In her new music video Chamkeela Chehra with Badshah, the Broken but Beautiful Actress, Sonia Rathee, plays a thief set out to rob a bank. Chamkeela Chehra is a part of Badshah’s new album called Retropanda Part 1. The 3.5-minute-long song is packed in with multiple sequences from shooting shots, taking hostage to fights and breaking into dance steps. The stylized video unfolds at a bank, into its vaults and amidst bamboo thickets. Sonia’s look also changes from a lethal robber donning gun, track pants and boots to a Barbie like pink mini skirt clad girl.
Sonia had to go through physical training workshops for action scenes in the music video. Sonia said, “I had to have a certain body type and body language to convincingly pull off a badass thief. I followed a regimented workout with my trainer, Gopal Chowdhary, and stole some MMA moves from Kuldeep Shashi. Even though I have always been fit and watch what I eat, you can’t just all of a sudden look like you’re a real fighter on camera. Some of these techniques to kick, shoot, and point a gun at someone requires a certain kind of suave and confidence which I didn’t have so I as always I embodied the ‘fake it till you make it’ motto. Also, when you are doing something like this for a music video the training window is far less than what it would be for a film, so you have to work double-time and try to achieve an almost instant transformation. Long hours and lots of restrictions are not always the friendliest combo but a huge learning curve there and a very rewarding exercise.”
Sonia is also seen shaking a leg with Badshah on a hook step which is now already trending on social media. Sonia shared, “It was an absolute blast working with Badshah, especially on this song! I’m so happy with the hook-step and how it turned out! Everyone on set got hooked pretty fast, it was on repeat!”
Sonia is often seen posting dance videos with her brother, Actor Ankur Rathee on social media and she is a natural when it comes to dancing. She will be next seen in a feature film, Tara Vs Bilal opposite Harshvardhan Rane, helmed by Samar Iqbal and produced by John Abraham.