आली गा

Aali Ga is Pune Highway's Maharashtrian folk explosion — Shreya Ghoshal and Hamsika Iyer performing a lavani-adjacent celebration number that grounds the film firmly in Marathi cultural identity. The phrase 'aali ga' (she has come / it has come, in Marathi) is one of the most joyful constructions in the language — the 'ga' suffix indicating feminine address and emotional warmth simultaneously. Suchetan Bhatt's composition, with Salim-Sulaiman's arrangement muscle behind it, gives this the scale of a celebration rather than a song.

Suchetan Bhatt draws on the Pune-Mumbai lavani tradition: dholki as the rhythmic spine, shehnai for the festive colour, harmonium connecting the folk and classical. Salim-Sulaiman add orchestral strings that lift the arrangement beyond folk and into cinematic spectacle.

'Aali ga' works on multiple levels: the arrival of a guest, of a festive season, of good news, of the film's protagonists onto the highway. The Marathi suffix 'ga' is untranslatable — it is warmth made grammatical.

The song plays over the film's opening sequence — the characters gathering for their unplanned Mumbai-Pune journey, the celebratory mood before the road trip begins.

Lavani is UNESCO-recognised as part of Maharashtra's intangible cultural heritage — its inclusion in a mainstream Hindi film gives the form wider exposure.