Shubhanshu Shukla's space groove revealed: Before liftoff, he chose this Shah Rukh Khan song

As the countdown hit zero and the SpaceX rocket soared into the sky early Wednesday morning, Indian Air Force pilot Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla probably had one song running through his mind, “Yun Hi Chala Chal” from Shah Rukh Khan’s Swades.

The track, a favourite from the 2004 film, was part of Shukla’s launch-day playlist. Composed by AR Rahman and sung by Udit Narayan, Kailash Kher, and Hariharan, the song captures the spirit of quiet determination, as he headed into orbit.

Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Axiom Space posted the crew’s full playlist. While mission commander Peggy Whitson picked Thunder by Imagine Dragons, it was Shukla’s Bollywood choice that made headlines and sparked applause back home- “Yun Hi Chala Chal”



Shukla is part of Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4), the fourth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station. The SpaceX Dragon lifted off from Florida’s Launch Complex 39A at 2:31 am ET (12 noon IST), carrying four crew members: Whitson, Shukla, Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski from Poland, and Tibor Kapu from Hungary.

Also Read: Shubhanshu Shukla takes off for ISS, here's what he said before embarking on the Axion-4 Mission

Docking is expected by 4 pm IST on Thursday, June 26, with the crew spending up to 14 days in space. They’ll conduct over 60 experiments across disciplines, representing 31 countries, including India.

Shukla’s flight is also a symbolic collaboration between ISRO and NASA, with astronauts donning next-generation AxEMU spacesuits, tech designed for future Moon missions under NASA’s Artemis programme.

In a full-circle moment echoing Swades, where an Indian-origin NASA scientist finds purpose back home, Shukla now carries India’s spirit to space.