite difficult. Since she had to choreograph the song, she thought of asking Gulzar if he could "simplify" the lyrics. "When we were recording that song, I remember I made the mistake of going up to him and asking him if he could simplify a line. Because I was thinking how I would choreograph it," she said. Vaibhavi said that the director of the film Shaad Ali was also there and she discussed this with him first. Calling Shaad a "brat", Vaibhavi said that he suggested that she should speak to Gulzar directly. She recalled that Gulzar was "so polite" with her but when she asked him to "simplify" the line, he refused plainly. "He just looked at me and said 'Yeh badal nahi sakta' (This cannot change)," she recalled. Talking about shooting the video of the song, which appears at a crucial point in the film, Vaibhavi said that the challenge here was to "justify all the three talents." Vaibhavi said that back in the early 2000s when the film came out, "we were on that precipice that people don't just listen to songs anymore, they also watch it" so they had to make sure that the music video was top notch. She also spoke about how she knew the importance of Abhishek and Amitabh coming together for the dance number. "That moment in the film is very iconic because that's the father-son duo. Of course, they are not father-son in the film, with Aishwarya playing the part," adding that "everything just fell into place." Vaibhavi recalled that Amitabh created an "atmosphere of simplicity" on set and was always very "encouraging." She recalled that he even complimented the dancers' costumes and liked how everything was looking. Bunty Aur Babli was the first film where Abhishek and Amitabh shared screen space. Three years later, Abhishek married Aishwarya.
