Singer Abdulfettah Grini makes his Bollywood debut this week — he sings the Arabic version Jabra in Shah Rukh Khan’s thriller Fan — and will never forget his first meeting with the actor last month.
The two were scheduled to appear on stage for a Bollywood awards ceremony in Dubai last month and were at the rehearsals together.
“I was in shock when I first saw him, but he made it look as if it was not a big deal. He thanked me for doing the Arabic version and asked if I had learned the dance moves for it yet,” said Grini in an interview with tabloid!. The song celebrates the love that fans have for their idols and the Arabic version has remained faithful to the original lyrics.
“When I said no, he said: ‘come, let’s do it’. Shah Rukh was my choreographer. I couldn’t believe it. He was so humble and nice about it all,” he said.
The Moroccan singer, who grew up on Khan films such as Darr, Devdas and Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, calls it one of the “golden moments” in his life.
“It was a dream ... My first Bollywood film that I watched was his film Darr and after that I started to learn everything about this man ... I love Bollywood, their movies, choreography ... everything,” said Grini, breaking into the hit song Jaadu Teri Nazar from Darr, to underline his adoration for the actor.
“I was hoping to sing a Bollywood song sometime in my career, but I never thought that I would sing for Shah Rukh Khan in my first attempt,” said Grini.