Kumar Sanu on his 35-year career, Bollywood music over the years: ‘Today’s Hindi film music is not even worth listening to’

In the 90s, Sanu teamed up with the biggest music composers of the time, from Jatin-Lalit, Anu Malik, Nadeem-Shravan, Anand-Milind for hit film soundtracks like Saajan, Baazigar, 1942: A Love Story, Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahin, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Akele Hum Akele Tum and Coolie No 1 among others.

In this interview with indianexpress.com, the singer talks about his career, how his success finds roots in his modest upbringing, the toughest phase of his life and why the current day Hindi songs don’t excite him.

Edited excerpts:

Kumar Sanu on completing 35 years in the industry. (Photo: PR handout)

Do you know the number of songs you have recorded till now?

Almost. More than 21,000 songs! I sang in 26 languages, so my songs are there in so many provinces, being played even as we speak. It is difficult to keep a track of all of them, collect them. Some 1000-2000 songs are still missing. The way I am going, the number will cross 22,000 by the end of this year.

Is it possible to look back at 35 years of your time in the industry?

It is so difficult. It is dream like. When I look back, I realise just how much I have struggled. I never realised that I’d get this much love, reach this far. That I would continue to sing, be relevant. I had a goal in my mind and never wandered from it. That helped me move ahead. If I didn’t have the staircase of struggles, I wouldn’t have been here.

How did Sanu Bhattacharya become Kumar Sanu?

Kalyan ji Anand ji gave me the name, so that people don’t recognise that I am a Bengali. Bengalis can’t speak Urdu shayari, at least most of the singers back then couldn’t. They were popular, but their diction was not proper Urdu, but my Urdu is very strong– only when I am singing, not while speaking. So, Kalyan ji said my Urdu is strong, let people not think I am a Bengali and go with this last name.

How was it like growing up in Kolkata, with your father Pashupati Bhattacharya himself being a musician?

I was a Tabla player, who got into singing while playing the instrument. My father would make me sit down and sing, but not for too long. Our house was of pure classical singing, but I was drifting towards commercial music. I would listen to my father’s music 24 hours and eventually started singing, without much training. I would listen to classical music at home, then go out with friends and listen to commercial Hindi music on radio! Kaan mein classical tha, dil mein commercial (My ears would listen to classical music, heart would be on commercial soundtrack). All my learning actually happened by just listening.

What was the phase before Aashiqui like?

I started singing in hotels within six days of coming to Mumbai. Whatever I’d earn from that, I’d invest that money in making myself a tape. I’d then take the cassette to music directors. I never faced financial crisis. I sang in hotels for about six-seven years. Then when Aashiqui happened, it wasn’t like I thought I had become a star. I didn’t change at all, that’s because of my upbringing. My childhood friends are still with me. They get fish at home, we eat, laugh. I have never let go of my past, my roots.

Kumar Sanu was one of the most influential playback singers of the 90s. (Photo: PR Handout)

Can you imagine your life without music?

Nothing. It is blank. For me, life is music, music is life. I can’t even think I will be able to breathe, if one takes away music from my life.

What kind of music do you listen to though?

I listen to old Lata ji songs, Kishore Kumar, Rafi songs. I avoid listening to my songs, as I told you. I listen to some English songs as well, but today’s Hindi music, no. They are not even worth listening, so I neither listen, nor do I know much about it.

You sang for all the stars in the 90s. How was a Shah Rukh Khan song different from a Salman track, and how was that different from a Govinda chartbuster? Are there any anecdotes from the recordings?

The credit goes to the actors, how they justify my songs. We have to do a bit of acting in the recording studio. For example, if I knew I was singing a song for Salman, I would keep his personality in mind and sing, just tweak a bit knowing or at least anticipating how he would perform. Then the actors come and completely make it their own. I can’t name though which star I enjoyed singing the most for! I truly enjoyed giving my voice to them.

Is there anything we are doing differently today in music, that didn’t happen back in the 90s?

In the maximum songs I have sung, I never saw the actor in the recording. Back in the day, the most beautiful thing was that there was no interference. The hope was that you will do justice to the work assigned to you. There would be no one to interfere and say, ‘Do it this way, or that way.’ If the music is by Nadeem-Shravan, the director would only choose the songs he wants. Now who will sing it, how will the song be sung would entirely depend on the music director.

That interference is a big problem today. Now, there is interference from everyone — be it the actor, producer, financer or the director. They tell the music composer, ‘You just make the song, rest we will do.’ But this wasn’t the case earlier. Which is why we would never correspond with the actor, there would be no discussion with them on how to sing it.

The work was clearly divided, no one tried to do each other’s work. The division was fool proof of any interference, because they had that confidence. If Nadeem-Shravan is making music, it will be good, if Kumar Sanu is singing, he will do a good job. That confidence isn’t there anymore. One song is sung by 8-10 singers today, which version will be retained, which one is good even they don’t know. It is very difficult to identify yourself as a singer in this situation.

Kumar Sanu reflects on his career. (Photo: PR Handout)

You had strong collaborations with composers like Nadeem-Shravan, Jatin-Lalit, Anu Malik. As a singer, did you prepare differently when they called you for recordings their tracks?

It’s the specialty of a singer, to adapt to what the composer wants or is known for. I know how to prepare for a Nadeem Shravan track and an Anu Malik song. If I am singing for Anand Malik, Bappi Lahiri, I already know their style, their tempo, their taste. You do that homework and go for the recording and sing the way they would like– not like how you would sing for someone else! You have to make them happy. All of them have such distinct style, so as a singer you have to completely surrender to their vision.

In the 90s, it was as if you were working around the clock, you were part of every album, big or small. Was that a high-pressure situation?

It comes down to your work ethics. If you let it overwhelm you, think that ‘my God, I have to record ten songs a day, how will I do it?’ then you won’t be able to do it all. If you have to do it, do it. I have functioned this way all throughout my career. I never felt overworked, but there were several days when I reached home and felt absolute exhaustion. To go from one studio to another, travel to five different studios a day… that journey would be tiring. Once I sang 28 songs in a day! I could do that, because I was sitting in one studio. If I had to run from one studio to another to another, it would completely tire me.

Was there a phase in your career which, now when you look back, you feel was the toughest?

Yes, between 1993–95, which was a totally personal matter that I don’t wish to talk about, it was a really tough phase. I overcame it, thankfully, but it had no impact on my professional career. In fact, those years were very good for me, singing wise. I always kept my personal and professional lives separate. No matter the turmoil in my personal life, the moment I step into a studio, there is a switch which goes off. I hear nothing, I see nothing. It is just music. Inside a studio, the music director, the staff, the song– that’s my only world.