Why Udit Narayan is singing much less in Hindi films? 
By Screen Weekly, July 9, 2008 - 12:44 IST
Music has become flashier and more flippant, but Udit Narayan has evolved for the better with success. It's been twenty years since his anthem Papa kehte hain rocked the nation, but Udit, as his songs in Partner, Om Shanti Om, Tashan and others prove, is still current coin
He's chilled-out as always and sports a rather trendy-looking crop. He laughs when I ask him whether he is trying to be "with-it". "Does it seem like that? But no, I am not being fashionable."
He adds more soberly, "My father passed away recently and I did my mundan. My hair is just growing back. I am quite traditional in that way. We were committed to our 18-city Udit Narayan & Aditya Narayan Live In Concert tours and I did all the shows with a shaved head and no cap either."
For those who came in late, Udit Narayan, trained in classical vocal at Mumbai's Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan on a scholarship, made his debut under Rajesh Roshan in Unnees Bees in 1980 and shot to center-stage with Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak in 1988, and Dil, Beta, Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander, Mohra and others followed. After gradually overtaking Kumar Sanu by the mid-'90s he reigned for a decade through major hits like Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Rangeela, Raja Hindustani, Dil To Pagal Hai, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Kaho Naa...Pyaar Hai, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham..., Gadar - Ek Prem Katha, Koi...Mil Gaya, Tere Naam, Aitraaz, Veer-Zaara and other films.
Of late, Udit Narayan has been singing much less in Hindi films, but he is unaffected by the 'drop' in work. "Almost every song that I have sung has worked, whether it is Vivah, Don, Jaan-E-Mann and Krrish in 2006, Partner and Om Shanti Om in 2007 or Tashan, Haal-e-dil and Mere Baap Pehle Aap this year. I have had good songs in Black-And-White, Shaurya and Pranali but the films failed and the songs went unnoticed. I have now sung four songs in Mehbooba, which has extraordinary music by Ismail Darbar and is the last film of Anand Bakshisaab."
But the Power above has balanced things out. "I am singing in 90 per cent of Kannada films being made. I have been singing a lot in Bhojpuri, Telugu and Tamil - and my score now is 30 languages!" smiles Udit. "I have sung the biggest Tamil song of 2007 - Sahara saaral tuvudo from Sivaji for Rajinikanth. Rahmansaab has also used South Indian voices from Shankar Mahadevan to Hariharanji but it's God's grace that my song topped the film's score and the year's charts!"
Thanking Providence, destiny, his fans and the industry is a force of habit for Udit Narayan. "At heart I like simplicity," laughs Udit when we point out this trait. "I come from a family of farmers. My father refused to leave his roots and come and live with me even when I made it big - he continued being a farmer till the very end. Main zameen pe rehna chahta hoon - music too starts with the fragrance of this Earth and branches out."
He goes on, "It is a proven fact that those who have had very long struggles have lasted the longest in our industry! I have worked on a salary of a hundred rupees a month. As a singer, I recall walking 15 kilometres from Borivali (a distant Northern suburb of Mumbai) to Juhu in pouring rain to stand outside the late Laxmikantji's bungalow hoping that I would get an entry and an audience. In hindsight I consider that I was lucky to have struggled so much because from when the good times began in the late '80s till today, those memories are a 24-hour ehsaas that I can never forget. And so you learn to value success and hard work and remain grounded."
Udit recalls his all-time idol Mohammed Rafi as well as Lata Mangeshkar, Kishore Kumar and all the other giants who sustained for decades only because struggle had honed their art, craft and temperaments. So does he feel that his son Aditya's success at such an early age is healthy?
The singer replies instantly, "Aditya is an achiever. Today he has proved himself as an anchor on Zee TV. He has been a good student throughout school, he learnt Western music in London by living there alone for 2 years - he even managed the admissions on his own through the 'Net and learnt to cook while living there! - and is also groomed in Indian classical music, starting with the late Kalyanjibhai. He wants to sing too, but more than that he also wants to be an actor. But first he will complete his education as he is in his Final Year in Commerce."
He adds, "And it is not true that life for Aditya has been a cakewalk because he is my son. When my wife Deipa was pregnant, I was still struggling. Our elders say that marriage or a child can transform your luck and sometimes that's really true. Right from his birth, Aditya was miraculously lucky for me. Qayamat... was released and Papa kehte hain bada naam karega became a smash-hit. Was this a coincidence? Were Majroohsaab's words a coincidence? Who can say?
"I remember my anxiety in those days. We stayed in a 300- square feet flat. 'I have no house and no career. What will happen when my son is born?' I asked my wife, who has always been a solid support system. And do you know that for six months after Papa kehte hain I did not record a single song?"
But things began changing soon, he recalls. "Kya karte the saajana was my next hit - again for Anand-Milind in the film Lal Dupatta Malmal Ka," says the singer. "It was to be recorded by Mohammed Aziz, then the top singer. But he was delayed at a Laxmikant-Pyarelal recording for a big film and Gulshan Kumar finally asked Anand-Milind to call 'the boy who had sung Papa kehte hain'. I did not even have a landline then and they called up at a shop below my flat. And I rushed to the recording jis tarah ek pyaasa kue ki taraf jaata hai," laughs Udit. Obviously, he can afford the luxury of laughing at the incident now.
But he is back in reflective mood as he adds, "I had little money for Aditya's school admission at the nearby St.Xavier's School, but the principal told us not to worry. Aditya walked to school and back daily with a servant who came to do housework. For the first seven years of his life he slept on a sofa in our cubby hole-sized flat. One day I told him, 'Your father is struggling and so are you. If we both reach somewhere, you should never forget these days.' And he understood what I said even at such a young age. When he got the offer to host Sa Re Ga Ma Pa from Zee TV, I left the decision to him."
Why does he think his work in Hindi films has reduced? Wasn't a part of the reason the fact that he was not fluent in English phrases that have become endemic within Hindi film songs?
And Udit laughs and replies, "Maybe! There was a time when I was singing 7 of 10 male songs. Now that kind of raj (reign) had to stop somewhere and I was mentally prepared for it. Do I look or behave like someone frustrated? I honestly think that after the good period I have seen this kind of decrease in work is healthy for my mental balance. I am or was never into negativity like why is X getting to sing so many songs when I am getting less. My whole effort is that I should sing as well or if possible better than before. But yes, I am definitely happy that the love of my fans, well-wishers and the industry has ensured that I am better off than all my contemporaries. If I am still thought about for Falak tak chal saath mere, a deep melody, and a Western-meets-folk song like Dil dance maare re in the same film Tashan, I feel truly blessed."
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