The makers of Siddharth Anand’s upcoming action thriller King dropped the first song from the film, “Tu Mil Jaaye”, on Monday to celebrate the 61st birthday of its lead actor, Shah Rukh Khan. The romantic dance song, shot in South Africa, features Khan alongside longtime co-star Deepika Padukone. Composed by Sachin-Jigar and written by Kumaar, it’s choreographed by Piyush-Shazia.Piyush-Shazia are relatively new in the film business, having designed dance sequences for Roohi (2021), Bhediya (2022), and Liger (2022). They also choreographed the song “Heer Aasmani” from Siddharth Anand’s previous directorial, 2024 aerial action entertainer Fighter, starring Hrithik Roshan and Deepika Padukone.The choreographer duo reunited with Deepika for “Tu Mil Jaaye”, but it also marked their maiden collaboration with Shah Rukh. “Not everyone gets to work with SRK so early in their careers, but maybe our work is different from other choreographers, and so we got this massive opportunity,” they told Variety India.Piyush-Shazia said Siddharth Anand probably saw a “different approach” in them, which is why he offered them the song a year ago. Shah Rukh also warmed up to the approach of the choreographer duo. “Hats off to SRK for understanding our young approach. He was open to trying out new things, open to our new ideas of how we wanted to shoot the song, and of how we were thinking of the visuals for a new SRK experience,” they said.The ‘new SRK experience’“It was a challenge conceptualizing and choreographing this song as it’s not an out-and-out dance number. It’s a mood, a vibe song. So, the choreography also had to be in that zone,” reasoned Piyush-Shazia. Which is why instead of going overboard with too many movements, they just made the steps look “effortless” with the help of the actors.The choreographer duo also didn’t want to treat “Tu Mil Jaaye” as a typical romantic song, but blend the romance with the “intensity” of Shah Rukh’s titular character. That’s why he’s seen blowing the heads of a man kept tied up in the hood of his car, smuggling guns under a layer of fish in cartons, and cracking the neck of another man, with these spurts of action peppered all over the track.“Sidharth gave us full liberty and space to work around the flow of the song, visuals, transitions from the romantic scenes into action, which has made the song very different from every song,” they added. Another challenge was shooting it in Cape Town, since the weather was “rough”, the winter was “harsh”, and the wind was “strong”.Story continues below this adThey also said they designed the hook step of “Tu Mil Jaaye” as per Shah Rukh’s style. “We went for his first rehearsal for his first King song in his gym. And he said, ‘Jab tak main achha nahi karu, please mujhe rehearsal karvate rehna’ (Please make me rehearse till I get the steps right). He works very hard and makes everyone around him feel special,” they recalled.Shah Rukh Khan’s iconic collaborations“Tu Mil Jaaye” marks Shah Rukh’s reunion with Deepika after three years. They’ve shared screen space in memorable songs like “Aankhon Mein Teri”, “Dhoom Tana”, and “Main Agar Kahoon” from her 2007 debut film, Farah Khan’s reincarnation saga Om Shanti Om; “Love Mera Hit Hit” from Priyadarshan’s 2009 comedy Billu, “Titli”, “Tera Rastaa Chhodoon Na”, and “Kashmir Main Tu Kanyakumari” from Rohit Shetty’s 2013 action comedy Chennai Express; “Manwa Laage” and “Lovely” from Farah’s 2014 heist comedy Happy New Year; “Besharam Rang” and “Jhoome Jo Pathaan” from Siddharth’s 2023 spy thriller Pathaan. “The most challenging part was the responsibility to make them look the coolest they have ever been,” admitted Piyush-Shazia.Another key collaboration, besides Arijit Singh reuniting with Shah Rukh, was British pop icon Ed Sheeran rapping for Shah Rukh in English for his Bollywood debut. “It’s the biggest collab. The pressure was on us to mount this song in a very specific way,” said Piyush-Shazia, adding, “Having SRK lip-sync Ed Sheeran’s part was always in the plan, but we pushed him to do it. SRK, of course, nailed the sync as always.”Also Read — ‘I want to be a star’: Shah Rukh Khan rejected ‘intellectual films’ early in his careerStory continues below this adCo-produced by Siddharth and wife Mamata Anand’s Marflix Pictures and Shah Rukh and wife Gauri Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment, King is written by Sujoy Ghosh. Also starring Suhana Khan, Abhishek Bachchan, Raghav Juyal, Jaideep Ahlawat, Arshad Warsi, and Abhay Verma among others, it’s slated to release in cinemas this Christmas on December 24.