After her fatal cardiac arrest on June 27, the obituaries called Shefali Jariwala the “Kaanta laga” girl. In a career largely marked with appearances on reality shows like Nach Baliye and Bigg Boss, it was only the music video of 2002 that served as her identity card.

Strange how these labels stick, considering the original Kaanta laga girl is Asha Parekh. Kaanta laga was an enormously popular chartbuster in Samadhi (1972), and Shefali featured in its saucy remix 30 years later. But sometimes remixes top the charts, requiring a reminder that the original artiste was someone else.

When Kangana Ranaut came to be associated with Hungama ho gaya after her energetic jig in Queen (2013), Bindu was at a party where guests were dancing to the number. The screen vamp and cabaret dancer of the 70s and 80s had reminded me then that she was the original Hungama ho gaya dancer. “That was my song and dance in Anhonee way back in 1973,” said Bindu.

Katrina Kaif had danced to a remix of Tip tip barsa paani with Akshay Kumar in Sooryavanshi (2021), repeating the moves with Salman Khan in Bigg Boss and with Kartik Aaryan at an awards function. It is to Akshay’s credit that he had featured in the original Tip tip… too with Raveena Tandon in Mohra (1994). Raveena didn’t mind Katrina getting the spotlight for a number she had popularised 27 years ago. “On the contrary,” said Raveena. “When a song is remixed and put out, it gets another lease of life. Songs outlast scenes and dialogues.”

However, Asha Parekh was not pleased when Kaanta laga was remixed; she hadn’t liked what had been done to the sparkling Samadhi number. Incidentally, the original and the remix met once when Asha Parekh was invited to the dance show Nach Baliye where Shefali was a participant. “She was a sweet and simple girl,” recalled Ms Parekh. But nobody on the show spotlighted their Kaanta laga connection.

The unfortunate death of 42-year-old Shefali has once again swung the discussion to disastrous obsessions with looking youthful. On the table are Shefali’s anti-ageing measures and the steroids the gym-fanatic Sidharth Shukla — an actor who Shefali had briefly dated — took, and who also succumbed to heart attack at the age of 40. Sridevi’s compulsive need to look slim too came with an early expiry date.

When I recently asked an A-list actor why he did a gutka ad, he shrugged, saying that if it was harmful, the government should ban it. It’s a weak defence. When the Bachchans and Akshay Kumar have sworn off such endorsements, their colleagues should also start taking social responsibility more seriously.

Incidentally, the courts have always ruled that Dream 11 — endorsed by Aamir Khan, Ranbir Kapoor, Rohit Sharma, etc. — is not a gambling app. So those carping about Aamir may relax and accept that he does use his reach to emit the right messages. In recent times, his Sitaare Zameen Par is the one film where the conversation is more on its content than on the commercials around it.

Meanwhile, Nitesh Tiwari, who directed the humorous Dream 11 campaign, has upped his game from small, successful films like Bhootnath Returns (2014) and substantial blockbusters like Dangal (2016) to a spectacular Ramayana. With Ranbir Kapoor as Rama, Sunny Deol as Hanuman and south actors Sai Pallavi and Yash as Sita and Ravana, the 3D introductory teaser promises to take Indian cinema to the world stage. “That is our endeavour,” affirmed Nitesh, the skilled storyteller. But the two-part Ramayana that begins with a Diwali release in 2026, is also a technical extravaganza where the zeroes in its making cost cannot be counted. Nitesh isn’t even looking at a figure. “It puts undue pressure on the director,” he reasoned.

Another instance where content will hopefully score over the commercials.