You worked here from the mid-’70s to the early ‘90s. What is the difference you see in the Indian music scene between then and now?
Obviously there are changes - they are bound to be there. Music has to be done according to trends. So much technology has come in - that always influences the kind of music we get. But I feel that there are a lot of good songs being made even today in India. I have been following film and non-film music here and I quite enjoy today’s songs. I think that Pritam, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Vishal-Shekhar and A.R.Rahman all are very innovative and have distinctive styles.

What about the singers?
I love Alka Yagnik, Sunidhi Chauhan, Shreya Ghoshal and Sonu Niigaam in particular. But everyone’s good.

Despite being loved by the masses, you barely sang a fraction of what you could have. Tongues had wagged then about politics and manipulations.
There was nothing in those stories. I was never treated like a foreign artiste and no one manipulated anything. But there were practical difficulties. Government regulations on both sides: Bangladesh - where I migrated from Pakistan in 1974 - and India had too much red-tape. And if a composer wanted me, it meant all the problems created by the distance - I wasn’t available right away, in the eye so to speak, in Mumbai. But I never faced any hostilities. On the contrary, not only did I get a lot of love but I also think that people love me even more today. It was amazing that people shower me now with even more love and affection and it’s wonderful that they remember so many of my songs. So with regulations eased up too, I hope to sing here more frequently.

You spoke about technology. Today technology can allow you to dub a song in Dhaka for a film or project in Mumbai.
Frankly, I would not like that. I would like to be there with the music director and lyricist in the studio. I prefer the greater involvment that I see that way.

So you would be keen to work with all the young composers.
Inshallah, doors will open after this Music Today album.

Before we talk about the album, we would like you to share your past glories. Weren’t the albums Superuna and your Gharaonda songs the most popular after your own hits like Dam-a-dam mast qalandar and Mera babu chhail chhabila?
Strictly speaking, Superuna with Bappi Lahiri was a collaboration between EMI in UK and Saregama (then HMV) here. Most of the songs like Disco express, Haiya hoo, Hello hai, Pukaro and De de pyar de and others were very popular. Bappida of course gave me many songs in other films as well. But my best experience in albums here was Loves Of Runa Laila in which I got to sing with O.P.Nayyarsaab.

I recall a statement by Nayyarsaab that after Asha Bhosle it is you who understood his compositions best. How was the experience of working with him?
It was absolutely amazing. I was thrilled to even get the opportunity of working with a legend like him. The album never reached the commercial heights of Superuna because it was a niche product with semi-classical numbers. Nayyarsaab was such a wonderful person.

Was there any film songs that you feel did not get its due?
My last-released song Main kali anaar ki from Sapnon Ka Mandir was a wonderful experience - my first of two with Laxmikantji and Pyarelalji, which was recorded even before Agneepath. Laxmikantji was so full of fun and Pyarelalji was so different from him!

And what about all your other composers?
Kalyanjibhai and Anandjibhai were of course the first to record with me for the title-song of Ek Se Badh Kar Ek. They were both very nice people and Kalyanjibhai kept us in splits with his humour.

Were you told that you were singing for Helen?
Of course, I was. I kept her persona in mind and sensuality in the singing. I had seen so many films of Helen. In fact, I was to do shows with her later.

Who else did you perform with among Indian artistes?
Kalyanji-Anandji, of course. I also did shows with Mohammed Rafisaab and Kishore Kumarsaab. There was one show that featured them both. The experience cannot be described in words!

And we have no hopes of you comparing them?
Not at all. You cannot compare such titans. But incidentally I had the pleasure of recording live with Rafisaab in a duet from Jaan-E-Bahaar that was composed by Bappida again. Bappida was again great fun!

What about Jaidevsaab, who gave you your biggest hits Do deewane shaher mein and Tumhe ho na ho?
Jaidevsaab was such a gentle, caring soul, immensely sweet and talented. Besides the film Gharonda I also sang a bhajan he composed for a show on Doordarshan.

Not only were you the first Pakistani/Bangladeshi singer to become popular in India, but also the first to be watched and not just heard.
Yes, because I realized that what an artiste wore by way of outfits and accessories and their carriage had their own impact to enhance the song. But you must understand that the visual appeal was secondary. The song had to be really good for the visual factor to succeed. I never tried covering up a mediocre composition with a performance.

Which happens often today.
(Laughs)

But in that conservative era did you face trouble back home or over here because your songs were largely Sufi and you were very liberal with your dressing?
(Laughs) Yes, I did face brickbats in Bangladesh. But after sometime it stopped. Whatever I was doing was spontaneous and never calculated. The song and quality were always the main thing.

So how did you come to do this album, 18 years after your film Sapnon Ka Mandir?
It was Music Today that thought of me. The Great Big Punjabi Wedding is a seven-CD set and I have sung eight tracks across the compilation. The songs are mostly traditional arranged by Gaurav Dayal. I grabbed their offer because I had never done these kind of songs ever before. The songs cover all aspects of a Punjabi wedding and so I told them to send demos of the songs and chose eight of them, all of which had different moods. My top favourite is Aaja laadiye.

Are all these songs in Punjabi?
Yes, they are. But their appeal is not restricted to that state. When my daughter got married in Dhaka two years ago, Kaala shaakaala, one of the songs I have chosen, was also played in the Sangeet programme.

Are you mainly into shows now or films?
I am mainly recording songs for films in Bangladesh.

Finally, you have two unique achievements: a Guinness Book entry for recording 30 songs in three days and recording, performing in and winning honours in all three countries - India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Where did the 30 songs happen and how?
The recordings happened in Mumbai in the late ‘80s for a private album on Concord Records. They were all semi-classical numbers composed by Nissar Bazmi and he re-did them. I sang on tracks, so it was not so difficult.

So which is preferable to you, singing on tracks or recording live?
Singing live is more challenging any day.