Time doesn't heal anything, it gives you strength to carry weight: Usha Uthup

India Today

Legendary singer Usha Uthup reflects on her extraordinary 57-year journey in a candid conversation with India Today, touching on music, loss, love, and resilience.

Transcript

00:00:00I want to laugh till I cry, I want to sing till I die.

00:00:21Do you agree with the fact that, you know, music that is bought in of what was sung earlier then, you know, regurgitated?

00:00:27They probably wouldn't have heard a song like Babuji dheere chalna, pyaar mein zara sumbal.

00:00:36They wouldn't have heard it if there wasn't anybody else to sing it.

00:00:40You have to sing what you want to sing.

00:00:41Teerat karo bhaari jawani mein, budha pa kisne dekhyas hai, budha pa kisne dekhyas hai.

00:00:57It is an honour. It is a pleasure. You have no idea. I am ecstatic to be sitting right next to you. I have grown up with my house reverberating with your music since I was a child. My mother used to love your music.

00:01:09And let me tell you, Preeti, how thrilled I am to be with you and how grateful I am that you would want me on your show because this is truly a fangirl moment for me.

00:01:20I mean, I just love watching you on TV. I just love watching the way I know you're going to say you're embarrassed, but this is the truth.

00:01:29And when it comes from the heart, then you know that I really mean it because when I entered over here to do my recording and then I found out that, you know, you were going to be there.

00:01:39I mean, it just kind of, I was truly in a tizzy because, you know, there are certain programs of yours that I've watched and I just love the way you conduct yourself. Really.

00:01:52You know, ma'am, I'm deeply embarrassed and, but like I said, I am embarrassed, but I love it.

00:01:56And don't call me ma'am. Everybody calls me Didi and the original Didi.

00:02:00Original. The original Didi.

00:02:02Yeah. Yo.

00:02:05No, I'm going to, you know, why I allowed you to finish? Because I'm going to, for everything else in this podcast is a separate thing.

00:02:12I'm going to just take this and make my mother hear it up.

00:02:14Yes, absolutely.

00:02:15Because it'll make my mom cry. You know, this is huge, but thank you.

00:02:19You have no idea how long I've been wanting to do this.

00:02:21I have been in touch with your team and, you know, you, and you came to Delhi for the show.

00:02:26We thought, you know, we'll speak with you then.

00:02:29This whole visit to West Bengal was, and Kolkata was engineered that we could, you know, have this engagement.

00:02:37But thank you. It is, you know, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's a big one for me, whichever way you see it.

00:02:42For me too. For me too. I just, as I said, I think there's one thing that before you start your questionnaire

00:02:50or we start our more serious discussion, this is very serious.

00:02:54One of the things that I really loved about the way you conducted yourself was, you know, you were covering the,

00:03:03I think it was just after some disaster. Okay.

00:03:07I'm not sure whether it was Uttarakhand or where, and you had your hair tied up in a ponytail at the back and you could have just been anybody on the road and you didn't need to be Preeti at all at that time.

00:03:21And I said, gosh, is this truly this girl? I mean, so brave and not bothered about what was happening around.

00:03:30You were just so brave. I mean, Nari Shakti at its height.

00:03:34No, no, no. It's like I said, it's just, I'm just allowing you to say it because I'm going to keep it.

00:03:37This is for posterity. My kids are going to watch this.

00:03:40Kids, you have kids?

00:03:41No, I don't, but maybe in time.

00:03:43Okay.

00:03:44If at all.

00:03:44Maybe in time, yeah.

00:03:45But thank you. And what I'm going to do is because this, you know, you're used to very rich introductions.

00:03:52I had written one, but our nature of our show is such that our first question begins with asking our guest to introduce herself or himself to our listeners, to our audience.

00:04:02Can you, can you do that for us?

00:04:03Yes, of course. And I would do it normally like I do every day is Namaskar, Namaskaram, Sat Srikal, Salam Alekoum.

00:04:12And thank you so much for having me on your show.

00:04:15I'm Ushautup. I'm Ushautup. I'm Ushautup. And I'm absolutely thrilled to be on this show because there's so much to talk about.

00:04:24I mean, you know, I've been singing for 57 years and

00:04:28And I'm saying this because I sing in 17 Indian languages and 8 foreign languages.

00:04:43And I think, you know, 17 Indian languages, I advocate that to everybody because, you know, I can't figure out why in a country of, I mean, you know, so many languages and thousands of dialects.

00:05:00Why is it that singers or debaters or whatever you call them, okay, why do they restrict themselves only to one language or wherever they come from?

00:05:11Why? This has been a question on my mind for a long time, ever since I started singing, because I realized that when you sing in the language of the people or talk in the language of the people, when I say people, I mean, for me, it's a nightclub singing or, you know, doing a stage show.

00:05:28If I find that there's one Punjabi person over there or one Bengali person, then I would sing in Bengali or I will sing in Punjabi.

00:05:38And the connect is just amazing. Though I am a person who keeps on saying music has no barriers, no caste, colour, creed, language, gender, nothing.

00:05:48But every language has a musicality, has a certain kind of a rhythm to it.

00:05:56And I think that rhythm, that rhythm of life is what is so important.

00:06:01And that's the Usha I'd like you all to know, that I believe that it's important and such an advantage for all of us, really.

00:06:09I mean, imagine if you were born in Germany or France or anything, you just have that one language to sing in or talk in.

