Actress Huma Qureshi on Monday said the new version of the iconic song Piya Tu Ab To Aaja in her upcoming feature Monica, O My Darling is an ode to the original song.

The neo-noir crime comedy film is directed by Vasan Bala from a script by Yogesh Chandekar.

For the film, the makers have recreated Asha Bhosle’s popular dance number Piya Tu Ab To Aaja, from the 1971 Hindi film Caravan, featuring veteran actress Helen.

Huma said the song was a tribute to the original track. “I don't think any actor should attempt Helen ji's number — it’s too iconic a song for us to even attempt because we won’t be able to do justice to it.”

“It is a new composition. It is actually our ode to the music and that kind of song. We didn’t want to touch the original because that would have been wrong,” the actress told reporters.

The director, Vasan, said the aim was to be “reverent” with the track and “not remix it or spoof it”. “The idea is to showcase love. We needed a retro number. We heard a lot of Shankar-Jaikishan songs to get that kind of song,” he added.

Monica, O My Darling is a dark comedy and follows a young man desperately trying to make it big with some unlikely allies and a dastardly diabolical plan to pull off the perfect murder.

The filmmaker said the journey on the film had begun four years ago. “It’s based on a Japanese novel. Yogesh had been toiling with it for the past four years before it came to me. And from there we had to build it on with the producers, get the right cast and let everyone believe in it and hope for the best," he added.

In addition to Qureshi, Monica, O My Darling also features Rajkummar Rao, Radhika Apte, Sikandar Kher, Akansha Ranjan Kapoor, Sukant Goel, Zayn Marie Khan and Tamil actor Bagavathi Perumal.

Monica, O My Darling is set to arrive on Netflix on November 11.