Chhaayaageet #132 - "This song was definitely on one side and the rest of his music career on the other."
He is performing at a concert as part of his USA tour. His performance includes one hit after another. The crowd is going crazy. They are getting to the end of the show. They start shouting for another song. The entire crowd is in unison.
The singer has a puzzled look on his face. He looks back at his troupe. His face has clearly the words written over it. He does not know that song. One of his troupe members senses the confusion. “Sirji, ye gaana to aapne yahan aane se pehle record kiya. Ye film abhi abhi release hui hai.” This song was very recently recorded. This film was just released.
That rings a bell. It all comes back to him now. How could he forget this song? If there was one song that tested his resolve and ability to be versatile, it had to be this one.
It was only a few months back...
He had met with the filmmaker about this new movie. The filmmaker wanted the singer for the title song. The filmmaker believed in providing a broader context to everyone involved. The film is an unusual romantic movie. A thriller as well. The hero shows he is in love but at the same time doesn’t want to be serious with the heroine.
The duo composers chosen for the film are old school. They believe in having rehearsals. Not just a few but several. Who does that any more? The singer was an odd choice for the title solo song. The hero of the film was always paired with a different singer. The singer is surprised too. Anyway, who cares? This was a big banner film and time to break into the big leagues.
After a few initial rehearsal rounds, they are all called for the final few before the actual recording. The singer reaches the studio. He sees musicians playing on a tabla and a guitar. In another corner, there is a sufi singer practicing high pitch religious notes. What’s going on here? He finds one of the composers. “Aaj ussi title song ki rehearsal hai? Ye sab kaun hai.” Are we rehearsing the same title song today? Who are all these people? The composer realizes why the singer is so confused. “Arre ek baat to mein kehna bhool hi gaya. Iss film main do title gaane hai. Hum chahte hain ki tum doosra gaana gao.” I forgot to tell you one thing. We would like you to sing the other song. The singer is further confused. “Par Sir, main to title song gaane waala tha.” But Sir, I was supposed to sing the title song. The composer replies, “Iss film main do title song hai. Tum doosra title song ga rahe ho.” This film has 2 title songs. You will sing the second title song.
The singer breathes a sigh of relief that he is still in the running for the title song. But what movie has 2 title songs?
The rehearsal begins. The singer has for some reason the hero's original staple voice engrained in him. He starts singing. It is his voice but the style is somebody else’s. The composers pretty quickly figure out something is wrong. “Yeh tumhara gaana hai, uska nahin. Usse gawaana hai to usse bula lein. Yehin paas main hi rehta hai.” This is your song, not somebody else's. If we wanted him to sing, we would have invited him. He lives close by. The singer is embarrassed and nervous. “Sorry, ye dobaara nahin hoga.” Sorry, this won't happen again.
The singer tries again in his own style. But his own style is so different. He has grown in one of the posh areas of Bandra, and attended schools where speaking Hindi was grounds for punishment. His Hindi diction has a tinge of English accent. He switches between the Hindi and English lyrics of a song without changing his tonal quality. Quite unique and now he is chosen to do this song that requires a tabla for the beats and in between a Sufi singer keeps throwing his own high pitches. Multiple rehearsals ensue. Finally, the song is completed and the film is released.
The entire story of this song flashed in front of his eyes. Right there on the stage.
This song was definitely on one side and the rest of his music career on the other.
Shaan and Kailash Kher were the male playback singers for the song Chand Sifarish from the film, Fanaa. The music was composed by Jatin-Lalit, lyrics by Prasoon Joshi, directed by Kunal Kohli, and produced by Yash Chopra and his son, Aditya Chopra. Fanaa was a romantic thriller with Aamir Khan and Kajol in the lead roles. They were romantically paired against each other for the first time.
Right from Aamir’s debut, Udit Narayan remained his playback voice. For some reason, Jatin-Lalit weren't able to get dates aligned with Udit and decided to move forward with Shaan. They were still big into doing multiple rehearsals as compared to the other contemporary composers.
Shaan showed up for rehearsals and was planning to sing the Mere Haath Mein which was also a title song. Towards the end, Jatin-Lalit switched the song and asked Shaan to sing Chand Sifarish. At first, Shaan was surprised that he got downgraded and won’t be able to sing the title song. Little did he realize that Chand Sifarish was also a title song. The other title song.
On the first day when they were rehearsing the song, the sight of a tabla and Kailash Kher practicing high pitch notes of Subhaan Allah was a bit intimidating for him. When he started singing, he defaulted to Udit Narayan’s style assuming that's what the composers would expect. Lalit was quite frustrated and had to beat into him that they needed his original style. There were multiple rehearsals that ran over multiple weeks and months before the song was completed.
This was the last film before Jatin and Lalit decided to split. The cracks in their relationship were already visible during the making of the film but it did not show up in the music of the film. Shaan and Kailash Kher won the Filmfare Best Male Singer award for the song Chand Sifarish and Prasoon Joshi won the Best Lyricist.
Music: Jatin-Lalit
Singers: Shaan and Kailash Kher
*ing: Aamir Khan, Kajol
Lyrics: Prasoon Joshi
Director: Kunal Kohli
Film: Fanaa (2006)