Dec 16, 2006 12:23 PM
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We often choose some numbers to describe the credibility of Kumar Sanu, like 28 songs recorded in a single day(so what? they were all cover versions), 5 consecutive filmfare awards(so what? he did not get any in the next 12 years), over 9000 songs in different languages(so what? Lataji sang much more). Actually these guiness record or filmfare awards or so many songs are not the true measure of Kumar Sanu. His measure is his emotions in his voice which no other singer ever had in the past or does have at present. He redefined emotions in playback singing. If you ask me my top 5 favorite male playback singers, I would say Kishore, Rafi, Udit, Yesudas and Abhijeet. If you ask me why they are favorite, I will work on my brain and will come up with some brilliant reasons. But when it comes to Kumar Sanu, my brain will not work anymore. Because to me, Kumar Sanu songs are songs of the heart. If I sit down to judge his songs, maybe I will come up with all those wrongs in his singing which the top music personalities and the musiclovers pointed out from time to time - he is too Kishorish in some songs or he is too nasal or his breathing sounds are just too much or he did not keep pace with the taals of the songs or he just did not pronounce the words correctly - really so many, so many! So many criticisms I have heard about his singing over the last 16 years. Yes, he was a much better singer during 1990-1999 than 2001-2006, but still one thing was never missing in his songs(in spite of different styles of singing in different phases) and that is EMOTION. When I first heard him closely during 1991-1992, I told myself , "Yes, he is influenced by Kishore. But did Kishore have so much emotion? Is it possible to have more emotion than Kishore Kumar?" I kept asking myself again and again. Then after a decade, I found answer to this question. I found that there are many who think like me. They are also probably EMOTIONAL FOOLS like me. I always have high respect for classical training of singers, I used to laugh at nasal singing of the singers in 40s and 50s, I used to get irritated at clone singers. But when I came to observe Kumar Sanu's singing closely, I found that he overcame all these barriers through emotions. And Hindi film industry also runs through emotions. Bollywood films are full of emotions. So, when Bollywood saw Kumar Sanu, they forgot other talented singers like Udit or Abhijeet who were seniors to Kumar Sanu in terms of work experience in Bollywood. Kumar Sanu became the one and only male playback singer of Bollywood for quite some time until and unless he himself made opportunities for others through some big mistakes(which are known to everybody). But during that Kumar Sanu cyclone period(1991 -1995), he sang some all time classics in such a short time! Not only that, he gave all time classics during 1996-1999 and 2001-2005 as well(but fewer in number). And the first thing to mention about these songs is just two words "Overwhelming Emotions". No male or female playback singer could make me cry so much as Kumar Sanu could through emotions. The most recent example is the title song of "Humko Tumse Pyaar Hai". Whenever I listen to it, I at least listen three times in a row and every time I cry - I don't know why. A romatic song also brings tears! Why? God knows! But eventhough emotions can bring tears to the eyes, it can not bring awards - particularly those type of awards where decisions are taken through intellectual judgements. That is why, in spite of innumerable all time classics(more than any other bollywood playback singer), he did not get a single national award because national awards are decided by the intellectuals. There is no place for heart there. Otherwise during 1991-1995, Kumar Sanu could have been candidates for national awards for at least 50 of his songs.
Now out of these innumerable songs(I myself have more than 1000 of his songs), it is really difficult to choose 10 songs. So, I shall put the following restrictions on myself
1) It should be a solo song,
2) It should not be from 1942 A Love Story,
3) It should not be a Nadeem-Shravan or Anu Malik or Jatin Lalit song.
With these three restrictions, I go ahead and choose the following ten:
1) Kiss Mausam Mein from film Khudai - sung under the music direction of Jagjeet Singh.
2) Kuch Bhi Nahin Hai Zindagi from Meena Bazar - an unknown composer gave this great song to Kumar Sanu.
3) Bahut Din Hue Hain from Mere Meherbaan - disco king Bappi Lahiri composed completely different type of songs for Kumar Sanu - this is one example.
4) Kabhi Kuch Khoya from Zindagi Ek Juaa - another Bappi Lahiri composotion. Much before 1942 ., Sanu sang for Anil Kapoor.
5) Ghairon Se Baat Karke from Shoharat - Nikhil Vinay gave several great songs to Kumar Sanu - this is one of them from a C grade film.
6) Utra Na Dil Mein Koi from Uff Yeh Mohabbat - Another enjoyable composition of Nikhil Vinay.
7) Chand Se Parda Kijiye from Aao Pyaar Karen - Aadesh Srivastav became Aadesh Srivastav through the Sanu songs in this film.
8) Yaaden Teri Yaaden from Yeh Lamhe Judaai Ke - Much before "Tum Bin" happened, this classic was actually sung by Kumar Sanu which has almost the same tune as the title song of "Tum Bin" - another Nikhil Vinay song.
9) Tere Pyaar Mein Main Madhosh Raha from Major Saab - Kumar Sanu has many great songs which the film producers and directors cruelly edited out from the final prints of the films. This is one such classic.
10) Haalat Na Puchho Dil Ki from Yeh Zindagi Ka Safar - Had this song been picturised on SRK or Ajay Devgan, Sanu would have got at least a nomination. But people forgot it really really fast. This way, one can mention so many low profile classics of Kumar Sanu.
You can notice one thing that I did not really write any review of these ten songs because the most important thing for each of these songs is emotions and they are so close to my heart! It is true that if someone gets overboard on emotions, that is not good. Once or twice it so happened that Kumar Sanu did not have control on himself and spoiled some songs. But I think those are really few and far between. Actually if the music director knows how to use Kumar Sanu, then we can get all time classics as we got in the past. And the best person could have been ARR. But ARR-Sanu combination will never happen(it only happened once in the past) because of their differences in opinions. This really deprived the music directors from the best possible things that could have happened in Bollywood film music. And now Kumar Sanu has almost disappeared from playback singing. Kumarsanulovers will have to remain satisfied with his past works only.
