Making Of Dreamum Wakeupum | 95% PLUS |
When Gippi released, it was a box office whisper. But "Dreamum Wakeupum" found a second life on the internet. First, it became a meme. Then, it became a workout trend (the "Dreamum Wakeupum" challenge). Then, it became a staple at college fests and drag shows. Why? Because in its making, the song captured something authentic: the permission to be silly.
Unlike the slick, soulless auto-tune anthems that dominate playlists, "Dreamum Wakeupum" has a pulse. That pulse is the sound of a crew laughing, a young actress forgetting her inhibitions, and a director who decided that the most empowering thing a woman could do on screen is dance like no one is watching—even when millions eventually would.
The track was composed by the then-relatively new duo Sachin–Jigar. According to interviews, the brief from Nair was paradoxical: "Make it sound like every 90s item song, but also like nothing anyone has ever heard." The result was a Frankenstein’s monster of a beat—a thumping dhol mixed with a detuned synth bass, topped with a chorus that sounds like a sleepy child being woken up by a disco ball. The lyrics, penned by the irreverent lyricist Raftaar (yes, the rapper), are intentionally nonsensical. "Dreamum Wakeupum" isn't a phrase; it’s a state of mind. The song’s power lies in its rejection of lyrical profundity. It’s pure, unfiltered phonetics designed to be shouted, not sung. Making of Dreamum Wakeupum
In the end, the making of "Dreamum Wakeupum" is a masterclass in accidental genius. It proves that a tight budget, a nonsensical lyric, and a protagonist who can’t really dance are not obstacles. They are ingredients. When mixed with sincerity and a complete lack of ego, they create not just a song, but a time capsule of pure, unapologetic joy. Dreamum wakeupum, indeed.
To understand the making of "Dreamum Wakeupum," one must first understand its context. Gippi was a small, coming-of-age film about a plus-sized teen girl navigating the hellscape of high school, directed by Sonam Nair and produced by Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions. This was not Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani ; it was a modest, heartfelt project with a modest budget. The mandate for the song was simple: a quintessential Bollywood "dream sequence" where the protagonist, Gippi, imagines her glamorous fantasy self. When Gippi released, it was a box office whisper
The most fascinating element of the song’s making is its star: a very young, non-dancer actress named Riya Shukla, who played the fantasy version of Gippi. In any other production, a song of this nature would be handed to a seasoned item-dance specialist. Here, the director leaned into the awkwardness.
In the sprawling, high-decibel landscape of Bollywood item numbers, most songs are meticulously engineered for a short shelf life: six weeks on the charts, a few hundred million YouTube views, and a slow fade into nostalgic obscurity. But every so often, a track emerges that defies its own programming. "Dreamum Wakeupum" from Gippi is one such glorious, glitter-bombed anomaly. A song so bizarre, so unapologetically absurd, and so oddly sincere that it transcended its B-movie origins to become a cult phenomenon. Its making is not a story of calculated success, but one of joyful chaos, limited resources, and the unpredictable magic that happens when a director decides to let a thirteen-year-old’s fever dream dictate the choreography. Then, it became a workout trend (the "Dreamum
The choreography, handled by Mudassar Khan, is deliberately off-kilter. It’s not about sharp angles or pelvic thrusts; it’s about jerky arm movements, enthusiastic finger-pointing, and a "running man" that looks more like a toddler who has had too much sugar. Legend has it (via behind-the-scenes clips) that Shukla was deeply embarrassed and confused on day one. She couldn't stop laughing. Instead of suppressing this, Nair and Khan leaned into it. They told her to stop trying to be sexy and start trying to be excited . The result is a performance of pure, unhinged glee. The "making of" footage reveals a set that was less a professional soundstage and more a summer camp: Shukla giggling between takes, the backup dancers (dressed like neon aliens from a galactic hair salon) messing up on purpose, and Jigar himself sneaking in to play a percussion break.
