Sachin Kandalkar is paying homage to his Bollywood inspirations in his Hindi directorial debut, Aiyyaa. His lead actor Rani Mukerji does a feisty lavani number in the movie and the director has taken the opportunity to showcase his love for industry veterans and others as well.

“Sachin has referenced Yash Chopra, Shah Rukh Khan, Karan Johar and Sachin Tendulkar in the song. These are all the people he has idolised, so the song is inspired by his own life in a way,” says Rani. Choreographed by Vaibhavi Merchant, the song ‘Heroine mujhe bana de na’ sees Rani’s character Meenaxi telling the world about her dream of becoming a typical Hindi film ‘heroine’. She dreams about sharing screen space with SRK, riding a Ferrari with Sachin and most importantly, having coffee with Karan, as it is an expression of what a leading female actor’s life is like in Bollywood.

Ask Rani if this lavani song was symbolic as her character is a chirpy Maharashtrian girl and she says, “Sachin was very clear right from the beginning that he wanted to introduce the character of Meenaxi with a lavani performance. When Vaibhavi got the brief, she wanted to do it with the most authentic steps. When you see it you’ll realise that it’s a complete entertainer.”

The song will launched on Ganesh Chaturthi, today. Jointly produced by Viacom 18 Motion Pictures and Anurag Kashyap, Aiyyaa is based on the idea of switching the traditionally-conceived roles of women with men. It attempts to turn social stereotypes on their heads. Southern star Prithvi Raj plays the lead opposite Rani in the movie that is due to hit theatres on October 12.