Bollywood video analysis of Uff Teri Ada from Karthik calling Karthik

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I always thought of Karthik calling Karthik as one of the most progressive but much underrated films of the 2000s. The script, the casting, the directing all have unparalleled energy.

While the film didn’t necessarily resonate with Indian audiences, the song “Uff Teri Ada” did. Composed by the successful Bollywood trio, Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy bring magic to our ears with this track. It’s hip, it’s eye-catching, and it definitely gets stuck in your head. I still believe this video has one of the best edits produced in Hindi cinema. Here are some good reasons why!

Credit: YouTube / T-Series

The staging dialogue

Karthik (Farhan) and Shonali (Deepika) are in a club. Karthik shyly asks him: “Pepsi, orange juice?” Shonali is clearly amused. She replies: “Juice chalega, but usko dilute karne ke liye itna sa vodka ”—the film immediately wins 2,000 points for me.

Hindi movies very rarely show us confident, independent women who are shameless drinkers. She is the one who is open, Karthik, on the other hand, is shy and scared. I loved the role reversal here.

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Credit: Excel Entertainment

2. The first cut

Right after that, there’s a quick hyperlapse of the club where they specifically show all of their different cliques. Exotic dancers – who bothers you, are already hooking up – to the usual bar-benchers, the camera pans over all the likely groups you would encounter in a nightclub. I love that they do this exercise in the video to create some authenticity.

Additionally, they show both Karthik and Shonali at a table standing with drinks, their belongings and food. It creates another layer of reality. Most other song footage with a similar club environment shows the protagonists dancing without worrying about their own business or being hungry – when is that already happened IRL?

3. The Shameless Dance of Shonali

First of all, Deepika with her bangs and layered hair in this song is so incredibly hot and cute at the same time, it’s wild.

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Credit: Excel Entertainment

Second, the video shows some friends pulling Shonali on the dance floor. She tries to grab Karthik but he refuses and looks aside. Shonali gives up but she still dances solo, bindaas. She is carefree, smiling and clearly appreciates her time. Why don’t Hindi movies show women having fun more often?

4. CONSENT

He’s a big, big. Karthik is shown to be reserved, someone who doesn’t take sneaky, non-consensual risks with women (unlike most other mainstream Hindi films). Shonali takes him to the dance floor, runs his hand over his face for a few seconds to make him realize his intention, then puts his hand on her waist.

It’s a very powerful scene for me because I think that little gesture says a lot about how consent should be portrayed on the big screen. They could have easily omitted it, but keeping it shows the kind of normalization we crave.

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Credit: Excel Entertainment

5. Enter the club

Shonali finds her way to the exotic dancers, rides next to them, and copies the crochet step we love now. She doesn’t know the steps and takes the step of “Kajra Re” instead – did I mention verisimilitude is at its height in this song? I love that they don’t show everyone at the club participating and giving quite a choreographed performance.

Like, share, and comment if you think the same because I know you do!

Main image credit: Excel Entertainment

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