How Snoop Dogg happened to SINGH IS KINNG

Even as the title track (by the UK-based RDB & veteran rapper, Snoop Dogg) of Singh Is Kinng goes into shoot in Los Angeles later this week, producer Vipul Shah reveals how this keenly anticipated track came about.

He said, "Bringing RDB on board Singh Is Kinng was Akshay's (Kumar) idea. In fact, Akshay has been involved with so much to do with the film and that's why it's always a pleasure to have him. He goes beyond his role of an actor and displays complete dedication to the project.

The concept for the title track of Singh is Kinng was formed at the IIFA Awards in Sheffield, while Akshay and the RDB brothers were backstage. Surj from RDB says, "Akshay wanted an innovative Hollywood-Bollywood alliance for Singh is Kinng to which we suggested to feature the king of Hiphop himself."
 

RDB formed this collaboration. The title track was created by the brothers in the UK and Canada and later shown to Pritam, the film's music composer. Originally he had rejected the idea of another producer creating the title track but once he heard it, he gracefully added it to the album of Singh Is Kinng. 

When Pritam, Akshay and I were talking about recording the song with RDB, Pritam suggested that we take a look at an international RnB artist since the song has a very RnB feel. After a lot of brainstorming, we zeroed down on Snoop Dogg and RDB helped us get in touch with him."

So was it easy to get Snoop to agree? "Most certainly not. For an international star of his stature, India is a new country. They have their own systems, norms and practices for deals and appearances.

We went through several discussions to figure out an appropriate business model. 

Snoop was well aware that he has many Indian and Asian fans, which is why he was very keen on having the correct platform for his first appearance in an Indian commercial project. We explained the grandness, scale and scope of our project to him, and how Singh Is Kinng was one of the most awaited releases of the year, and arguably, the biggest film of 2008. Eventually he saw value in what we had to say, and the rest is history!"

Meanwhile, while the Pritam-composed Bas Ek Kinng number is currently on air, the foot-tapping Labh Janjua-rendered song, Jee Karda, shot in plush Egypt and picturised on Akshay-Katrina, will go on television later this week.

Singh Is Kinng, the film, is out in cinemas on August 8 with previews at select locations on August 7. It is an Indian Films – Studio 18 worldwide release.