00:06:16Whereas over here, I mean, I could, you know, we can sing, we can learn Malayalam, we can do Tamil, we can do Gujarati, we can do Marathi, Konkani, so many.

00:06:30I mean, what a fantastic country ours is.

00:06:33But it is amazing because you're talking about language and we are having this conversation to sing and be proficient in 17 Indian languages, 8 foreign languages.

00:06:44It is amazing.

00:06:46It is amazing.

00:06:47It's, how do you do it?

00:06:48Do you have a favourite?

00:06:49No, there are many people, many other artists also who would probably say she is not the only one.

00:06:55There are many others.

00:06:56But, Priti, mine is not just to put it on a record, you know, to say, oh, I've done so much.

00:07:02It's not like that.

00:07:03Mine is totally different.

00:07:05I'm singing in these different languages every day.

00:07:08Whenever I'm doing a show, like today, we're doing a show in Calcutta in a place called Rajdanga, which is for a Pithepuli festival.

00:07:19Now, that's a sweet dish that we have in Bengal, okay?

00:07:22It's made in different ways, in different areas.

00:07:26And it's really a fantastic Utsav that they have, a festival.

00:07:31And there are so many artists who take part in this.

00:07:34Now, when I say that I can sing in Kannada, it's not that I can only sing, you know, just to say that, oh, I've recorded this.

00:07:44No.

00:07:45But if I find that there's a Kannadiga person in the audience today, I would definitely sing,

00:07:51I'd break into that.

00:07:59Or if I was, you know, if I found that with all this, there's somebody from Assam, I mean, completely different.

00:08:07What a fantastic country.

00:08:09I just can't get over the fact that, you know, we have so much to our advantage and we don't make use of it.

00:08:16So I would say,

00:08:17And I would break into an Ahumia song.

00:08:28And I think that's what is so beautiful about it.

00:08:31So it's not that it's very easy, but hey, it's not that difficult.

00:08:37Do you know the languages?

00:08:39Can you have a conversation in all these languages?

00:08:40No, I can't.

00:08:41Not in all the languages.

00:08:42Not in all.

00:08:43But I can get by.

00:08:45And I think when I learn a new language to sing, I mean, when I'm learning a new song,

00:08:52then I'm minimum, I write, I make three drafts of it, okay, and I write it out.

00:09:00So this is for also the younger people, maybe even you, who are so used to just typing everything

00:09:07on your mobile.

00:09:07I tell you, you have to get into writing and reading one more time.

00:09:14Forget about the mobile.

00:09:15I mean, for some time and in the day and just get back to reading and writing.

00:09:20Because when you write, then you learn, you learn the song better.

00:09:24You learn the words better.

00:09:26You can memorize it better.

00:09:27And it gets into your heart, you know, which not necessarily happens when you're typing

00:09:33out something on a mobile and using short forms.

00:09:37Oh, my God.

00:09:37I can't bear that.

00:09:40I really can't.

00:09:40Do you do it with your kids?

00:09:41What?

00:09:42The short form.

00:09:43Do they do it with you?

00:09:43No way.

00:09:45No way.

00:09:46And every day's message is fully with and punctuation marks, which is so very, very important,

00:09:53I feel, because the whole sentence can change, you know.

00:09:56If you put the wrong punctuation at the wrong point.

00:09:58So there's a lot that can get lost in translation.

00:10:02So I do a lot of writing.

00:10:05And when I write the song, then I remember it better.

00:10:09And then I'm able to assimilate what it really means.

00:10:13And I think that is very, very important.

00:10:16So I learn the meaning of the song.

00:10:19First, I learn the pronunciation.

00:10:21Then I learn the meaning of the song.

00:10:22And then the expression.

00:10:24Actually, I get by.

00:10:25I'm quite a cheat that way.

00:10:27I get by with my expression.

00:10:30So if somebody asks me, Tamil Terima?

00:10:34And I'll say, or if they say, Malayala Mariya.

00:10:38Malayali Ano.

00:10:39And then I say, Pinna.

00:10:41You know, the way I say it.

00:10:42That's a little bit.

00:10:43Yeah.

00:10:43That's a little bit.

00:10:44And somebody says, oh, you're going to go to Bangla.

00:10:46And I say, the way I say, people think I'm Bengali.

00:10:50Okay.

00:10:51So it's necessary to get the, I think the most important thing is the expression of the local

00:10:58people.

00:10:58So when you get the expression, then you can get by in the market.

00:11:03And if you can buy your groceries and everything in the market with whatever broken language you have, it's okay.

00:11:10You know, I'm going to ask you, how is it that a young girl who was born in a middle class South Indian family who traveled across the country with her father, who was in the police force, sets up life in Kolkata, West Bengal?

00:11:25Well, this is a question I love to answer because it's like a fairy tale.

00:11:31And truthfully, it's like a script out of a Hindi film.

00:11:36It was my premiere night in Trinkas in Kolkata.

00:11:41Did Trinkas happen first or Nine Gems happen first?

00:11:44Nine Gems.

00:11:44Nine Gems happened first.

00:11:46And then.

00:11:47Just, you know, to give our viewers.

00:11:49Yes, yes.

00:11:49We have to get that.

00:11:50These are both.

00:11:51Trinka and Nine Gems were nightclubs at that time.

00:11:54Yes.

00:11:54Nine Gems.

00:11:55And you started your career with nightclubs and not as a playback singer.

00:11:58No, not at all.

00:11:59So just to give our viewers context.

00:12:00Not at all.

