Why Monali Thakur cast her husband Maik Richter in video of new song

Playback singer Monali Thakur shares the story behind casting her husband Maik Richter in her latest music video, "Dil ka fitoor". Monali told IANS from Switzerland: "Honestly, Maik wasn't the choice for the music video. Once we zeroed in on the concept, we went through the process of finding an actor-model for the video. We zeroed down to one very goodlooking model from Germany to feature opposite me in the video. We also finished the contractual work."

Then there was a twist in the tale. "Since we did not meet the model face to face, our DOP Shiraz Bhattacharya of the video wondered if my chemistry with the model will look that great or not. So, in the last moment they asked me, ‘why don't you take Maik?' I was like, ‘that's not a bad idea and paisa bhi bachega (it will save money)'," she laughed, adding: "So, I went to Maik and told him that he would have to act in this video. Finally, he did it."

The song is composed by Kaushik and Guddu, while the lyrics are written by Shloke Lal. The video is shot in the majestic Alps.

Asked about the concept of the video, Monali said: "Now that I have been staying here half the time, I have also seen the winter of Switzerland. It is beautiful. So, when we were working on the concept of the video, I thought of showing these snowcapped mountains of Switzerland as a backdrop, with a simple boy-meets-girl love story. I wanted to show the Swiss alpine life."

According to the singer, the love story that is shown in the video is close to her reality.

"In 2016, I went to a place with my friends and brother and I saw Maik there. Of course he is a hotelier and does not work in any hotel -- like the one you guys saw in the music video. Mike and I exchanged glances and we started liking each other immediately. So, yes, the bottom line of the story what we see in the video is similar to my love story," Monali signed off.