Second INNINGS

So how did Housefull happen?
Sajid Khan,the director,has always been my fan. For 12 years,whenever he presented a show there would also be a mention of my songs,or Sajid would hum one or two of them. Some weeks ago,I had returned from a tour of Assam when he summoned me within an hour to Purple Haze Studio,where Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy work. When I reached there,Sajid made me listen to Shankars rendition of I dont know what to do and then shocked me by saying that I had to record it. He told me that it was for a comic situation and that I could play around with it. The rehearsals were done and I finished the recording in 45 minutes.
But I was not confident 8211; in these days of overdubbing 8211; that my voice would be retained,for this has happened with every singer as well as with me in recent years. A month later,Sajid called me up from London to say that my song was looking grand as filmed. He said that it had become the taqiya kalaam signature tune of the unit!

What next?
I hope new doors open,as with every hit song for its singer. Sajid-Wajid and Pritam have expressed a wish to meet me. I have already recorded a song with Bappi Lahirida,one of my most loyal early supporters. He too makes it a point to state in public that I am his lucky singer.

What are the differences between the 80s and today?
In the 80s,singers had long careers. But today,it is sadly found that most active singers have to retire at 35 or 40 everyone wants new,young voices,though a singer only gets better with time!
For the record,I have always been singing both on stage,where I began,and in films. But since 2002,my songs were in small and also regional films. I sang in so many languages,including Bhojpuri and Gujarati and in some big-ticket Marathi films like Dhoom Dhadaka and De Danaa Dhan.

Though you launched the careers of so many heroes with your voice,your composers were restricted.
Yes,some composers never gave me work for reasons they knew best. There were others who stopped giving me songs after a while and would say,We will call you when we get your type of song! Now what is my type of song? Did Mohammed Rafisaab, who is my all-time inspiration,have a song type? Isnt the onus on the composer to offer a singer challenges and say,Main tujhe aisa gavaaoonga?

True. But besides the younger singers,you also lost out to Mohammed Aziz in the late 80s and 90s.
Smiles Its like this: I have always been a stage singer even before I came into films. When I hit big time,one day I got a call from Lata Mangeshkar didi asking me to accompany her on her tour. Now how could I refuse someone like her? After this,Laxmikant-Pyarelal,R.D. Burman and Asha Bhosle,Dharamji Dharmendra for Sunny Deols first tour and Mithun Chakrabortyda after Pyar Jhukta Nahin asked me to accompany them and I did five long tours in two years.
Naturally I lost out on all the songs that were being made then as I was doing four to five songs every day. I remember Laxmi Laxmikantji himself telling me that L.V.Prasadji asked him to get a substitute for Shabbir Kumar when I was not around for a good while. The funny part was that when Mohammed Aziz got his break in Manmohan Desais Mard,people came and congratulated me on his song because they never knew that the singer was someone else!

But you never tried to get out of the Rafi mould,which might have helped you.
I came from the Rafi Institute or Gharana,so my throat was bound to have his imprint. But I never tried to copy his singing.

But there was a time when Shabbir Kumar ruled.
Looks upwards Sab ooparwale ki dua hai. I got to sing for Dilip Kumar,Dharmendra,Rishi Kapoor,Jeetendra,Rajesh Khanna,Amitabh Bachchan everyone down to the new stars. I recall the struggling Nadeem-Shravan telling me that they would be given a film only if I agreed to sing for it! I sang live with the biggest co-singers and for the topmost music directors,stars and banners. In Betaab and Coolie,I sang all the five and seven songs respectively.

Was playback always on your agenda?
If I had ever dreamt I would land up in films,I would have made sure that I had groomed myself in music. I was into stage shows and when Rafisaab passed away,Mansukh Zariwala and I started a show called Ek Shaam Rafi Ke Naam. It became so popular that we would sometimes do 40 shows in a month! Then a musician who was playing for us suggested my name to Usha Khannaji. Most of us new artistes were never given solos then. Ushaji was very encouraging I was one of five singers and the voice of Shakti Kapoor in my first song Ek nahin do nahin in Tajurba 1981. A month later,she gave me my first solo,Ek akela man ka panchhi in Sardar. I owe Ushaji my first film and Laxmikant-Pyarelal my biggest break Coolie.

You arrived like a typhoon in 1983 but Coolie came last after Prem Tapasya,Ek Jaan Hain Hum,Woh 7 Din and Betaab.
True,but Coolie was recorded first and that opened doors for me. I was not based in Mumbai then. There was my contact number in Vadodara where I once got a call and the voice said that it was Laxmikant talking. A little impatiently I asked,Kaun Laxmikant? and coolly the voice said,Laxmikant-Pyarelal ka Laxmikant! I was profusely apologetic,but Laxmiji just asked me to come to Mumbai the next day.

What happened next?
When we met,Laxmiji told me that he would give me a mukhda that I was to sing in my way and not as a Rafi naqal that I did on stage the song was Mujhe peene ka shauq nahin. I sang it and Laxmiji told me then that I had a kamaal ka throw and that I should stay a bit away from the microphone when singing.
The next day,he informed me that I was singing songs that Rafisaab was to have sung. I told him that if he looked for Rafisaab in me he would be only disappointed. He said that I had to sing in my own style. The first song I actually recorded was Mubarak ho tum sab ko Haj ka mahina with a 160-piece orchestra and 25 chorus singers. And that live recording was my voice-test the most expensive ever conducted on anyone! After the recording,they played it on a screen to see the effect. Manmohan Desai and Bachchansaab liked me. And after Coolie,I never looked back.

How was it working for others?
I did over a hundred songs each for Bappida and Anu Malik. I recorded with everyone,with Shankar-Jaikishan for Waqt Ka Sikandar,with O.P.Nayyar for four songs for a film that was never completed,for Chitraguptaji in a Bhojpuri film and for Kalyanji-Anandji and Rajesh Roshan. And Panchamda R.D.Burman gave me Betaab and my first song with Latadidi.

How was the Lata Mangeshkar experience?
Didi and I have recorded so many songs together,but the first was Badal yoon garajta hai for Betaab. When Panchamda told me that Lataji would be singing with me,it took a long while for the truth to sink in. When Didi began to sing,I kept fumbling,only because I could not believe the fact that the voice I had listened to everyday and had made me laugh or cry was singing with me! Sensing my problem,Panchamda took me aside and said,Think that you are the greatest singer and that she is nothing! But I could not do that! Then Latadidi suggested a break with tea and toast. She put me at ease with casual talk and asked me about myself. That did the trick.