From collaborating with India’s biggest stars like Shah Rukh Khan, Arijit Singh, and Diljit Dosanjh, Ed Sheeran’s love for India is well known. Ed recently shared a video on his YouTube channel having a conversation with Zane Lowe. In the video, he talked about his visit to India and heaped praise on Shah Rukh Khan’s film Om Shanti Om.

While talking about travelling to different countries to experience their cultures, he also recalled his trip to India for the shoot of his song Sapphire and said, “What was interesting about doing the whole India tour was that the only reason we were there was to shoot the music video. We thought that we needed to go all over the country and shoot a little bit everywhere. I love that every hundred miles, the culture, language, food, fashion, rhythms, and all of it changed. Everywhere we went something was more interesting. There are also talents there that have existed for decades that you would not know about.”

Ed Sheeran on watching Om Shanti Om

He went on to compare Om Shanti Om to Star Wars and said, “It’s a wealth of discovery of movies, and someone going like, ‘Oh, have you seen this movie?’ Have you seen Om Shanti Om? It’s like a really big Shah Rukh Khan movie, and it has amazing songs and dances in it. This is a weird analogy, but it is almost like introducing Star Wars to someone for the first time, and they just go like, ‘What the f** is this?’ There are superstars in the same country singing in different languages.”*

Ed Sheeran recently collaborated with Arijit Singh for his song Sapphire. He spent a month in India to film the track, which is part of his eighth studio album Play. He was spotted taking auto rides, exploring the streets with Arijit in his hometown West Bengal, and even performing on the streets of Hyderabad. He was full of praise for the country and described his trip to India and collaboration with Arijit as the “most amazing days in my musical career.”

About Om Shanti Om

Directed by Farah Khan and produced by Red Chillies Entertainment, the film featured Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone (in her Bollywood debut), Arjun Rampal, and Shreyas Talpade, with Kirron Kher in a supporting role. The story follows Om, a junior film artist in the 1970s who dreams of becoming a superstar. He falls in love with Shanti, a leading actress, but witnesses her tragic death orchestrated by a producer. Om also dies in the incident, only to be reborn decades later as a successful actor. With memories of his past life returning, he seeks justice.

The film was a huge commercial success, collecting ₹148.20 crore worldwide (as per Sacnilk). It launched Deepika Padukone to stardom. The song Deewangi Deewangi was one of its biggest highlights, featuring cameos by 31 Bollywood stars including Salman Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Rani Mukerji, Kareena Kapoor, Govinda, Juhi Chawla, Rekha, Priyanka Chopra, and many more, making it a once-in-a-lifetime visual treat for fans.