EXCLUSIVE: Sunny Leone Laila Main Laila song in Raees is not to objectify her, says Shah Rukh Khan

Shah Rukh Khan, who has been heaping praise on Sunny Leone, revealed that the actress was always the first choice for the item song Laila Main Laila. SRK said that they were very clear about casting Leone when they finalised the Laila Main Laila song.

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Laila Main Laila song featuring Leone has topped charts with the YouTube video recording more than 81,818,641 views. Leone's sizzling performance in the recreation of the iconic song has helped the song go viral on all the social media platforms.

Talking about his experience working with Leone, Shah Rukh told International Business Times India that she is a professional and knows her job well. He even said that the item song is not to objectify her or the film.

"I met her couple of times socially during movie premieres and we were very clear when we got the song that Sunny should do it because she has that persona that personality. If feel she and her husband make a wonderful pair. She is professional and she prepared her step, so it is nice to work with people who know their job, come, do their things on time. I had a great time working with her and everybody on the sets had a great time," SRK said.

"We did shoot the Laila Main Laila song as an item song, but in no which way is it to objectify her or the film. It is just meant to be a moment in the film and I think it is really well. It is just right amount mix of sexiness, coolness and because the film is a reality-based we did not want to shoot this song any differently. So it was really nice and really good to work with her," he added.

Raees, starring Shah Rukh, Mahira Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui, is slated to release on January 25 worldwide. Rahul Dholakia's directorial is one of the awaited releases of 2017.