Asked about the time he was shocked to see the audio cassette of Chalte Chalte, Kailash told the YouTube channel that he was called to sing a song for a film that Javed Akhtar was writing and Aziz Mirza was directing. Kailash hoped it would be something big as big names were associated with the project.

Recorded a tough song

“Gaana bhi ek dum aise pehelwani type ka (The song was also just like wrestling). It took a lot of effort to sing it. I was pretty happy, so I told my sister that I sang for a Shah Rukh Khan film. But when the first audio CD of the film came, it didn’t have the name Kailash Kher. It had someone else’s name. That is when I got the first setback. I thought, ‘Bade aadmi bhi choti harkat kar sakte hain (Even big people do such small things).’ They made another singer sing the song.” He added that the incident taught him to never get too attached to the film industry, or too affected by the achievements he gets in the industry.

Javed Akhtar called it the makers’ loss

Kailash also told the channel that Javed Akhtar once said that it was their (makers’) loss if they did not keep his voice in the film. “Javed saab said ‘Iski alag khusboo aur chamak hai, ye apni pehchan bahut tagde mein banane wala hai (His voice has a different fragrance and shine to it. He will become famous one day).’ We worked together in Swades later and he told me this.” Kailash sang Yuhi Chala Chal Rahi in Swades.

Chalte Chalte

Directed by Aziz Mirza, Chalte Chalte featured Rani Mukerji opposite Shah Rukh. It also starred Satish Shah, Lilette Dubey, Johnny Lever, Jas Arora, and Vishwajeet Pradhan. Aditya Pancholi also featured in the film.

Composed by Jatin–Lalit and Aadesh Shrivastava, Chalte Chalte had songs written by Javed Akhtar and Babu Singh Maan. Alka Yagnik, Sonu Nigam, Udit Narayan, Preeti & Pinky, and Sukhwinder Singh sang songs in the film.