Highway film director Imtiaz Ali and music maestro AR Rahman with actress Alia Bhatt for the song Sooha Saha

A R Rahman got actress Alia to sing Sooha Saha which was also sung by famous Pakistani duo Zeb Bangash & Haniya.

Directed by Imtiaz Ali, Highway is a romantic drama starring Alia Bhatt and Randeep Hooda and releases on February 21. The film is about two distinctly different characters Veera Tripathi (Alia) and Mahabir Bhati (Randeep) who take the road trip across six states in northern India in a truck.

Actress Alia Bhatt not only plays a lead role in Highway but also sings the song Sooha Saha

As the journey moves from the plains of Panjab to the hills of Himachal, Veera sings this “soulful lullaby”, which reminds Mahabir of his childhood. Both Imtiaz and Rahman thought that if Alia sang a stanza of Sooha Saha herself, it would make the song sequence more poignant.

Alia plays the character Veera Tripathi in Highway and sings the song in the middle of her road trip

"We have this lullaby, Sooha Saha in Highway... Imtiaz said Alia has a great voice and I didn't trust him. Then she learned the song and sang to me and I was pretty impressed with her natural ability too,” said A R Rahman.

Alia terms herself a "bathroom singer" but Ali and Rahman were convinced she could sing the song

“We guided her a little bit to perfect the singing. She did it twice and then we got it almost right and now it sounds great," the maestro added.   

Alia and Randeep starring Highway releases on February 21

Calling herself a “bathroom singer”, Alia Bhatt said, "It was unreal. To have the opportunity to sing a song composed by Rahman sir was unbelievable. This film is so close to my heart not just for acting but for singing too now! "  

Highway, produced by Window Seat Films and presented by Sajid Nadiadwala, will be released worldwide by UTV Motion Pictures. The music of the film will be available on T-Series.

Watch Alia sing Sooha Saha composed by A R Rahman for the film Highway, here:  

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