If you’ve been finding yourself singing along to Tauba Tauba, from the movie Bad Newz, and attempting to do the now famous hook step, don’t worry, you aren’t the only one.
We wonder if Bollywood star Vicky Kaushal knew it would become such a hit when he first took to the dance floor in an attempt to do the Indian equivalent of the late Michael Jackson’s moonwalk. It certainly took him some training – and help from his star wife, Katrina Kaif, to perfect his moves. He was quoted as saying to Pinkvilla, that she comments on videos of his rehearsal, giving him constructive feedback. He reportedly said: “Humne bas visarjan mein dance kiya hai (I have only danced on the occasion of visarjan). I am not a trained dancer.” He added that he was happy that she approved of his moves. He said: “That approval is like an Oscar.”
Clearly, she’s not the only one who thinks so. Today, you can’t get onto TikTok or Insta reels without seeing the original video, memes of it and fellow dancers copying the steps. So we reached out to fans of the dance, to ask them what about Tauba Tauba appeals to them. Here’s what they had to say:
Nidhi Kumar, a content creator who shares her choreographed pieces on #NKDCinematicUniverse, says one of the chief reasons is the popularity of Kaushal himself. “The number one reason that people may not even realise is everybody loves Vicky Kaushal as an actor; he has given some amazing hits and he’s proved that he is a fantastic actor. One of the best [the] generation has currently [in fact], but nobody ever saw him dancing this way. So everybody went into a spiral when they saw it.”
Dubai-based Pooja Mishra affirms Kaushal’s draw: “I personally like Vicky Kaushal and I feel he has a huge fan following,” she says.
The second reason for the reel’s popularity, suggests Kumar, is the choreography. “The choreography is done by the legends Bosco Caesar.” The star duo behind Bollywood hits such as Kala Chashma, Bang Bang and Jhoome Jo Pathaan.
Kumar, who has a dance studio, has made her own cover of the song – which has since gone viral. “When Tauba Tauba came out, I really wanted a crazy location, crazy team of videographers and all of that … And in Dubai, it’s a little hard to find locations like these. Haveli Dubai have a beautiful location and they let us shoot there. Overnight. We made this video happen. The dancers in my video are from my studio; they’re my instructors and my students. We absolutely killed it. The song went viral within a day. We had 2000 comments within 24 hours on our cover.”
Another reason the single is so popular, she adds is: “Karan Aujla is the one that’s sung the song and he is a massive Punjabi singer. This collab is one everybody has been waiting on for years.”
Sharjah-based twins Sujith Sasidharan and Sunith Sasidharan, who own the Instagram handle @Desi2wins, tell City Times that Kaushal tends to infuse whatever he does with his own “special charm and style”, which is what makes it so captivating. They made their own video of the song, “because it was fun to do”. “The dance seemed easy at first, so we decided to give it try since it was also a different style from our usual dances. But then, it took us a couple of days to practice the hook step and several takes to get the final video that we were happy with. Overall, it was fun to do,” they explain.
Emirati content creator Ahmad Al Marzooqi applauds Kaushal’s dancing, saying: “The song is going viral because of Vicky Kaushal’s performance and dance! It made the video even more watchable. His footwork is absolutely incredible.”
For Dubai-based thespian Asad Raza Khan, there’s more to the song’s popularity than fancy footwork. “Punjabi music is trending right now all across the globe,” he explains, pointing to the recent sensation created when Punjabi actor-singer Diljit Dosanjh took to the stage during Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show.
The fact that Kaushal is a ‘relatable Punjabi boy’ moving to Punjabi music only deepens his connect to the piece.
Besides, says Khan, “There [has been] this dearth of good music coming out of Bollywood for the last maybe six to 12 months, and then suddenly, this Punjabi song with a guy who’s completely relatable, who’s the talk of the town [comes out], and he nailed it with his steps, his look. He’s the new heartthrob of India and so is the actor Tripti [Dimri], of Animal fame. She was also in the news and they had dropped the Bad Newz trailer. So that was also [a cause of] traction.”
Are you a fan of Kaushal? Check him (and his moves) out in Bad Newz, out in the UAE on July 19.