 |
 |
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
So high Solo
Our
present singers have been quite unlucky in one respect - they
have musically grown up in the era of duets. And however good a duet may
be compositionally, it cannot match the solo in the challenges it offers
to the singer. In a solo, good, bad or indifferent, it is the singer who
has to shoulder the complete responsibility for the eventual calibre and
appeal of the song.
Among the male singers of the au courant generation, only Abhijeet has
been lucky enough to get a consistent series of solos. But the other Bhattacharya
- Kumar Sanu - has been at his best in solos too, even if attention has
been invariably focussed on his duets.
After all, the song for which Sanu swept every award in showbiz was Ek
ladki do dekha to aisa lagaa (1942-A Love Story/1994), with which R.D.Burman,
while mentally composing for Kishore Kumar, paradoxically made Sanu evolve
beyond the frontiers of a Kishore clone! The same film had Sanu also radiate
excellence in Kuchh na kaho (his version proving more evocative than even
Lata’s) and Rooth na jaana.
The year in which Sanu made his first impact - 1990 - was also marked
by three stand-out solos - the sad, solo version of the Rajesh Roshan
ace Jab koi baat bigad jaaye (Jurm) and the twin Aashiqui numbers, Ab
tere bin jee lenge hum and Ek sanam chahiye aashiqui ke liye.
In the pre- 1942-A Love Story phase, he delivered a cavalcade of hits
with Nadeem-Shravan, with very few noteworthy solos like Sochenge tumhein
pyar (Deewana) and Aashiqui mein har aashiq (Dil Ka Kya Kasoor), but it
was with Bappi Lahiri and Jatin-Lalit that he was at his best even then,
for these composers made him open up and sing full-throatedly even before
he evolved his throw with that Pancham swar song, something at which he
is unequalled among today’s male singers.
I remember hearing Sanu vocalize Bahut kathin hai dagar panghat ki, a
typical Prakash Mehra song, in Bappi’s Zindagi Ek Juaa, in which
Sanu sounded almost as rich and vibrant as Kishore Kumar - and uncannily
like him, even granting the clone factor. In the remaining songs of that
1992 film, Sanu was in superb form too, singing Kabhi kuchh khoya, Dil
to dil hai and the title song with a wealth of feeling and depth. In the
same year, Jatin Lalit made him exude sweetness in Dil hai mera deewana
(Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman) and Hridaynath Mangeshkar’s Ek haseen nigaah
ka (Maya Memsaab) was yet another feather in his pack, though heaven alone
knows why he was made (or allowed) to pronounce haseen with the full ‘n’
sound at the end.
Anu Malik slambanged into the reckoning in 1993, and at intervals, he
has given Kumar Sanu some wonderful solos, like Band hothon se, Yeh ujli
chandni and Jis din suraj ki pehli kiran (Sir), Tere dar par and Aanewala
pal ek sapna hai (Phir Teri Kahani Yaad Aayi), Do baatein ho sakti hai
(Imtihaan), Dil mera churaaya kyoon (Akele Hum Akele Tum) and Haan judaai
se dartaa hai dil (Kareeb).
Sanu’s solo innings in the Jatin-Lalit ambit has always been something
special. From Ae kaash ke hum hosh mein (Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa) and Aankhon
mein kya (Khamoshi) to Kehta hai yeh safar (Bada Din, Jab kisiki taraf
dil jhukne lage (Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha), Dil hai aisa raahi (Dillagi) and
Naraaz savera hai (Sangharsh) has been a singularly melodious lone journey.
These J-L songs all rank among the best songs of Kumar Sanu.
Add Nadeem-Shravan’s Do dil mil rahe hai (Pardes), which is among
the best solos Sanu has ever sung, Viju Shah’s Ae kaash kabhi aisa
hota (Mohra) and Rajesh Roshan’s soulful Yeh jo thode se hai paise
(Papa Kahte Hain) and the exhilarating Chand sitaren phool aur khushboo
(Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai) and you know why Sanu should be given more
solos to sing with that wonderful vocal punch and emotional expression
of his. As he says, “Other singers may be concerned with their own
gaayaki. I am concerned with putting the correct emotion.” This explains
why many a Sanu duet - like the duet version of the Jurm song , or Chhudake
daaman (Imtihaan) - is remembered as a solo, till you refresh memory by
reading the inlay or discover the female singer while hearing it again!
With Sanu, it’s always a case of solo, so high.
Rajiv Vijayakar