00:12:01I started in 1968-69 in Madras in a little place called Nine Gems where my aunt took me, took us all.

00:12:09You know, middle class families, picnics, vacation.

00:12:13These things are so important.

00:12:15Having a meal together.

00:12:16Everything is so important, which is, again, lost now, nowadays.

00:12:20And I feel that at that time, even though I was, I came from Bombay, people would have thought that I knew everything.

00:12:30We led very sheltered lives.

00:12:32Very sheltered lives.

00:12:34My father was in the police.

00:12:35I come from a family of six children.

00:12:38And I'm number five in the family.

00:12:40They say number five is lucky.

00:12:42I am lucky.

00:12:44Who would have thought that 57 years after singing in a nightclub and concerts and everywhere, I get a chance to be with Preeti.

00:12:53Deep?

00:12:53You know, this is now, no, no, no, no, no, ma'am.

00:12:55Please don't say that's too much.

00:12:56Too much for you.

00:12:57It doesn't matter.

00:12:58That is too much.

00:12:59Not just for me.

00:13:00That is too much.

00:13:01That's, that's, I don't care if it's too much.

00:13:03I just have to say, to save my feeling.

00:13:0657 years of longevity, ma'am.

00:13:08You know, just to look at that and, and to speak to every generation.

00:13:11Yes.

00:13:11In that 57 years.

00:13:12That is a feat which very, very, very few people have.

00:13:15I don't even know if there are people who do that really.

00:13:18Because, so I'll tell you, because when I started in Nine Gems, I started and at the, after the first song, I mean, you know, I never know how much I love you.

00:13:30I sang Fever and everybody clapped.

00:13:32And, you know, that gargara hut of the applause is, is the real nasha as far as I'm concerned.

00:13:39It's much more than any of the single malt or vodka or wines or whatever, which I know nothing about.

00:13:44But, that is an intoxication which cannot be replaced for me.

00:13:51That is my life, really.

00:13:52Besides my family, my real life is on stage and singing.

00:13:57I couldn't do without it for a moment.

00:13:59Really, I couldn't.

00:14:00So, that's what I pray for.

00:14:02And that's what I ask you to pray for me.

00:14:03For good health so that I can carry on with the same energy or more.

00:14:07So, from Nine Gems, I went to, oh, I got paid in the first show, I mean, first week after singing, I got a Kanjivaram sari.

00:14:18Ah, so that's where the romance started with the Kanjivaram sari?

00:14:20Well, also because I'm Tamil, you see.

00:14:24So, you know, my mother wore a Kanjivaram in those days.

00:14:28But in those days, I suppose 126 rupees was a lot of money.

00:14:32It cost that much, yeah.

00:14:33Now, you can't even get a little scarf or something like that for that price, so forget it.

00:14:38So, from Nine Gems, I went back to Bombay and I sang.

00:14:42I say back because I was born and brought up in Bombay.

00:14:45And I got back to Bombay and I sang at the Little Hut, which was at the Ritz Hotel.

00:14:51And at that time, I got this letter from Calcutta, from Trinkas, Mr. Puri and Mr. Joshua, the owners of Trinkas.

00:15:01They wrote and said that they would love me to come and sing in their restaurant, Trinkas.

00:15:08I said, what?

00:15:10I couldn't believe it.

00:15:11Because in school, I always thought Goa and Calcutta were abroad.

00:15:17I thought they were foreign places for some odd reason.

00:15:21Not odd, actually.

00:15:22There was reason.

00:15:23Yeah, because the reason was all the teachers in my convent school, Convent of Jesus and Mary, whenever they wanted to go to Goa, they would come to Appa, to my father, and ask to stamp the permit to go to travel.

00:15:39So, I somehow thought that it's got to be definitely abroad that we're doing it.

00:15:45So, Calcutta was like, I mean, the hub of entertainment and culture and everything that I'd ever heard of.

00:15:52I was so excited.

00:15:53So, I replied.

00:15:55And by the way…

00:15:56How old were you then?

00:15:5722.

00:15:58Oh, that's so young and full.

00:16:00So young, so young.

00:16:01Is my bindi okay or is it falling off?

00:16:03It's like you can push it up a little.

00:16:06All right.

00:16:07Yeah, that's fine.

00:16:08Okay.

00:16:09So, I was very excited and I wrote back to Mr. Joshua and I said, thank you so much for your offer, but I don't know how to wear a frock.

00:16:21Imagine a word called frock.

00:16:23Gosh.

00:16:24So convent, isn't it?

00:16:26And they said, no, that's perfectly okay.

00:16:29We want you just the way you are.

00:16:31So, you see, in those days, there was no communication except the print media and telephones.

00:16:41Sorry, by word of mouth.

00:16:43So, people had slowly started hearing about this Tamil girl, you know, middle class girl in a sari singing in a nightclub and singing Western songs.

00:16:54They couldn't believe it, actually.

00:16:56So, it was incongruous.

00:16:59So, you bought your Kanji Garam sari.

00:17:00So, then I came, I went from Bombay, I came to Calcutta.

00:17:06Alone?

00:17:07Alone.

00:17:08Your folks allowed you to do that?

00:17:10Yeah, can you imagine?

00:17:11Wow.

00:17:12It was really something.

00:17:13That was something.

00:17:14That was really something.

00:17:16Nobody will do that to you.

00:17:17Even now, there will be issues.

00:17:19Entry into Calcutta.

00:17:21I was so excited with the lights and, you know, getting into Trinkas in the night to meet Mr. Joshua and Mr. Puri.

