Renowned singer Abhijeet Bhattacharya, in an unfiltered interview with Lehren, shares intriguing insights into his experience working with Oscar winner AR Rahman.
Category
✨
PeopleTranscript
00:00 Sir, if someone asks you to sing a song of Yes Boss, will you sing one?
00:04 I won't sing Yes Boss.
00:06 - It's possible. - Any song of yours.
00:08 Yes, yes.
00:09 It happens.
00:10 Many people don't want to do this work from the inside.
00:15 When you get a job satisfaction,
00:18 you think that if the environment is not good, I can't do this work.
00:23 I'm talking to Mr. Rahman.
00:25 I had a super hit song.
00:28 I sang with him.
00:30 "O' Viewers, Listen."
00:32 And before that, I was invited to Rangila.
00:39 So, already Udit had sung that song.
00:45 "What to say, or not to say, or how difficult it is."
00:50 Whatever that song was.
00:52 So, I was invited to sing that song.
00:54 The lyrics had changed.
00:56 The character was also changing.
01:00 Since Udit is singing for the character,
01:03 now you will be using it in a different way.
01:06 Maybe Aamir Khan's character was being shown there.
01:11 So, Ram Gopal and I went together in a flight.
01:15 We went to Chennai.
01:17 We sat and discussed in the hotel.
01:20 Then I sang that song.
01:23 On the first day, I had the experience that
01:26 we go to work when we work.
01:28 We don't know anything about singing.
01:32 We knew that after A. R. Rahman's "Roza",
01:35 new songs like Rangila were coming out.
01:37 Completely fresh.
01:39 So, there is no system to work.
01:43 I was sitting in the hotel.
01:45 I got a call, "We will call you."
01:49 I was thinking, "Let me get the lyrics."
01:53 I was scared.
01:55 What if I can't do it?
01:58 We have exams.
02:01 I know what to do with people I haven't worked with.
02:06 I was scared.
02:09 Suddenly, I got a call.
02:11 The next day, I was going back to Bombay.
02:17 In that mental state, I got a call from here.
02:21 Anu Mallik, the secretary of Jagdish, called me.
02:27 "Dada, where are you? Today, you have this and that."
02:30 I was like, "How? What should I do?"
02:33 I was not certain what was happening.
02:36 Suddenly, I was called to sing this song.
02:40 I felt that there is no music here.
02:44 It was just a patch.
02:46 They are giving you a song,
02:48 and you are told to do this much,
02:50 and this much,
02:52 and this much line in this lyric,
02:54 and this much line in different lyrics.
02:57 I was like, "What kind of a thing is this?"
03:00 Sing the song, get ready, go in front of the mic.
03:04 I didn't know the patchwork from here to there.
03:08 I was like, "I will reach this stage."
03:14 Then, I don't know what happened,
03:17 but later I saw that the song was being picturized.
03:20 It was different lyrics.
03:23 Then they kept the original song.
03:25 If you ask my favorite singer, that is Udit Narayan.
03:30 So, that was a very bad challenge for me.
03:33 I told Udit, "Don't ask me as a singer,
03:36 but when he hears that song,
03:39 his voice, that is what is established."
03:43 So, I was shocked.
03:46 I didn't know what I had sung.
03:51 I didn't know what was coming in my head.
03:55 At first, it felt unmusical.
03:58 After that, I sang the next time.
04:01 At 2.30 at night, I got a call.
04:07 I was called to the hotel in the morning.
04:10 I left on the morning flight.
04:12 At that time, I was recording more music.
04:15 All the music directors.
04:17 When I reached there,
04:19 they told me to go to the hotel.
04:21 They didn't know what the song was.
04:24 I found out that there was an assistant.
04:28 He was calling me to sing.
04:31 He was telling me what the song was.
04:34 I told him that I had gone to sing a song by A. R. Rahman.
04:37 I didn't know who the music director was.
04:40 I sang the song.
04:43 I missed my next day's schedule.
04:49 I missed one song.
04:51 I still remember it.
04:53 It was a big hit.
04:57 I had rehearsed the song and then I had to dub it.
05:02 I couldn't reach there.
05:04 Who sang the song?
05:06 I think it was Shanu.
05:11 It was a long time ago.
05:13 I missed that song.
05:15 After that, I got a call.
05:19 This song became a super hit.
05:22 A. R. Rahman's song.
05:25 "Hey, listen to me, my dear."
05:30 After it became a hit,
05:32 I got a call again.
05:37 I think it was the secretary's name.
05:40 Lawrence or someone.
05:43 "Sir, another song. This super hit song."
05:48 I said no.
05:50 My return flight will be at this time.
05:53 And tomorrow I cannot come.
05:56 I cannot come tomorrow.
06:00 He said, "Tomorrow you should come."
06:05 "You should not miss Rahman's song."
06:09 I said, "I missed my song."
06:13 "So, better I will give you the date."
06:16 "And tell me the time."
06:18 "I will come at this time."
06:21 After that, I never worked with him.
06:26 Because if you work on someone else's terms and conditions,
06:31 and the rest of the people who are like my God here in Mumbai,
06:37 who work in music,
06:39 patching, putting this here, putting that here.
06:42 Now see, there is a song, it is such a super hit.
06:45 In that, Sonu is not even aware.
06:48 Sonu has a record, and the song is of Javed Ali.
06:52 This is a very sad, very bad thing.
06:56 No one knows who is who.
06:59 So, all these things become strange.
07:03 After that, we don't do it.
07:08 One last question, sir.
07:09 What would you like to appeal to the audience, the fans, through Lehren Channel?
07:14 Or they can see you singing in films again.
07:18 No, no, no, don't do this scenario at all.
07:22 In films, you, you, who doesn't know the music?
07:26 In every film, 6-7 music directors, so many singers.
07:31 You, we, why should I be in that league?
07:35 If they record my song today, you won't even understand that it is my voice.
07:42 I don't know what they do to it.
07:45 Why should I do it?
07:48 And who is that music director who sits with us and prepares the song and creates it?
07:53 It doesn't happen.
07:54 We have to sing in the studio.
07:56 We will sit at home and send the song.
07:59 It doesn't happen.
08:00 That you have made a room at home, you have kept your mic.
08:04 The music director is sitting somewhere, thousands of miles away.
08:08 The singer is singing from his farmhouse.
08:11 Or he is singing in the car, or wearing a helmet.
08:13 How did we come into that culture?
08:15 So, I will tell the audience that these people are very good audience.
08:22 Who are listening to our songs to the maximum these days.
08:26 The songs are being heard to the maximum.
08:29 Either they are making our songs again, or listening to our songs.
08:33 So, the audience should be like this.
08:35 With time, the music is changing, but you are with us.
08:39 That is the biggest thing.
08:41 If you want to sing two lines while walking.
08:44 "The queen of my thoughts, the queen of my thoughts, all around."
08:54 Thank you very much for talking to us.
08:56 This was Jeet Bhattacharya, the famous Parsi singer who was talking to us.
09:00 Rehan Hussain with cameraman Khalid.
09:02 Lehren, Mumbai.
09:03 [Music]
09:09 you
