Emiway Bantai has made his Bollywood soundtrack debut with "Choozay," from the upcoming comedy Udta Teer, released Saturday (October 3). Composed by Sachin-Jigar and written by Amitabh Bhattacharya and Emiway Bantai, the song features vocals from Emiway Bantai and Jigar Saraiya, with Ayushmann Khurrana appearing in the video.
"I've been offered several Bollywood projects before, but none felt like the right fit. Finally, with Udta Teer, it clicked for me." He added that he has always wanted to explore new spaces "without losing what makes my music mine."
The move follows a decade of independent work. Born Bilal Shaikh, the Mumbai rapper took his stage name from early influences Eminem and Lil Wayne and began releasing music in 2013 with "Aur Bantai," which brought Bombay street slang into the scene. "Machayenge" became his breakout in 2019 with more than 41 million streams on Spotify, followed by "Firse Machayenge" in 2020 with 24 million streams as of September 25, though his most-streamed songs are "Grind" and "Company," at roughly 75 million and 58 million.
Before "Choozay," he appeared in Season 4 of Red Bull 64 Bars with "Safal," co-produced with Memax in collaboration with Def Jam Recordings India. Speaking about the platform in a recent interview, he said visibility is what has changed for Indian hip-hop. "Every language is getting its own shot," he said. He added that his upcoming project is entirely freestyle, recorded without writing anything down.
Udta Teer, directed by Akash Kaushik and also starring Sara Ali Khan, arrives in cinemas October 23.
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