Qazi Touqeer, who is currently the center of Bigg Boss 20, first gained fame almost two decades ago after he won the reality show Fame Gurukul. But soon after, like many reality show contestants, Qazi disappeared from the limelight. So when he appeared in the music video of the Katrina Kaif song ‘Afghan Jalebi’, from Kabir Khan’s film Phantom (2015), fans were there for him. In an earlier interview, Qazi recalled how he was offered the song just two days before the shoot, and even though the music label did not credit him in the music video, his fans have been storming the comments section of the video for over a decade now.

In a chat with Siddharth Kannan, Qazi said that he was at Prithvi Theatre when a casual fan encounter led to this massive opportunity. “A fan of mine came in and introduced himself. His name was Shahnawaz. He was so emotional. We hugged each other and I even gave him my phone number,” he recalled and said that they clicked a selfie, which his fan then uploaded on Facebook.

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A fan brought in ‘Afghan Jalebi’ offer

A couple of days later, Shahnawaz called him and asked him to meet again. When Shahnawaz came over to his house, he revealed that choreographer Ahmed Khan’s assistant had gotten in touch with him. “He said, ‘There is a song with Katrina. They are shooting it day after tomorrow. Will you do it?’”

Qazi then commented on the bizarre coincidence, saying, “Your fan has come home and is asking you to be in a song with Katrina Kaif. What will you make of it? I was like, ‘You are just bluffing.’ I thought it must be some background dancer thing but he insisted that he was getting repeated calls. When he said it a few times, I asked him to make me speak to the concerned person.”

As Qazi got on a call with Ahmed’s assistant, he reminded them that he had first gotten in touch with the choreographer for a film, that was set to mark his debut in the movies. The film was being directed by Ahmed, and starred Sneha Ullal in the lead role. The film got shelved in early stages.

Qazi was cast a day before the shoot

Ahmed’s assistant explained the idea of ‘Afghan Jalebi’ and told Qazi, “We want you to feature in it.” “I wasn’t even very excited. I was still thinking, ‘I don’t know what it is’. Who casts just two days before the song shoot? So I told them I would see them the next day. Once I got there, the dance rehearsals were on. They took my measurements quickly.” The shoot was scheduled for the next day, and Qazi was asked to report to the set.

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While Qazi did not know how he was selected by the makers, he assumed that the photo shared by his fan must have landed on the Facebook page of Kabir Khan, Ahmed Khan, or someone else associated with the film. “That’s how the song happened,” he said.

‘Done in 15 minutes’

“I went to Film City and saw my vanity van. I saw Katrina Kaif’s name, and my name was also there. I wasn’t nervous at all. I have grown up in Kashmir. What will I be scared of? This is just a camera. No one will hurt me. So I thought, ‘Okay, let’s have fun’. I remember Ahmed Khan wanted me to smile, and I said, ‘He is a pathaan, he will have his own attitude’. They liked what I was doing. We were done in 15 minutes, that’s it. The shoot went on for two days and I was on a picnic the whole time,” he said.

After the song was released and became a hit, Qazi recalled that he got “thousands of calls” even though the music label T-Series did not credit his appearance. “They forgot me after the song came out. My name is not there in the description. The best part, which gives me goosebumps, is that my fans stormed the comment section: ‘Qazi is back.’”

On a recent episode of Bigg Boss, Salman Khan credited Qazi for popularising the song ‘Afghan Jalebi’ once again. The song was composed by Pritam, with lyrics by Amitabh Bhattacharya. The vocals were done by Asrar (Syed Asrar Shah).