Anuradha: 'No one wants to be original'

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*Jaya*

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Posted: 18 years ago

'No one wants to be original'

Celebrity RJ Abhijeet along with RJ Manish Paul returns on Radio City 91.1 FM's morning show, Musical-E-Azam with a special celebrity guest in tow. It's none other than Anuradha Paudwal, one of the most talented playback singers in the history of Hindi films and perhaps one of the most controversial artistes.

Continuing in our series, rediff.com presents excerpts from a stimulating conversation between the singer and the duo. Abhijeet: Today's guest is a person whom I have known for a very long time, but still I cannot get very informal with her. It's none other than Anuradha Paudwal. Anuradha: Thank you. Abhijeet: Everyone has a dream. You may recall that you had taken Sonu Nigam, Babul Supriyo and me to Punjab for a programme. I had dreamt of working with someone big and my dream was fulfilled then. I felt jealous of Babul and Sonu because they were very close to you, but I always very nervous and tongue-tied. You must have been working with new comers. How did you like it? Anuradha: I was fortunate to work with seniors as well as new artists too. It was a good experience. Abhijeet: Any seniors you didn't get a chance to work with?

Anuradha: Yes, Madan Mohan and R D Burman.

'No one wants to be original'

Abhijeet: You started a new revolution in the industry by dubbing songs. In Dil, Kavita Krishnamurthy sung one song and then you dubbed it. The same thing happened for my song Ole ole. Were you aware of the fact that you were singing the song again? Anuradha: In film industry this often happens. Once a song is sung and dubbed, there are chances that the song will be used. But the problem arises only when the song becomes a hit. Then everyone wants credit for it. If Dil wasn't a success, the controversy would have not arose. I had no say in the dubbing. When I was working in T-series, Gulshanji took this project only on one condition- that two songs would be sung by me. And that is how we got it. Abhijeet: Tell us, how in hero oriented film, too your song became a hit? Anuradha: You are referring to Tu mera jaanu hai from Hero. I started my singing career in 1973 and the film Hero came somewhere in 1984. There was lot of singers who were dubbing. Today, they are very well established. Whenever Lataji was not available, Kavita would dub her songs. So, I too thought that I should try my hand at dubbing. I told Laxmiji that I want give it a try. This song was meant for Lataji but she was very busy so I dubbed the song in the meantime. And this song was retained. Abhijeet: One singer I would like to mention here, S B Balasubramnaiam of South. Though he did not know much of Hindi, his songs were wonderful. How did you like working with him?

Anuradha: It was a great honour and experience to work with him. I always concentrated on how he projected emotions in a song. He conveys the message through his emotions. Thus, language is not important.

Abhijeet: During the filming of Sajjan songs, I saw you in a disturbed state of mind. You found everything in life and lost it at the same time. Now, you have totally devoted yourself to God and Maa Sherawali. Tell us about it.

Anuradha: Yes, it is true. I was at the peak and then my husband Arunji, passed away. It changed my outlook on life. Success takes you to cloud 9 but when you lose something important, you have to maintain your equilibrium. It changes you. Abhijeet: It must have been very difficult. Anuradha: Obviously. I would hear Aashiqi songs everywhere but I could not relate to them in my tragedy. Manish: It is good to see that you are coming out of it. That is the sign of a true artist. Abhijeet: Your daughter Kavita sings very well and your son Aditya is a music arranger. What dreams do you have for them and how well have they achieved it?

Anuradha: Aditya is composing and assisting too. Kavita is singing. I wish them all the best. Both of them are dedicated to their work and I am happy that they have chosen this field.

Abhijeet: Did you ever sing any song against your wishes? Anuradha: No, it never happened to me. Nowadays, however, most of the songs are item numbers rather than melodies. There is no emphasis on sound. The same type of sound is repeated again and again. That becomes a song. Abhijeet: The new songs become hits, but the voices cannot be differentiated. Previously, the singers could be identified easily. Do you agree? Anuradha: We were lucky. In our age there were limited number of singers so people had the time to retain us and recognise our voices. Nowadays, there are many singers and lot of modern techniques is used in music so that the voice cannot be identified easily. No one wants to be original. Manish: From the old singers, which one was your ideal? Anuradha: Lataji, definitely. She is an institution. Then there is Ashaji, who is also phenomenal. Geeta Dutt, too was a fabulous artist. I love listening to all of them. Abhijeet: You used to meet Lataji with Arunji. Was it different after you became famous?

Anuradha: There was not much difference. Till my husband was alive, I used to go with him and now also when I meet her, we share the same rapport.

Abhijeet: Lataji and you share the same birthday (September 28). Anuradha: Yes, are we are both from Karvar. Abhijeet: You have sung songs with great singers about whom we can never dream. Can you tell us who they are? Anuradha: Mukeshji, Hemant Kumar, Kishoreda, Mohammad Rafi, Asha Bhonsle, though I never got to sing any song with Lataji. With Ashaji, I have sung a Marathi song. Abhijeet: Ten years down the line, I won't ask you where do you see yourself, but I know that your songs will always shine. They can never become old. How do you feel about it?

Anuradha: Definitely very happy.