Kumar Sanu on stories behind his 7 most-loved songs: When RD Burman abused him, Salman Khan couldn’t lip-sync his song 

Therefore, the singer says, while his songs from Shah Rukh Khan‘s Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa were “lovely to record”, he would prefer narrating an anecdote of a Salman Khan song, which not many know about. “Sometimes great stories are there from lesser-known songs too,” he adds.

In an interview with indiaexpress.com, Kumar Sanu lists seven tracks from his career and shares behind-the-scenes stories of how they were recorded. From a music composer abusing him with happiness, another shying away from briefing him about a naughty track to the song he never thought would work — but has now become one of his most loved tracks.

Edited excerpts:

1) Nazar Ke Saamne Jigar Ke Paas, Aashiqui (1990)

Every recording of the album is memorable to me. I remember every song, they were just so nice, melodious. But Nazar Ke Saamne was the first song I sang for the film. It was during that recording when Nadeem-Shravan shouted from the microphone, ‘You are a Tiger!’ From that day, I started getting known as Tiger among music composers. When I had finished the recording, they rained currency notes on me, of Rs 500, 200, 100. They threw it in the air and celebrated my recording, because it was that special. It was an unforgettable moment. They would get so happy after each recording.

2) Jab Koi Baat Bigad Jaaye, Jurm (1990)

This was a song which I didn’t think would become a hit. It was a slow number, composed by Rajesh Roshan. I thought it is a good, melodious song, but that’s about it. I didn’t think much of it and definitely not that it would be remembered even till today. It has now become one of the most memorable songs of my career. That’s fate.

3) Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga, 1942: A Love Story (1994)

Pancham da (RD Burman, in his last film work) came to the singing room and told me, ‘See this song has a lot of ‘jaise’ word. Jaise khilta gulaab, jaise shayar ka khwaab, jaise ujli kiran, jaise ban mein hiran….’ There were many ‘jaise’ in just one mukhda. He told me, ‘Sanu, I want every mention of ‘jaise’ to be different from each other. They shouldn’t be similar sounding.’ He told me if I can sing each ‘jaise’ distinctively, then my song is a hit! I tried hard singing the word differently each time it appeared and, the song became a hit! Pancham da’s thinking was great. He was a visionary. It was such an extremely creatively way to know how you would want a song to sound different. When the recording was done, he hugged me, kissed my forehead and started abusing me. So, if he liked something, if he liked how the recording went, he would abuse a lot. Mother, father, everything. When I didn’t know this initially, I asked someone next to me. ‘Why is he abusing me?!’ then I was told, ‘Because he really liked it!’

4) Main To Raste Se Jaa Raha Tha, Coolie No 1 (1995)

It was composed by Anand-Milind. Now, Anand ji would be the quieter one, Milind ji would be the naughty one. When they were briefing me this song, Anand ji was playing harmonium and Milind ji was teaching me. Anand ji didn’t take the risk of singing the song because it was a ‘natkhat (naughty)’ song and only Milind could sing and teach me. ‘This is not my kinda track, please learn from Milind!’ is what Anand ji had told me! So I followed what he briefed me, sang the song, and the rest is history.

5) Tujhe Dekha Toh Ye Jana Sanam, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995)

It was a wonderful Jatin-Lalit track. I was singing it with Lata Mangeshkar ji and that in itself was a huge achievement. Lata ji had given me tips and I remember when we were in the studio, she was telling me softly, ‘sing it like this!’ I was so nervous. To stand with her and sing. It’s like you are standing in front of a mountain. Her achievement would dwarf everyone. When I go to record, I always crack jokes and the staff, the artistes would always keep laughing. I would always make the situation light, laugh, have fun, record and then leave. But with Lata ji, of course I couldn’t do this. It was a far more serious atmosphere. Everything would be in control when she would be there. So even I wouldn’t say anything ‘ulta-pulta.’

6) Aankhon Mein Kya, Khamoshi: The Musical (1996)

This song from Khamoshi was actually the one I didn’t want to sing. Jatin-Lalit forced me to sing, requesting me again and again. You won’t believe, I didn’t take any music track on my headphone, there was only the violin playing, no rhythm, nothing. The arranger, Babu da, would snap his fingers to give me taal. I sang the entire song, using the snapping of his fingers as a taal, and recorded the song. It was a very, very tough song. There is no ‘leh’ in the song. It was a Salman Khan film, so you had to also sing it with a certain expression. When they shot the film, Sanjay Leela Bhansali didn’t take any close shot of Salman because it was just so tough to lip sync that! So only long shots were taken. It is actually a very, very tough song to lip sync. Only Jatin and I can do this.

7) Dard Karaara, Dum Laga Ke Haisha (2015)

The story was about a hero who was a Kumar Sanu fan so Sharad, who is a solid fan of mine, insisted that I should sing in the film. The funny thing is, when we recorded the song, Anu Malik stood in front of a microphone and snapped his fingers and I sang it, basis that. They later added 100 musicians orchestra on it! But I recorded it over just that, his two fingers snapping, with no music, no rhythm. There was just me, Anu Malik and the recordist in the studio. It was historic and I shall always remember how we pulled it off!

“By this year end,” Kumar Sanu says, “My count will go up to 22,000 songs! Imagine then, all the new stories that I will add,” the singer signs off.