Late 90s and early 2000 was the time when independent music reached its peak. From Lucky Ali to Euphoria, new voices and genres of music found an audience in India. Years later, some of these tracks still refuse to get old. One such example is Lucky Ali’s song Oh Sanam, which went viral recently after the singer posted a clip of it on Instagram.

Months later, actor Nauheed Cyrusi took her fans on a nostalgic trip when she posted a recreated version of “Piya Basanti,” celebrating 20 years of its release. The 1.6-minute video, which she posted on Monday, has managed to tug the right chords with her fans and music lovers.

The video features Nauheed, who made her debut in the film industry with the original track. Sharing the clip on her social media handles, Nauheed wrote, “It has been TWENTY YEARS since and I knew this had to be done!!! So, we came together to recreate this piece of LOVE. This little video is simply a TRIBUTE to a song that changed my life TWENTY YEARS AGO!!!”

When indianexpress.com got in touch with Nauheed, she gave the credit of the recreated version to the maker Rahul Singh Datta. She said, “The only person I thought could keep the innocence of the song intact was Rahul. He is a genius.” She added, “Piya Basanti changed my life forever. When we shot it 20 years ago, we had no clue what we were making. When it completed 20 years, I knew I had to do something. It (the video) feels like an old song in a new skin. This has been done only as a tribute (to the original).”

Walking down the memory lane, the Jai Ho actor told us how it was to shoot the original track. “There were so many little things that happened during the shoot. We shot in a place that had no hotels. I remember that the girls lived in a church while the men lived in houses. Nobody knew what the outcome (of the song) was going to be like,” the 38-year-old told us.

Talking about the response to the new version of the song, Nauheed said that her social media is full of positive comments, which is making her “happy.” “We didn’t know it would gain eyeballs. This was a refreshing change with everything that was going on.”

The recreated version of Piya Basanti has been sung by Mallika, who shared her experience with us. “Of course, the belly churn was there but I am very happy to be a part of this. Piya Basanti is one of the songs that I’ve grown listening to. So, it was a good feeling to make it mine, just a little bit.”

Listen to the original track here:

Composer Kabeer Kathpalia, who composed the new version of Piya Basanti, told us, “I wanted to reinterpret the song through my aesthetic. I have tried being as respectful of the classic original since we all love that song, especially being a 90’s kid! Mallika sent me a phone recording, which I processed and created the music around it.”

Piya Basanti, released under Sony Music label, was originally sung by the legendary singers K S Chithra and Ustad Sultan Khan. The song went on to become a huge success and even won an International Viewer Choice award at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards in the Hindi pop genre.