00:17:28It was just, like, unbelievable for me.

00:17:32And I got into the nightclub and then they were very, very happy to see me.

00:17:37And, you know, everything just worked out.

00:17:39I was opening on the Thursday, I think.

00:17:43And so, we did the rehearsals and everything.

00:17:45And on my premiere night, I met the scandal that I had.

00:17:52You met the scandal that you had.

00:17:54I had one scandal in my life and I married it.

00:18:00That's so sweet, isn't it?

00:18:01But, you know, what I love is that, and that's the ability to look back and self-deprecate of humor.

00:18:09That's amazing.

00:18:11It's really fantastic the way it all happened.

00:18:14And he was in the front table.

00:18:15And, you know, you could almost hear the front benches when they announced Usha, you know, coming up in a sari.

00:18:21And, you know, you could almost hear them say, oh, gosh, what is this Amma going to do?

00:18:27And then I came up and I sang my songs and people were really shocked.

00:18:33You know, first they came out of curiosity.

00:18:36Then they came because they liked what I was doing or they connected with what I was doing.

00:18:43So if you couldn't get Frank Sinatra or you couldn't get Ella Fitzgerald, at least you had an Usha who was singing, hello, Dolly, well, hello, Dolly, it's so nice to have you back.

00:18:57Or if I was doing all of me, why not take all of me?

00:19:02They can't have Frank Sinatra, so they're happy to connect with me.

00:19:07And slowly.

00:19:08And at this time, you were just doing English covers.

00:19:11English covers.

00:19:12Right.

00:19:12But in those days, we never called it covers.

00:19:15Oh, all right.

00:19:15We just called it an interpretation.

00:19:18I mean, Ella Fitzgerald was doing Paul Simon.

00:19:20I was doing the Beatles.

00:19:22Frank Sinatra was doing Paul Simon.

00:19:24They all gave tribute.

00:19:25Yeah.

00:19:25I mean, it's OK.

00:19:26And everybody doesn't.

00:19:27Is it crooked?

00:19:28No, no.

00:19:29It's fine.

00:19:30Fine.

00:19:30It's fine.

00:19:31OK.

00:19:31So everybody doesn't have an original song to sing.

00:19:35Right?

00:19:36When you start singing, everybody sings everybody else a song.

00:19:39And really, a song is much bigger than the singer.

00:19:45Much bigger.

00:19:46People think that they made the song.

00:19:48But no, the song made them.

00:19:51For me, it's like that.

00:19:52When you talk about one, two cha-cha-cha.

00:19:54You won't lose.

00:19:55Nobody can sing it the way you live.

00:19:57No, no.

00:19:58You're just...

00:19:59It is so much about the singer.

00:20:01I will contradict you as a journalist here.

00:20:03OK.

00:20:03I don't think some of the songs that you've sung, anybody else can do it.

00:20:07Maybe.

00:20:07But the song will live on much after much after.

00:20:10It already has.

00:20:11Have you seen Duranthar with Rambaho?

00:20:12Can you imagine?

00:20:14After singing it for 47 years, I've been singing Rambaho.

00:20:18Right.

00:20:18Or 40 years.

00:20:20And up comes Duranthar with Rambaho again.

00:20:23It's got a new life.

00:20:24Every show.

00:20:25I mean, they want it in the beginning.

00:20:27They want it in the middle.

00:20:28They want it in the end.

00:20:29I couldn't believe it.

00:20:30But I really...

00:20:31I mean, it's really fantastic how it has really made such big headlines, honestly.

00:20:38Do you agree with it?

00:20:39With what?

00:20:40The fact that music that is brought in of what was sung earlier then regurgitated and in

00:20:46the new format.

00:20:47Do you agree with that?

00:20:48Yes.

00:20:48Oh, yes.

00:20:49I agree.

00:20:49I mean, people have asked me in a different context that what do you think about...

00:20:55Remix.

00:20:56Remix, yeah.

00:20:56But for me, I don't think about it as a remix at all.

00:21:00You know, I'm not saying that all remixes are good, but I will never say that all remixes

00:21:06are bad.

00:21:08Because, you know, there are some melodies which would be just lost if there was nobody

00:21:14to have done another version.

00:21:17If they didn't do another version, the younger generation probably...

00:21:21I'm talking about the film world, okay?

00:21:23They probably wouldn't have heard a song like, Babuji dheere chalda, piyaar me zara sumbal.

00:21:31They wouldn't have heard it if there wasn't anybody else to sing it.

00:21:35So, when people ask me that, I do believe that a song is a song is a song and it will

00:21:42live forever if it has stood the test of time.

00:21:46And if people still want to listen to Amiri, Zoharajabeen, why not?

00:21:51If we can't have Manada to sing it, we've got so many new, wonderful, wonderful singers

00:21:57to sing it.

00:21:58And so, I feel that remixes are more good than bad.

00:22:04Okay.

00:22:05I'm going to take you back to the biggest candle of your life and that club in Kolkata

00:22:10called Trinka.

00:22:11Trinka.

00:22:12It was just amazing.

00:22:15Before getting into the singing, let me tell you what we had to do in Kolkata.

00:22:20We had to get a license to sing.

00:22:22And I went to Writer's Building and you had to sign.

00:22:26And the first clause, first or third clause, I think, is that you shall not sit with the

00:22:36customers.

00:22:37The fourth, fifth clause was, you will not solicit.

00:22:44Oh, wow.

00:22:46Wasn't that exciting?

