In an exclusive interview with Film Companion, singer Alka Yagnik spoke to Anupama Chopra about being the most streamed artist on YouTube in the world, what she thinks of today’s music in Hindi films and working with the likes of A.R. Rahman and Anu Malik.
When it comes to being the most streamed artist on YouTube in the world, Alka shared, “My daughter told me ‘You’re number one on these charts’. So, I said achcha theek hai. My daughter was stunned at my reaction. She made me understand the magnitude of what had happened, and I’m cool about it. Actually, I was pleasantly shocked, wondering, why me?”
“I feel there are so many wonderful artists around – how can it be me? The fact that’s God grace has been there, and the fact that it is me, I’m very humbled”, Yagnik further added.
When asked about her memories of recording the song “Ek Do Teen” from ‘Tezaab’ (1988), she recalled hearing the lyrics for the first time and losing her voice before recording the song and said, “Unfortunately, on the day of the recording, my voice was bandh. Ab yeh poochhke toh kharaab hota nahi, apni marzi pe kharaab hota hai. Iska bhi mood hota hai kabhi, ki nahi gaana mujhe. (On the day of recording, I lost my voice. Now voice doesn’t ask before getting sored right? It also feels sometimes not to sing).”
She also recalled her experience of working with music director Anu Malik for ‘Refugee’ (2000) and said, “When the songs of ‘Refugee’ were recorded, at that time I was going through deep depression. I lost my father. The following couple of years, I would not sing, I would not record. Phone aate rehte the recordings ke liye, I used to tell my mother that I don’t want to record.”
Her mother told her to step out and work to help cope with the trauma. When Anu Malik called her to sing the songs for J P Dutta’s ‘Refugee’, she refused. She shared, “He (Anu Malik) came to my house and sat down there dharna deke. He said, ‘if you don’t sing, I will not record. You have to come and record these songs’. I kept saying no, but my mother said ‘kam se kam studio toh jaa’ (atleast go to the studio). He literally held my hand and took me to the studio and said ‘You have to sing the songs; I will not do the songs otherwise’.”
Alka Yagnik continued, “You won’t believe it, once I learnt the song and went to the mic with my headphones, I forgot everything! It was just me and the song. And thereafter, I sang all the songs of the film.”
