USHA MANGESHKAR

MangeshcurrY?

You could call her the lesser-known Mangeshkar. Usha Mangeshkar has always been the low-profile chhoti bahen of the Titanic Twosome - Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhonsle. But this emphatically does not mean that she is not known on her own steam. Her voice has packed a wallop in songs like Sultana Sultana and Mungda, not to forget her massive hit Jai Santoshi Maa.. She ruled the Marathi film scene in the ’70s and ’80s, and has a legion of Gujarati and Bhojpuri hits to her credit. She is now the advisor to Musicurry.com and its music label, and they have honoured her with their first-ever album Mungda Remix, a dance album of her hits.

Remixes have been in for years. Why did you wait so long?
Frankly, man nahin kartaa tha. I wanted to do it only if it was done well. In this album, we have just added additional voices and a peppy rhythm. Santosh Nair has seen to it that the original compositional core is intact. I have known Mandar Agashe of Musicurry for a long time, and he was keen that I do something that could appeal to the disco generation.

Did you decide on the songs or were they chosen for you?
Well, they were my selections, and they include Didi’s Gore gore o baanke chhore, which I love but which I have not originally sung. The problem was, we had little time at our disposal and I just could not collect my wits and remember more songs that were suitable for this kind of an album!

The inlay mentions “Cover Design by Usha Mangeshkar”....
I happen to have designed and painted at least 20-25 album covers for HMV. So this time too, I designed the inlay. Only I had to work on the computer, with someone who knew how to operate it!

Why could you not have done an original album?
I neither like or understand what goes in the name of pop today. And if one is familiar with Indian music, then we find every conceivable genre of music present in it! The only pop album I loved was Colonial Cousins. As I said, this remix was Musicurry’s idea. But my next album for them will be original. Though I would still not like to call it pop.

What according to you determines good and bad music?
All the music in this world is made from the same seven notes. But the lyrics should be meaningful. Today everything is created in a tearing hurry! Good lyrics appeal to the ear, mind and soul.

Why have you sung so less compared to your sisters?
There are several reasons for that, apart from my being much younger. Unlike Lata Didi, I never got to learn from my father, all I got from him was the music within my genes. Maine riyaaz bhi zyaada nahin kiya, and being younger, I was with my mother in Kolhapur most of the time, while Didi began her career here. Also there were other interests in my life - painting, as I said, was one of them. I also learnt Manipuri as I was very fond of dancing.

It was later that I began to actually learn music from Pt. Tulsidas Sharma. In those days every film had a variety of songs - say four solos, two duets, a sad song, a comedy song. And invariably Didi was the first choice for the heroine, as usually they would keep just one voice for one artiste. Of the rest, Asha was the automatic second choice. With singers like them around, others like me would be called only if they were not available.

At the same time, there were definite grades of films then. The humbler ones had small composers and that’s where I did a lot of my singing, besides on the regional front. And finally, my thin voice made me more suitable to child artistes - I have sung dozens of songs enacted by them!

How did you get your break?
It was the late Mohammed Shafi who literally pushed me into singing. But the song I sang for him was removed from that film. My actual break thus came with the late C. Ramachandra in Subah Ka Tara (1954), and my song Bhabhi aayi was a big hit. This was followed by Aplam chaplam and O baliye (Azaad), and Shanker-Jaikishan’s Yeh na thi hamari qismat (Main Nashe Mein Hoon).

Which music directors helped in developing your skills?
A music director is like a true teacher right till the final take of the recording. If he is good, he can develop your skill immeasurably, and also record in his own head your strong and weak points. The way you are taught how to sing even one song can be really useful. Every word can be uttered in one perfect, and many ordinary or wrong ways, and they teach you the right one. The late Chitraguptaji gave me songs from Shyam na bole Radha na boli (Jayshree/ 1956) till his last Bhojpuri films in the ’80s, and he was a tremendous teacher. Ram Kadam made me master the special qualities of folk music. Avinash Vyas gave me a lot of Gujarati songs and encouraged me to sing with a khuli awaaz. He would regularly give me duets with Praful Dave, a tremendous singer, who too was like an education for me. Also there was Dr. Bhupen Hazarika, who made me sing a lot of Assamese songs, and being an extraordinary singer himself, I really learnt a lot from him. Finally, I must mention that listening to my sisters itself taught me so much.

What else are you doing now?
I have just released an excellent Venus album Jai Santoshi Maa Jai Jai Devi Maa on Venus. I am now singing for a Rajasthani film. I have my shows too.

You may say that your voice is thin, but there is a punch in it that makes it particularly suitable for folk-based songs. Does that come from training or is it inborn?
I would say that it is the legacy of my father Dinanath Mangeshkar, as all three of us sisters, as well as my brother Hridaynath are blessed with this quality.

Which of the current singers do you rate high?
Without implying anything about the rest, I think Alka Yagnik is the best among the females - she has the kind of voice that suits every kind of artiste and song, like my sisters.

Among the males, Kumar Sanu has a deep understanding of the needs of the composition that he is singing.

Rajiv Vijayakar

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