00:22:48You wouldn't solicit.

00:22:49Okay.

00:22:51Fair enough.

00:22:52Okay.

00:22:52What do you mean fair enough?

00:22:53No, you wouldn't solicit.

00:22:54We can solicit otherwise also.

00:22:56I did anyway.

00:22:59It was fun.

00:23:00So, I mean, you have to sign that and there was a big bond.

00:23:03There were other things also, but monies and this and that and the other.

00:23:06So, we signed the whole thing, get the license, opening night and big fanfare.

00:23:11And I walk on and you can almost hear the people saying, God knows what this Amma is going

00:23:15to do.

00:23:16Then I start singing.

00:23:17The show was a great success.

00:23:19After the show, this amazing man called Jani comes up to me in the other area where I'm not

00:23:27supposed to be sitting with the customers.

00:23:30Right.

00:23:30So, I'm sitting in another area.

00:23:32This is day one, opening night.

00:23:34And he came and he said to me, actually, you were super tonight.

00:23:39That was it.

00:23:41That was it.

00:23:42I think I fell in love with him right there at that time.

00:23:48And, you know, for me, I'm such a romantic, okay?

00:23:54And fast forward a little bit and then you find that somebody else is so underplayed, you

00:24:00know, so very British.

00:24:02Very few words.

00:24:04And people ask me, how do you remember all the things that he ever said to you?

00:24:08I said, because if we were married for 54 years, then it's 54 into, say, three sentences

00:24:14a day or something like that.

00:24:16And naturally, if I remember so many songs, why won't I remember his conversation?

00:24:21But that's how it was with Jani.

00:24:24I mean, spoke very little, very strong, silent type.

00:24:27And we're poles apart, actually.

00:24:32We, I mean, except for the few things that we really shared besides music, we shared a

00:24:40love for stationery, a love good pens and so does he.

00:24:44We love good paper to write on.

00:24:48And, yeah, besides that, what was it?

00:24:52Yeah, wearing whatever clothes, not branded or anything like that.

00:24:56In those days, what was the branding anyway?

00:24:59But whatever it was, we had to be well turned out.

00:25:03Ironing was one of the things.

00:25:06And I always loved ironing anyway.

00:25:08I love, even now I iron my own clothes.

00:25:10And so it's great to be able to do that.

00:25:14But we shared very little in as much as, you know, like going to the movies and things.

00:25:21He didn't, he didn't do all that.

00:25:23And he was a, so the second or third night when I asked him, what do you do?

00:25:28And he said, I'm in tea.

00:25:32I'm in tea?

00:25:33What does that mean?

00:25:34Okay.

00:25:34I said, like, like what?

00:25:36What, what tea?

00:25:38So he said, because we, you know, when you come from a city like Bombay or something,

00:25:42you're so cut away from all these realities about how tea grows and what is a tea garden

00:25:47and everything.

00:25:47And he said, I work for a broking firm.

00:25:52I said, what's that?

00:25:54He said, I work for a tea company called J. Thomason Company.

00:25:59I said, oh, I've never heard of that because I only heard of Brookborne and Lipton and Moody's

00:26:05tea or whatever.

00:26:06Yeah.

00:26:07Taj came much later.

00:26:08Came much later.

00:26:09Much later.

00:26:09So it was so funny when I said, oh, I've never heard of that company.

00:26:15He said, we don't advertise.

00:26:18And that was that.

00:26:19I knew that, you know, it totally pulls apart.

00:26:23But gosh, it was such a torrid romance.

00:26:26It was so marvelous.

00:26:28So marvelous.

00:26:29And not like how it is today.

00:26:33I mean, nowadays, to do the things that kids do when they're 18 and 20.

00:26:39In those days, you know, like my husband would always say, there's a time and place for everything.

00:26:46Had to draw the curtains.

00:26:47You know, if I wanted to hold his hand in the car, he would say, there's a time and place

00:26:52for everything.

00:26:53Stop it.

00:26:53You know, that kind of thing.

00:26:54Well, we had such a lovely, lovely relationship.

00:26:58It didn't even matter to me that I had to ask, what is your religion?

00:27:04Or, you know, we never spoke about it.

00:27:06He's Christian and I'm Hindu.

00:27:09And it was just beautiful.

00:27:11One day, I just took it for granted that we would probably get married.

00:27:16I asked him, how will we bring up our kids?

00:27:19And I thought he's going to say something really philosophical or something.

00:27:22It was actually.

00:27:24He said, bring them up as kids.

00:27:28And so, you see, we never really fought about religion or money or anything like that.

00:27:35So we fought about other things, which was fine.

00:27:38And I advocate fighting to everybody because you must fight.

00:27:43You must know each other's mind.

00:27:44And I think that's very important.

00:27:46So it was Jani Chako who chethered you to Kolkata.

00:27:50Yes.

00:27:51And it's because his work was over here.

00:27:54We got married over here and in Kolkata.

00:27:57And then soon after getting married, we were transferred to Cochin, where both our children were born, Anjali and Sunny.

00:28:04They were both born in the South, in Kerala, in fact, in Cochin.

00:28:09And so we were transferred back to Kolkata in 77.

00:28:15And ever since then, we've been living here in Kolkata.

00:28:19And so I guess that would be the main reason why everybody would say, they ask me, why would you, you're probably the only Bombay artist who has left Bombay and has made Kolkata her home.

00:28:34And I think it's because I'm just like any other normal girl.

