Ek Saapna, Kahi Sapne
| She has gone out of her way, given her best, gifted the best part of her life to her one big dream — her ambitious dream to make it as a well-known singer. She has let nothing come in between her and her saapna (dream). She could have surrendered. She had every reason to surrender, surrender even after making it as a very popular success story but she didn’t because there was “some power above” guiding her |  |
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| to walk the right way when there were all the temptations to walk the
wrong way and get lost. That “some power above” sent her to the
right people at the right time, men who led her on the path to success. There were times when she wanted to give it all up. The sacrifices, the compromises, the competition and the farcical formula to find success did not suit her sensitivity but her dream had not deserted her because her dream was born to grant her all her wishes. It is a dream she has never given up faith in and will never ever again, now. She is one of those very rare cases, when the name does not let down its owner come hail or hailstorm. Saapna stays on to see her sapne (dreams) come true. Saapna Mukherjee who first came to Mumbai from Delhi didn’t know a soul. She didn’t know how she would go about her career — she wanted to be a playback singer. She didn’t have to wait long. Destiny sent music directors Kalyanji-Anandji as its messengers. They recognised her talent and gave her all the opportunities she needed to fulfil her sapna. There was another crucial stage when she was feeling lost, left alone, when she saw her dream fading away. This time destiny sent Feroz Khan and his family. She sang for Feroz Khan’s films and also became a member of the Khan family. She had nothing to worry as long as Feroz Khan sahab stood by her all the way. |
| Her dream was under a threat again. A time came when she was not happy
with the way her career was going. The cut-throat competition, the cattiness
so rampant in the field of singing was getting the better of her. She did
not want to be a part of the rat-race. She was still thinking and had almost
made up her mind to give up her dream and go back to New Delhi when she got
a call from Sahara, the company on the move. They had recorded a jingle for
the company in the voices of some of the leading singers but Subroto Roy,
the big boss of the company was not happy. He had to listen to Saapna just
once and she was his choice. He was the third and the ultimate messenger
destiny had sent to her. He encouraged her, inspired her, asked her to be
a part of the Sahara family. She accepted his offer without thinking twice.
He soon knew her voice resembled the voice of the great Geeta Dutt. He inspired
her to cut an album with all the best songs of Geeta Dutt sung by her. The
cassette has just been released and Saapna is happy that “sir”
is happy with the response to the cassette. “Sir” has almost changed
her life. She has found her zest to sing again. She has just recorded some
major songs for films like Feroz Khan’s Prem Aggan, Saawan Kumar’s
Mother ’98 and David Dhawan’s Bade Miya Chote Miya. The good word
has spread again. She is also planning to cut albums with music directors
like OP Nayyar, Viju Shah, Leslie Lewis (Colonial Cousins) and Sukhwinder.
She may also do some good video albums when the time comes, when the times
are good. Saapna, the singer has been resurrected and Saapna says it’s
all because of “sir” who brought her back from darkness and showed
her the new light, who gave her best dream back to her, her dream to do her
best for music. They call her “the boss woman” at Sahara but she
says she is just a part of the Sahara family. And as a part of the family
she will do anything for her family, specially for the head of the family,
her “sir”. You have to just walk with her at Sahara and you will
realise, you will feel the power of the woman, the power she has been blessed
with by the power of her talent, her destiny, her dreams. Saapna now wants
to sing and more than singing she wants to dedicate the rest of her life
to her “sir”’s Sahara and his hazaar sapne. Her dream now
is to see that she can help a crowd of other dreams come true. Her dreams
seem to have some sort of a divine power now.
Anger Never Helps |
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I don’t know why I knew that the great rift between the showman and his discovery, Mahima Chaudhary would come to an end sooner than it has. I wondered why the press made such a ballyhoo about a tiff between two individuals who got together or were brought together by destiny to work towards greater goals. True the two gave the gossip mills all the grist they needed for their hungry mills but I don’t think it was necessary to go to town about it. |
| The two were angry and it is very difficult to take sides when two thinking
adults are angry and they breathe fire, when every breath, every moment,
every step, is fire. Anger has destroyed some of the best and the greatest
human beings. It’s very very essential to tame anger. It was during
the war of anger between the showman and Mahima that I remembered the lines
put up on the walls of Anupam Kher’s office. The lines read: “It
is easy to become angry. But it is not easy to become angry. With the right
person For the right person To the correct degree For the appropriate
reason” It all started with anger. Mahima was angry because the showman
did not consider her for Taal and chose Aishwarya Rai instead. She behaved like a spoilt child. She went wild and made all kinds of wild statements against the showman, statements which only gave sadistic pleasure to the showman’s enemies (most of them enemies only because of his tremendous success in just seventeen years), statements which were made to run down the showman but threatened to run over the poor girl who was shooting her tongue of without watching it. I had never seen the showman so angry. He never expected behaviour like this from someone for whom he had put his whole career at stake. It’s good that she realised what she had done. It’s good that she has done what she has done now — patched up with her mentor. I don’t know what feelings must have crossed their mind when it happened but I am happy they have forgotten anger because anger is more dangerous than a bomb. Anger has destroyed mighty empires and emperors. Thank God, the guru and shishya have seen reason at the right time. Their world, our world, the world can be a better place now. |
