Top News

Sometimes a song travels further than the film it belongs to. Bahraini rapper Flipperachi is living proof of that. His 2024 track FA9LA found a second life in Aditya Dhar’s 2025 film Dhurandhar and that journey has now earned him a Guinness World Record. What makes the story unusual is this: Dhurandhar was banned in Gulf nations. Yet the song featured in the film climbed the Arabic Billboard charts and created history. A record that came as a surprise The Arab Billboard team along with Guinness World Records Arabia surprised Flipperachi during a photoshoot with the news. He had broken the record for the most Billboard charts topped at the same time with a single song. As of January 1 FA9LA was sitting at the top of four different Arabic Billboard charts. The 37-year-old rapper visibly stunned described the moment as a “nuclear explosion”. How Dhurandhar changed the song’s fate Originally released in May 2024 FA9LA had a steady presence. But everything changed when the makers of Dhurandhar chose to use it in a key scene featuring Akshaye Khanna. Talking about it Flipperachi said “I was shocked the first time I saw it blowing up on social media. We suddenly got a deal from over there and they said they wanted the song FA9LA because it would fit this scene in the movie. They placed it in a scene with an actor who has been off-screen for maybe ten years. Boom he danced to it and boom.” That one scene and Akshaye’s dance went viral across platforms. Clips from the film began circulating widely pushing the song into playlists reels and trending charts across regions where the film itself could not officially be released. Who is Flipperachi? Flipperachi whose real name is Hussam Aseem has spent more than two decades in the Arab hip-hop space. At a time when English rap dominated the scene he chose to rap in Arabic and built a loyal following. With FA9LA his reach has now unexpectedly crossed borders. He is also set to begin his debut India tour on March 14 at the UN40 Music Festival in Bengaluru. The film behind the frenzy Dhurandhar starring Ranveer Singh Sanjay Dutt Arjun Rampal Sara Arjun Akshaye Khanna and R Madhavan released on Netflix on January 30 after collecting over Rs 1328 crore worldwide. A sequel Dhurandhar 2 is scheduled to hit theatres on March 19. In the end while the film faced restrictions in some regions its music broke through turning a year-old track into a record-breaking global moment.