INTERVIEW

Anuradha Paudwal's return to playback-singing has led to a lot of speculation. Not just among her rivals but also others in the music industry. Is she merely out to regain her position at the top, or is she in search of the kind of clout that will help Super Cassettes consolidate it position on the music scene once again?

A few months ago, when trade mags reported that Anuradha Paudwal would be singing for films once again, there was rejoicing, and also consternation in certain circles. While composers like Rajesh Roshan and even Nadeem, who is now hostile towards Super Cassettes, welcomed her as a great asset ("because she is one of the most versatile singers around today"), some of the playback singers seemed a bit uncomfortable. Apparently, because of the clout she was bound to wield with the backing of a major music company (super cassettes) which is once again poised to make it to the centrestage in music business.

This fear was also fomented by Anuradha Paudwal's resourcefulness. Besides being a first-rate singer, she is endowed with an uncanny sense of popular music. To give the devil her due, Anuradha had played no mean role in the music revolution masterminded by Gulshan Kumar and Super Cassettes, notwithstanding the ethics of his marketing strategy. Lal Dupatta Mal Mal Ka and Ashiqui were pathbreakers, the latter, discovering a market which until then very few knew existed. Their success was as big a tribute to Anuradha Paudwal's musical acumen as to Anand-Milind's and Nadeem-Shravan's respectively.

Lal Dupatta..., incidentally, was born out of a desire to sing a few "really good" songs, as Anuradha recalls. "I had joined hands with Anand-Milind to bring out an album of love songs," she says. "When the songs topped the charts, the idea of a film happened." Ashiqui was a continuation of the innovative process. Though Lal Dupatta didn't work as a film, Ashiqui directed by Mahesh Bhatt was a success — mostly because of the music. The film was like one long chitrahar interrupted by the romantic interludes of Anu Agarwal and Rahul Roy. The songs that didn't fit into Aashiqui, found their way to another Bhatt film (produced by Gulshan Kumar), Dil Hai Ki Maanta Nahin, a Pooja Bhatt-Aamir Khan starrer.

Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahin saw Anuradha Paudwal and Gulshan Kumar in the eye of a storm, thanks to the now infamous game of dubbing. Gulshan Kumar's face-off with a "high-handed" Kumar Sanu led to most of his songs being dubbed, some of them by Anuradha herself. Earlier, Anuradha had caused a stir by dubbing some popular numbers from Indra Kumar's Dil, originally rendered by Alka Yagnik.

The stupendous success of Ashiqui, Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahin, Dil and Saajan put Anuradha in an enviable position among female playback singers. It was, in a way, the culmination of a long struggle, which had begun with a haunting alaap in the Jaya-Amitabh starrer Abhiman under SD Burman in 1973. It was a period dominated by the Mangeshkar sisters, Lata and Asha.

However, as dramatically as she had risen to the top, Anuradha decided to chuck it all up one fine day. "I have made my point," she argued with those who questioned her incredible decision in disbelief. "Now I want to do what I enjoy doing, at my own pace." What she enjoyed doing was bringing out a series of devotional albums. With Super Cassettes moving out of the film music scene, she thought, she wouldn't be too comfortable working outside. It was as if she could sense the confusion that was about to confound the world of film music.

It is ironical that Anuradha's second innings should have begun with a repetition of a dubbing controversy, with an aggrieved Alka Yagnik once again questioning the ethics of already released songs being dubbed (It had happened before in Dil). But Anuradha is too cool to the charges. It's like a kettle calling the pot black, she smiles dismissively. She sees the whole controversy as a manifestation of insecurity (see interview).

Can Anuradha Paudwal's comeback disturb the prevailing equations in the playback scene? Not many are willing to hazard a conjucture. Nobody wants to stick his neck out. "There are a number of singers these days and the competition is fierce," avers a diplomatic Anu Malik, who has already recorded two songs with Anuradha — one for Khauf and another for Mr & Mrs Khiladi. "Alka and Kavita are already there, strongly entrenched, and there are a few talented new singers making their presence felt. I have introduced a girl called Sanjeevani, who is very good. I find Hema Sardesai good too." Will Anuradha be able to recapture her position at the top? Anu sleeps over the question. And reacts nearly four hours later, "She is a fantastic singer," he says. "She has sung my Khauf song exceptionally well."

Alka seems nonchalant about the difference Anuradha's comeback would make to playback scene. "I don't think it will make much of a difference," she says. "I had made a niche for myself when she (Anuradha) was very much there. I had worked my way up against strong competition. So I am not perturbed. In any case, I mostly sing youthful numbers."

Kavita Krishnamoorthy, who has been going neck-to-neck with Alka in recent times, is more pragmatic. "It depends on the kind of clout Super Cassettes manages to wield," she says. "And the number of films they take on. Anuradha is bound to be the first choice to sing for all films whose music rights are with Super Cassettes. Ideally, the composer should decide who should sing a particular song but that's not how things work here. It's the music companies which take all the decisions." About her own position she says, "I have been mostly singing songs with a light classical base. I rank third when it comes to singing romantic numbers and duets, though I do enjoy singing them whenever I get a chance. I think, Anuradha will affect Alka the most, because she has been singing most of the romantic numbers."

Tips and Venus have shown strong loyalties towards Alka Yagnik in the past few years. In the last couple of years, however, Kavita has strengthened her presence considerably especially after her brilliant numbers in 1942-A Love Story and later Khamoshi - The Musical.

Kumar Taurani of Tips and Ganesh Jain of Venus claim that they would have no problems getting Anuradha to sing for their company. She has already sung for Tips' Bade Miyan Chhote Miyan and Dehak.

