How Salman Khan inspired Dhurandhar actor Bimal Oberoi's song Firdaus
Dhurandhar actor Bimal Oberoi shared how Salman Khan's immense popularity and the fervent devotion of his fans in Vienna inspired him to create the track Firdaus.
Actor Bimal Oberoi openly admits that he cannot sing, even joking that he refrains from singing in the shower. And yet, he has just released a song. Not just any song — a spoken word track called Firdaus, written entirely from his heart, inspired by a superstar he was watching from the sidelines, and built around a line his friend kept repeating for years.
It started with a friend's one-liner
Every good song has a seed. For Firdaus, it was a line that Oberoi's friend Nanu Bhai used to say repeatedly — Sheher ki kaun si woh Firdaus hai. Just that. A question hanging in the air about who, in a city full of people, is truly a paradise. The Dhurandhar actor, inspired by this line, felt it had the potential to become a song. He discussed it with his collaborator and composer, Prasad S, expressing his desire to create something poetic and akin to a recitation. Prasad encouraged him to write from the heart.
The brief was clear. The words would come. But the spark to actually sit down and write them — that came from somewhere else entirely.
Vienna. Salman Khan. Hazaaron ladkiyaan
Oberoi was in Vienna, shooting for Tiger 3. He was playing an army general — a supporting role, watching from the edges as one of Hindi cinema's biggest stars worked. What he witnessed didn't just stay with him on set. It went straight into the song.
"In Vienna, there were barricades and I remember — right side, left side — hazaaron ladkiyaan 'Salman, Salman' chilla rahi thi. Wahan se yeh trigger hua (thousands of girls were yelling Salman's name. The idea triggered from there). I started writing this song while visualising him, because it’s the kind of track that suits only a few actors like Dharam ji or Salman Khan sir," he said.
This scene of unwavering devotion inspired Oberoi to write the song with Salman Khan in mind, although he was unable to reach the actor.
Recitation, not singing
When Oberoi finally brought the written lyrics to Prasad, there was no music yet. Just words. And the two of them quickly realised — it should stay that way. No melody, no singing. Just a voice, and a poem.
"When I recited it to Prasad, there was no music. We decided to keep it that way — like in Silsila, where Amitabh Bachchan just recites 'Yeh raat hai'(Yeh Kahan Aa Gaye Hum) Kyunki main singer toh hoon nahin — main toh bathroom mein bhi nahin gaata hoon (because I am not a singer. I don't even sing in the shower)! So I said, let's keep it as a recitation," he added.
From there, Prasad built a track around the recitation — layering it into something that felt, in Oberoi's words, "very trendy, very cool."
The roadside Romeo
For the visual aspect of Firdaus, Oberoi and his team chose a self-aware and humorous approach, embodying a slightly self-deprecating roadside Romeo character. This character takes himself seriously while the world around him may not.
To bring it to life, Oberoi called on his theatre friends. "I got in touch with some theatre friends — Dilnaz Irani, Priyanka Charan, Gunnit Cour and Simrat Harvind Kaur — who do theatre with me. They all jumped in. That's how it just came together."
Bimal Oberoi played the role of Baloch leader Shirani in Aditya Dhar's Dhurandhar.
Actor Bimal Oberoi openly admits that he cannot sing, even joking that he refrains from singing in the shower. And yet, he has just released a song. Not just any song — a spoken word track called Firdaus, written entirely from his heart, inspired by a superstar he was watching from the sidelines, and built around a line his friend kept repeating for years.
It started with a friend's one-liner
Every good song has a seed. For Firdaus, it was a line that Oberoi's friend Nanu Bhai used to say repeatedly — Sheher ki kaun si woh Firdaus hai. Just that. A question hanging in the air about who, in a city full of people, is truly a paradise. The Dhurandhar actor, inspired by this line, felt it had the potential to become a song. He discussed it with his collaborator and composer, Prasad S, expressing his desire to create something poetic and akin to a recitation. Prasad encouraged him to write from the heart.
The brief was clear. The words would come. But the spark to actually sit down and write them — that came from somewhere else entirely.
Vienna. Salman Khan. Hazaaron ladkiyaan
Oberoi was in Vienna, shooting for Tiger 3. He was playing an army general — a supporting role, watching from the edges as one of Hindi cinema's biggest stars worked. What he witnessed didn't just stay with him on set. It went straight into the song.
"In Vienna, there were barricades and I remember — right side, left side — hazaaron ladkiyaan 'Salman, Salman' chilla rahi thi. Wahan se yeh trigger hua (thousands of girls were yelling Salman's name. The idea triggered from there). I started writing this song while visualising him, because it’s the kind of track that suits only a few actors like Dharam ji or Salman Khan sir," he said.
This scene of unwavering devotion inspired Oberoi to write the song with Salman Khan in mind, although he was unable to reach the actor.
Recitation, not singing
When Oberoi finally brought the written lyrics to Prasad, there was no music yet. Just words. And the two of them quickly realised — it should stay that way. No melody, no singing. Just a voice, and a poem.
"When I recited it to Prasad, there was no music. We decided to keep it that way — like in Silsila, where Amitabh Bachchan just recites 'Yeh raat hai'(Yeh Kahan Aa Gaye Hum) Kyunki main singer toh hoon nahin — main toh bathroom mein bhi nahin gaata hoon (because I am not a singer. I don't even sing in the shower)! So I said, let's keep it as a recitation," he added.
From there, Prasad built a track around the recitation — layering it into something that felt, in Oberoi's words, "very trendy, very cool."
The roadside Romeo
For the visual aspect of Firdaus, Oberoi and his team chose a self-aware and humorous approach, embodying a slightly self-deprecating roadside Romeo character. This character takes himself seriously while the world around him may not.
To bring it to life, Oberoi called on his theatre friends. "I got in touch with some theatre friends — Dilnaz Irani, Priyanka Charan, Gunnit Cour and Simrat Harvind Kaur — who do theatre with me. They all jumped in. That's how it just came together."
Bimal Oberoi played the role of Baloch leader Shirani in Aditya Dhar's Dhurandhar.