00:28:40You just live where your husband lives, you know, that kind of thing.

00:28:44And so, and of course, I loved being, I love being in Kolkata because Kolkata gives you the opportunities of being able to experience and taste so many different cultures.

00:28:58And truly, it was, it was really exciting, really exciting.

00:29:02You know, I am, I am sorry, because I know you lost him in 24.

00:29:07Yes.

00:29:07So, but I would think very few have that kind of romance.

00:29:12And with the word that you speak of it, it is, it's quite electric even still, you know, it is.

00:29:18It was, it was really sad because I'd love to share this with you.

00:29:22Of course.

00:29:23And maybe you could use it or you could use an edit point.

00:29:28We never saw movies together.

00:29:30I think the last time I ever saw a movie with him was maybe Sound of Music or My Fair Lady.

00:29:36But this day, which was the 8th of July, we just thought that, you know, we'd see a movie together.

00:29:47And I asked him, what movie would you like to see?

00:29:55Come on, let's see.

00:29:56And we're both early risers.

00:29:58Okay.

00:29:59So he said, thought and thought and thought.

00:30:03And then he said, Guns of Navarron.

00:30:06Where would I find Guns of Navarron now?

00:30:09So I searched in every channel that I possibly could.

00:30:13I didn't find it.

00:30:14Then I said, hey, I know what you'll really love.

00:30:18And I put on 83 for him because he's such a sports person.

00:30:22Okay.

00:30:22Really outdoor person.

00:30:24And he kind of loves watching news.

00:30:29All that he ever did was watch news and sports.

00:30:33So it was tennis, cricket, football, football, tennis, cricket, and the news.

00:30:43And this went round and round.

00:30:44And of course, I learned how to live with that.

00:30:46And that was fine.

00:30:48Because I think there is no point in trying to change somebody.

00:30:52I think one must learn to change oneself.

00:30:55And you'll save a lot of tears.

00:30:57But I advocate crying to everybody.

00:31:00Yeah, I think, yeah.

00:31:01Yeah, you must cry.

00:31:02It's nice to have a bit of a ball once again.

00:31:03Yeah, yeah.

00:31:04No, you have to.

00:31:05Because if you keep it in for too long, it's no good.

00:31:08I agree.

00:31:09No good.

00:31:09Just let it out.

00:31:10What's your birth sign?

00:31:12I'm an Aquarius.

00:31:13I'm Scorpio.

00:31:13You're Scorpio.

00:31:148 November.

00:31:15So for me, it was really marvelous that I got an opportunity to tell him, let's watch

00:31:2283.

00:31:23You'll love it.

00:31:24And I told him, look at Kapil Dev.

00:31:27I mean, you know, the way the makeup and everything had been done.

00:31:30And he kept telling me, I've seen the real thing.

00:31:34Yeah.

00:31:35From television on when it really happened.

00:31:37It had just started at that time.

00:31:39But I said, Jan, don't you like anything in the movie?

00:31:43He said, no, no, it's very nice.

00:31:44Very nice.

00:31:45And he sat through the whole movie.

00:31:47We watched it together till about 11.45.

00:31:52And then I said, no, I've got the Zoom call in the studio.

00:31:54I have to rush.

00:31:55So he said, OK.

00:31:57And yeah, quarter to 12, I left home and I came to the studio.

00:32:02And as soon as I came into the studio, I got a call from my son, Sunny.

00:32:06And he said, I think there's something wrong with Appa when you come home.

00:32:11And yeah, I'd be jumped into the car.

00:32:15And Samareesh Rantan, myself.

00:32:19And it was horrific.

00:32:21I mean, you just had such a beautiful morning together.

00:32:25And, you know, for him to just go like that.

00:32:29But I mean, on the flip side, my children keep saying, so wonderful that he didn't have to suffer or anything like that.

00:32:38Just went away just like that.

00:32:40But it's something I, it's very difficult to get over that.

00:32:45They say time heals, but that's such a lie.

00:32:49Time doesn't heal anything.

00:32:51But it gives you the strength to carry the weight, to carry on.

00:32:56And that's how I think, you know, it's and thank God for the thing, for the fact that we didn't share so many things together.

00:33:05OK, like we couldn't go to an exhibition together or watch another artist perform or, you know, when I got invitations from HMV or something like that to watch Jagjit Singh.

00:33:15And I was so excited.

00:33:16Let's go and see Jagjit Singh or something.

00:33:18He wouldn't come at all.

00:33:19He would just wait to go to the club.

00:33:22And he was a total man's man that way.

00:33:24And it was so amazing that we didn't share so many things together or go shopping or go to the market.

00:33:33Nothing.

00:33:33So now when my children tell me, especially Anjali, when she tells me, Amma, it's so wonderful.

00:33:39Just look at the bright side that you don't feel guilty when you're doing those things.

00:33:43Any of those things.

00:33:44Any of those things.

00:33:45You can still build on that and you can still make it happen.

00:33:51And it's so true.

00:33:52For me, the mornings are the worst because we're both early risers.

00:33:59And when people say, what is it that you miss most about, Jani?

00:34:04And I say, it's the silence.

00:34:07We shared such a lovely bond of silence.

00:34:11Now, how does that happen?

00:34:13I don't know.

00:34:14But it's happened for me.

00:34:16And it's bound to work for everybody.

00:34:19If you really want to look into it, then, you know, if you keep trying to change.

00:34:25I remember one of our first big fights when I said, you know, I asked him, Jan, what's happened to us?

