When Dua Lipa met Shah Rukh Khan's Baadshah

Global pop sensation Dua Lipa set the stage ablaze in Mumbai on Saturday, thrilling fans with her performance. Among the standout moments of the evening was a surprise mashup of her hit single Levitating with Woh Ladki Jo, a beloved track from the 1999 Bollywood film Baadshah starring Shah Rukh Khan. The unexpected fusion that had been making rounds on TikTok as an audio track quickly captured social media's attention, with videos of the performance going viral.

While fans celebrated the cross-cultural blend, not everyone was pleased. According to Hindustan Times, playback singer Abhijeet Bhattacharya, who lent his voice to the original Woh Ladki Jo, expressed frustration over being sidelined in the buzz surrounding the mashup.

Taking to his Instagram Stories, Bhattacharya amplified posts from fans who pointed out the lack of recognition for the original artists. One post emphasised, "The song is hit and popular because of legends like Abhijeet and Anu Malik." Another post, by his son Jay, lamented the media's focus on actors over singers, stating, "Unfortunately, we live in a country where not one news outlet or Instagram page has mentioned the voice and the artists of this song. Why has it always been about actors in this country?"

The post further clarified, "This is not about Shah Rukh Khan - I'm his biggest fan. This is about our audience and media who don't support the singers of our country like they do in the West."

Despite Bhattacharya's concerns, many fans embraced the mashup with enthusiasm. "Dua Lipa did not miss the meme Levitating x Woh Ladki," one user commented on Instagram. Another wrote, "So Dua Lipa did the Levitating X Woh Ladki Jo mashup in her own style - wish SRK was there too."

Others praised the performance with comments like, "This is pure iconic, goddess vibes!" and "Finally, it happened in real life."

The mashup also caught the attention of Bollywood royalty. Suhana Khan, daughter of Shah Rukh, shared a video of the performance on her Instagram Stories, expressing her excitement. The concert drew several high-profile attendees, including Radhika Merchant, Anand Piramal, and actor Ranvir Shorey.

Lipa's admiration for Shah Rukh Khan is also well-documented. During a 2019 visit to India, the British pop star met the Bollywood icon, a moment immortalised in a photo shared by Khan on Instagram.