‘S*** happens, welcome to Bollywood,’ singer recalls Vishal Dadlani’s reaction after Anubhav Sinha replaced his version of Ra.One song

Singer Krishna Beuraa reveals his version of Ra.One song “Dildara" was replaced by director Anubhav Sinha at the last moment.

Shah Rukh Khan in a still from RaOne.

Singer Krishna Beuraa, best known for lending his voice to Shah Rukh Khan’s Chak De India track “Maula Mere,” recently revealed that he had sung another song for the superstar’s film Ra.One, but his version was replaced by the film’s director Anubhav Sinha at the last moment.

Speaking to Siddharth Kannan, Krishna opened up about how composers in the Hindi film industry often call four to five singers to record different versions of the same song and later select one voice that fits best. However, he added that only the singer whose version is finalised gets paid, while the others receive nothing for their efforts. He explained that this practice doesn’t apply to A-list singers but is common for those still trying to establish themselves.

Krishna Beuraa said, “They straightaway say no to your face and don’t even pay. They even tell this to your face in the beginning that only the person whose voice will be selected, will get the payment. This has happened to me and I felt bad because I worked for that song. Mostly, they only ask well-known singers to come and sing when they are confident that they will lock their voice. In very rare occasions, it has happened that an A-list singer’s voice is not used.”

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Krishna also revealed that even a renowned playback singer like Sonu Nigam had faced a similar situation. “It happened with Sonu Nigam. His voice was taken out in many songs and other singers replaced him. This should not happen because the composer should know on whose voice the song will go.”

Recalling his own experience of being replaced by Shafqat Amanat Ali for Ra.One’s hit track “Dildara,” Krishna Beuraa said, “Like this, there are many songs in which I was replaced. There is this huge song in Shah Rukh Khan’s film Ra.One. Vishal–Shekhar called me to sing the ‘Dildara song’ and I sang the whole song. Everything was finalised. They loved it, and everybody was gaga about it. After three days, I called Vishal and he told me that Anubhav Sinha wants a different voice for the song, which is similar to Kishore Da and I am sounding too much like Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Then I got to know that the song was dubbed by Pakistani singer Shafqat Amanat Ali. But Shafqat doesn’t sound like Kishore Kumar. In fact, his rendition was similar to me.”

The singer said that since Vishal and Shekhar are among the top composers in the country, they could have easily convinced the director, but they chose not to. Recalling his interaction with Vishal, Krishna said, “I asked Vishal about it and he told me a beautiful dialogue, ‘Shit happens, bro… Welcome to Bollywood.’”

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