00:34:34And this, I'm sure, would happen to most girls.

00:34:37What's happened to us?

00:34:38We don't talk anymore.

00:34:40You don't say, I love you.

00:34:42You don't hold my hand.

00:34:43What's wrong?

00:34:44And then he put the newspaper down and he said, okay, talk.

00:34:49Okay, talk.

00:34:50And I said, okay, I'm leaving home.

00:34:56And I banged the door and, you know, bedroom door.

00:35:00Then I walked out and I banged the front door.

00:35:04And every time I kept looking at the back to see whether he was coming after me.

00:35:08But he didn't.

00:35:10He didn't care.

00:35:12I mean, so, or so I thought.

00:35:13And so I did my three rounds of the building and I came back again into the bedroom.

00:35:18And he was fine with his newspaper.

00:35:21Still carrying on.

00:35:22Because men are from Mars and women are from Venus.

00:35:26So you must respect that change.

00:35:28I mean, that difference.

00:35:30It's so wonderful that we're so different.

00:35:32I mean, you know, men and women.

00:35:34I don't know why we have so much time to fight when we, there's so little time to love.

00:35:39And this big thing about, you know, I believe in one thing.

00:35:46But every woman's issue is truly a man's issue.

00:35:49And the sooner we accept that, the better.

00:35:52I think we need to work hand in hand, walk hand in hand, and see that we solve everything together.

00:35:59Because we are different.

00:36:00I don't know why we can't accept that.

00:36:04I mean, it's so beautiful that we would want to go, I mean, you know, get a look good, do our hair up in a particular way, dress up in a particular way.

00:36:14Why would you want to be equal on that?

00:36:17I'm always, I'm in for everything where there's equality, like employment, like payments, like this, so many things.

00:36:26But there are so many things which are so beautiful because we're different.

00:36:30You know, it's so nice to hear with you because it is, grief is anyway, very impossible to carry.

00:36:36But then you, you know, you carry it and you have to, you have no option.

00:36:39But it's also a blessing.

00:36:41How do you get over the love of your life?

00:36:42You know, you can't do that.

00:36:43You can't, and you know, the sad thing that happened to me was Eita, Jani passed away.

00:36:50And within four days, my brother passed away in Bombay.

00:36:54So I didn't even have time really to grieve for Shamu, my brother.

00:37:00And I think that was really sad.

00:37:03That was a really a double whammy.

00:37:04And, but I think, as I said, it's a, it's a big lie that time can heal the wound.

00:37:13It can never heal the wound, but it can give you so much strength to work along with the wound.

00:37:20You know, because like Rumi says, the great Rumi, I mean, the wound is where the light starts, actually.

00:37:32And that's so true.

00:37:35It's so true.

00:37:36Because for me, it's, it's worked marvelously.

00:37:39And I can almost hear him laugh and say, you know, every morning when I leave the house, I say, bye, Jan.

00:37:46And when I come back, I say, hi, Jan.

00:37:48And I know he's saying, you know, you know, I'm not there.

00:37:50Come on now.

00:37:51Stop your nut.

00:37:53I can almost hear him say that.

00:37:56Enough of that rubbish, you know.

00:37:58And that, those are the things that really make me, you know, carry on.

00:38:05And you talk about double whammy.

00:38:08I mean, my son's on dialysis, okay.

00:38:11I don't normally want to talk about that.

00:38:14But I've learned how to, you know, cope with that.

00:38:18And every day, every day before getting into his room and saying hi to him, I have a nice

00:38:25cry, you know, because you're wondering, is that all your son has to look forward to?

00:38:31The next dialysis every day.

00:38:34And then I wipe my tears off and I get strong.

00:38:37I walk into his room and say, hi, Raja.

00:38:40How are you, son?

00:38:41You know, try to.

00:38:43So, but then when it's too much, then I walk out of the room because nobody wants to hear

00:38:48you cry all the time and nobody, everybody wants to see you move on in life, right?

00:38:53Most importantly, you yourself.

00:38:56I mean, it should never be a deterrent.

00:38:58I think it should be.

00:38:59And there's sometimes overused hope.

00:39:02The word hope.

00:39:04I hate the word.

00:39:05Yeah.

00:39:05I hate the word.

00:39:06Give me your hand.

00:39:08Very few people really understand.

00:39:10I hate the word.

00:39:11I hate the word.

00:39:11Hope, isn't it?

00:39:13It's such a nasty little word.

00:39:16Yeah, yeah.

00:39:17I hate it.

00:39:17I hate it too.

00:39:19After the podcast, I'll tell you why I hate it.

00:39:21But I hate it.

00:39:21No, I hate it too.

00:39:22Yeah.

00:39:23I hate it.

00:39:24And I just change it every time and say, I pray that, you know, you'll be well.

00:39:29Or I pray that, you know, Preeti is going to carry on like this forever because you're

00:39:34doing so well and touch wood.

00:39:37But never say, I hope.

00:39:39I think it's just a, I agree with you.

00:39:41Yeah.

00:39:41It's a sad word.

00:39:43It's a sad word.

00:39:43It's a, I, yeah.

00:39:45But I'm going to come back.

00:39:46And, you know, I think it's also a celebration.

00:39:48Ushadidi.

00:39:49That, you know, it's very rare that people can have that kind of love that they remember

00:39:55and cherish.

00:39:56Oh, yes.

00:39:56It's rare and it's a blessing.

00:39:58It's such a blessing.

00:39:59It is a blessing.

