Watch: Baaghi 2 song 'Ek Do Teen' is a musical tribute to Madhuri Dixit, but falls flat visually

As soon as it was reported that Jacqueline Fernandez is going to feature in a revamped version of Madhuri Dixit’s popular dance number — ‘Ek Do Teen’ from the 1988 film Tezaab — it became a huge topic of discussion, owing to the iconic stature the dance number commands in Bollywood. The wait is finally over and the new song is out. While the Baaghi 2 song (musically) is a tribute to the original track, but visually it remains far from it.

Fernandez also said that they never intended to compete with the original song and that Dixit was ‘unmatchable’ — the revamped version underlines her statement. Indeed, it is no match to the Tezaab track.

The new song retains the catch phrase, the same musical set up and makes you tap your feet. Shreya Ghoshal matches to the spark of Alka Yagnik’s vocal texture. There are moments when if you close your eyes and listen to the track you might actually get transported to the ’90s. But the moment you open your eyes, there’s a reality check waiting for you.

So what’s wrong with the track? Jacqueline looks pretty and expressive, and does seem like she’s paying a homage to Dixit (her dress also bears resemblance to Madhuri’s pink-yellow outfit). But the choreography is distasteful, regressive and cringe-worthy.

This is even more shocking because it was reported that three choreographers — Baaghi 2 director Ahmed Khan, Ganesh Acharya and veteran Saroj Khan — had collaborated for this song. Saroj Khan had even choreographed the original song. In spite of this deadly combination of dancing maestros, how could something like this be passed?

There is a part in the song where a few men take Jacqueline’s jacket off to unveil her dress while she unzips it. While Madhuri’s dance was more about her claiming her space and dancing her heart out, this revamped version seems to only want to succumb to the male gaze.

Watch the song here: