Lost in translation

Rahman first thought Sukhwinder was a lyricist and asked him to explain the meaning of Chaiyya chaiyya...

Rahman first thought Sukhwinder was a lyricist and asked him to explain the meaning of Chaiyya chaiyya

Sukhwinder Singh was at his entertaining best when he narrated amusing facts that went in to the making of the cult hit Chaiyya chaiyya,on day one of Cinema 100,a film festival organised by the students of Whistling Woods International.

Narrating an anecdote he says,There was a big misunderstanding when director Mani Ratnam and I met music composer A. R. Rahman to discuss the song. Actually,it was my first meeting withRahman and he asked me to explain the song in English. Singh was at a loss for words,as he did not know English and Rahman only communicated in that language. Sukhwinders attempts to explain the song,however did not impress Rahman who rejected it.

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He asked Mani to get some other song. Meanwhile,I realised that my translation of the song was wrong. So,the next time when we met,I sang the song instead of explaining it and he loved it immediately, said Singh. Rahman was impressed by his performance when he learnt that Sukhwinder was a singer and not a writer,as he had earlier thought .

The singer also revealed that initially the lyrics of Chaiyya chaiyya were Thaiyya thaiyya. On the day of recording,the lyricist Gulzarsaab gave me a piece of paper with the lyrics. I was shocked to see the title of the song as Chaiyya chaiyya. I told Gulzarsaab that I had prepared to sing the song as Thaiyya and not Chaiyya,as Chaiyya would sound a little odd.