Chandana Dixit recalls losing a song to legendary Asha Bhosle

By Arundhuti Banerjee

Mumbai, Jan 5  Playback singer Chandana Dixit has recalled the time when she was lost out a song to the legendary Asha Bhosle in a Hrithik Roshan film.

The year was 2000, and the song in question is “Jaaneman jaaneman” in Hrithik’s debut film “Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai”, which would go on to become a blockbuster.

“The first dubbing I did was for the somng ‘Husn hain suhana’ (in the 1995 release ‘Coolie No. 1’) and my voice was retained in the final cut. That is how I started my journey in Bollywood playback singing. From then on, my voice was never replaced by any singers except for once. There was that song ‘Jaaneman janeman’ in ‘Kaho Na… Pyaar Hai’. I believe initially Asha ji recorded the song. I do not know why the music directors called me in the studio and asked me to sing the song. Then Asha ji re-recorded the song and my voice was not there in the final track. I think there was some miscommunication,” Chandana told IANS.

“That was the only time when my voice was replaced. I was initially dishearted because when you sing a song, you expect that to be released in your voice. Having said that, I am not carrying any baggage of bitterness for that incident because Asha ji sang it so well and she is loved by all. I love her, she is my inspiration as a singer,” she added.

Chandana, who lives in the US now, says she misses the hustle-bustle of life as a playback singer in Mumbai. Recently an updated version of her song “Husn hai suhana”, which she sang with Abhijit in 1995, was reworked and used in a new version of “Coolie No. 1”, and filmed on the remake’s lead pair Sara Ali Khan and Varun Dhawan.

(Arundhuti Banerjee can be contacted at arundhuti.b@ians.in)