"She is an excellent singer," says Taurani, "and it's up to the music directors to decide if they want her to sing for them."

Jain doesn't think that Anuradha's reentry would lead to cold-blooded rivalry. "Today, the music scene is like an ocean. There's enough room for everyone," he says. Besides Tips, Anuradha has already sung for Venus and HMV. With Super Cassettes pitching for the music rights of a large number of new films (they already have on hand about 20 films including five from ABCL), it shouldn't be long before Anuradha makes her presence felt.

Jatin, of Jatin-Lalit duo of composers, agrees with Taurani and Jain that music companies other than Super Cassettes should have no reservations about getting Anuradha to sing for them. "As far we are concerned, there will be no interference," says Jatin. "ABCL's Loveria wasn't with Super Cassettes when we got Anuradha to sing. The film went to them later. The day we heard that she was open to singing for films again, we approached her. The song she sang for us has turned out so good that when Pyareji (Pyarelal) heard the song he couldn't believe that it was the same Anuradha Paudwal."

Jatin regrets that Anuradha's comeback should be shrouded in a controversy. "I think she shouldn't have dubbed Alka's songs. Such things lead to unnecessary hostility."

But hostility, feels Anuradha, has always baulked her. "People here don't like competition," she says somewhat cynically. But she is prepared for the battle. To reclaim what she had voluntarily surrendered.

INTERVIEW

Why did you make a sudden decision to return to playback singing after being away for seven years?

Wherever I went people kept asking me why I had given up singing. They were film buffs who only listened to film music, and didn't know I was singing a number of non-film songs. Their concern set me thinking. And then, Super Cassettes which had been going slow on film titles, was once again back into film music. So I thought it was the right time to reconsider my earlier decision.

Why did you quit in the first place? Your decision, when you were right on top, seemed to intrigue a lot of people.

There wasn't a dramatic reason at all. I felt, I had had enough and wanted to do my own thing. I wanted to bring out a series of devotional albums. Super Cassettes was also moving away from film music and film production at that juncture. The market situation had got distorted, with too many players invading the field.

When you decided to make a comeback, why did you have to do so on a controversial note — by dubbing Alka's songs in Itihaas? It's generally being seen as a move to grab attention.

I didn't have to do anything of the sort for attention. I had quit on my own when I was doing extremely well, and left the field wide open. I didn't have any great desire to tread on Alka's toes. But what happened has a history behind it. I want to clear things once and for all. On the eve of the release of Itihaas, the producers of the film approached Gulshanji and said they were very unhappy with the marketing of the cassettes of the film (The music rights of the film were with ABCL). Though the film was about to be released, the music hadn't picked up. So could he do something to salvage the situation? Gulshanji offered to take up the marketing only if he was free to get some of the songs dubbed to improve the quality. The producers agreed and that was how I came into the picture. If everything was all right and the music was doing well, why would the producer approach Gulshanji? After everything was sorted out, I was contacted by the music directors of the film, Sameer Sen-Dilip Sen, to dub threes songs. They also got Hariharan to dub a song originally sung by Kumar Sanu. But nobody is questioning the ethics of it. More than the dubbing, the reaction seems to have been directed at my comeback. I was told that some of the interested parties had got together to work out a strategy to "greet" me when the news of my recording my first film song, after nearly seven years, was out.

Apparently, Alka has said somewhere that I have tried to throttle her career by dubbing the Itihaas songs. I didn't know her career depended on those three songs. I don't understand why such controversies begin and end with Anuradha Paudwal? Nobody said a thing when Lataji dubbed a Kavita Krishnamoorthy number in 1942: A Love Story. And Alka herself has dubbed Kavita's song in Premgranth. I see insecurity behind such tirades. If you have an identity and people know your worth, nobody can ignore you. When I decided to comeback to sing in films people who mattered welcomed me.

But Nadeem has said that he and Shravan won't work with you.

That's upto them. What can I do about it?

Apparently, he is bugged because Super Cassettes went back on the initial commitment and dumped his private album Hi Ajnabi.

To put the record straight, the manner in which Nadeem sold Hi Ajnabi to Gulshanji was dubious. He approached me first and said we should do an album of love songs on the lines of Ashiqui. `Let's recreate the Ashiqui magic,' he said. I was game. I discussed it with Gulshanji and he was open to the idea. Then, without telling me, he (Nadeem) quietly went and sold his Hi Ajnabi to Gulshanji. He was later upset because the hoarding announcing his album didn't go up in time. He was himself involved in the artwork for the hoarding, and it wasn't ready in time. Gulshanji couldn't wait forever to release the cassette and that seemed to upset Nadeem. So, after recording three songs with me for Ashiqui II, he began stalling. He told Gulshanji that he would record with me only after his hoarding was put up. I am very hurt by his behaviour.

How have the other composers reacted to your comeback?

They seem happy. I have recorded with Jatin-Lalit, Anu Malik and Rajesh Roshan, and it has been absolutely fine.

Since you're attached to Super Cassettes, will you sing for other music companies like Venus and Tips?

Why not? It depends on the composers. If they want me to sing, I will, for any company. I have already sung for Tips, Venus and HMV. But only film songs. I will be doing non-film albums only for Super Cassettes.

In your `tribute' series, you have mostly chosen Lata Mangeshkar's favourite composers, and sung all her immortal numbers. Was it an attempt to upstage her with a vengeance?

I don't think it's fair to say that. Did anybody say Lata Mangeshkar was trying to upstage KL Saigal or Amirbai Karnataki when she brought out the Shradhanjali series? I genuinely admire the work of composers like SD Burman, Madan Mohan and Roshan. I have grown up admiring their immortal numbers, so why can't I pay them a tribute? I wish people would stop attributing motives to me.