Nora Fatehi on Raftaar’s Baby Marvake Manegi: There’s nothing abusive about the title

Model-actor Nora Fatehi made her presence felt on screen when she appeared on reality show Bigg Boss season 9, and after that she’s often made headlines for her alleged link-up with actor Angad Bedi. However, the two clarified that they are ‘just friends’. Now, the Moroccan Canadian actor is making news for her sizzling moves in Raftaar’s new dance video— Baby Marvake Maanegi, which is touted to be India’s first Dancehall video. “Dancehall has been the rage worldwide and the culture originated in Jamaica. A lot of artists such Drake, Rihanna, Ed Shereen have been inspired by dancehall music recently,” say Nora, adding that she’s quite familiar with the dancehall style.

“I’ve grown up in an area in Toronto where everybody danced in this style and it was the most popular, and if you didn’t know it, then you were not considered cool (laughs). In India, this style is new and it’s slowly catching up among the youth who understand the swag necessary for this type of dance,” says Nora.

Strangely, Nora’s music video came around the same time as her Bigg Boss housemates Prince Narula and Yuvika Chaudhary’s debut music video [under their production house banner]. “Honestly, I had no idea about their announcement, I just found out now! That’s amazing. I wish them all the best and can’t wait to hear it,” say Nora, who was romantically linked with Prince in the Bigg Boss house.

Talking about the title of the video, it’s quite likely that people may perceive it to be a bit abusive or having a sexual innuendo. Nora clears the air and says, “Raftaar is a sensible musician and respects women, music and his fans! The title simply means ‘baby will get you killed.’ Some people, simply because they couldn’t figure out the title, though their mother tongue is Hindi—be it urban slang or not—just decided to get offended, which is ridiculous.”

While Nora’s sensuous dance moves can’t go unnoticed in the video, it’s primarily Raftaar, who is hogging the limelight. Ask Nora if she ever felt that her dancing got overshadowed by Raftaar, and she says, “Not at all. My fans have pointed out on social media that ‘Nora dances like a boss’, and the hype about me featuring in the song shows that I have not been overshadowed. I feel you let your work speak for itself. The combination of me and Raftaar sharing screen space together is in itself fire! We slayed it whenever we were together [in the video] and even in our solo shots, the energy, the aura and chemistry were at par.”

On working with choreographer Remo D’souza for the music single, Nora says it’s a blessing to have collaborated with her Guru. “Remo sir gave me all the liberty to just dance. He said, ‘just play the music and go for it’ and I really had a blast. I loved the styling of the music video. It looks so international and Remo sir has captured me at my best, with some great close ups and fun moments.”