00:40:00Because, you know, there are certain things that I've learned so much from him.

00:40:07So much from him without him ever saying that, you know, he was such a, his own man.

00:40:14Like, if he didn't want to come to meet somebody or, you know, to go out, just socializing, he

00:40:20just didn't do it.

00:40:21No, but it's, it is, it's truly great.

00:40:23But, you know, you know, one thing I have, and correct me if I'm wrong, but what I gather

00:40:27with the voice that one heard, that loud, booming, beautiful voice that reverberates,

00:40:33you know, through anything, which was your voice.

00:40:36Away from that, that voice is not you.

00:40:39You're a different kind of woman.

00:40:41You're not, you know, reticent, a little, you know, your personality are very different

00:40:48with when I hear you and when I speak with you.

00:40:51Yes, absolutely.

00:40:53Because it is different.

00:40:54Because people think that, you know, in any case, I'm a person who believes in being

00:41:02soft-spoken.

00:41:03Have you seen so many anchors who talk so loudly and keep shouting and shouting?

00:41:08But I think of it differently.

00:41:11I feel if you really want somebody to listen to you, speak softly love, because then they

00:41:18will stop everything else to listen to you.

00:41:22Whereas if you're shouting, they can do so many other things at that time.

00:41:26And there's so many contradictions, because look, even when you're, let's say, your work

00:41:32persona, you were singing these songs, which were, you know, one would think very forward

00:41:37at that point of time, you know.

00:41:41According to some ministers over here, decadent.

00:41:45Decadent.

00:41:45Yeah.

00:41:45You took a left minister to court.

00:41:47I know that.

00:41:48So, you know, with all of that.

00:41:49So, decadent, forward.

00:41:51You were singing these songs.

00:41:52Your voice was anything but traditional.

00:41:55You know, it was completely, completely on the other side.

00:41:58Yet, that's what you were doing.

00:42:00But you were doing it in a kanji varam sari, you know, which is as traditional as they

00:42:04get.

00:42:04So, there was, and this big bindi, and it was a huge contradiction right there, where

00:42:08you talk about, you know, and when I look at your personal life, if I try and see, you

00:42:13know, that woman who sings these songs, and then, not these songs, and the quality of her

00:42:18voice, I think you'd be boisterous.

00:42:20You'd be loud.

00:42:21You'd be opinionated, you know.

00:42:23And you'd have a, what I see is somebody who's very calm, controlled, reticent, timid.

00:42:29You know, it's.

00:42:30That's very true, actually.

00:42:33And I think, at the end of it all, I mean, what you said, would there be a question?

00:42:42Would you ask me a question because of that?

00:42:44Yeah, of course.

00:42:45Because how does it work?

00:42:47Yeah.

00:42:48Now, let me tell you, I did a very nice chat show once with Anupam here, okay?

00:42:52And there was me, Javed Sahib, and Anupam Kher.

00:42:56And he asked me one question.

00:42:58He said, why is it that in the Hindi films, you didn't get so many opportunities to sing?

00:43:04And before I could think of my answer, Javed Sahib came out with such a fantastic one-liner.

00:43:11He said, because in Indian films or in our Indian milieu, the people have this preconceived idea that women cannot have strong voices.

00:43:24So, all the good girls, I mean, this is what I always say.

00:43:30Yours wasn't a good girl's voice.

00:43:31It was a bad girl's voice.

00:43:32All the good girls got only Lata Ji Mangeshkar and Ayesha Ji Mosley.

00:43:37And all the bad girls.

00:43:38And all the bad girls got me.

00:43:40Yo.

00:43:41So, I'm the original item girl, all covered up in six meters of clothes.

00:43:47Of silk.

00:43:48It's just crazy.

00:43:50In fact, I did a show day before yesterday when it was really cold.

00:43:55And I said, I wanted to show you my sari and told the audience.

00:43:58But I said, unfortunately, it's so cold.

00:44:01So, I've got to cover myself up with all these shawls and things like that.

00:44:04And I said, I'm sorry for you because you would have expected somebody like Jennifer Lopez.

00:44:11Oh, I got a good applause for that.

00:44:13Most of these things just happened at that time.

00:44:15It was at the Sula Vineyards, actually, that I did this show.

00:44:19So, it was such an amazing thing that people would look at me and say, she's the item girl.

00:44:27How?

00:44:28I mean, which way?

00:44:29That's what I'm saying.

00:44:30There were so many contradictions.

00:44:32So, it was Devanand who gave you your first place.

00:44:35My first.

00:44:36Well, actually, chronologically, I don't know whether it was that one.

00:44:41Because after he heard me in Delhi at the Oberoi, he said, would you like to, we'd love you to join our project, Hare Rama, Hare Krishna.

00:44:52And gosh, I was so excited because I never ever thought that it would happen to someone like me.

00:44:58And now, it looks like everybody thinks that doing a playback song in a film is the benchmark for quality.

00:45:08I mean, that's ridiculous.

00:45:10I keep telling the kids, you know, don't think that everybody has to become a playback singer because it's not going to happen.

00:45:16It's not going to happen.

00:45:18And I'll tell you why.

00:45:20So, chronologically, I don't know whether it was Hare Rama, Hare Krishna, which was…

00:45:24Where you were the voice of the bad girl, Zeenat Aman.

00:45:27Yeah.

00:45:27Whether that was the first one or whether there was another one.

00:45:31I did a song for a person called Chitra Gupta Ji.

00:45:34And he is the father of Anand Milind.

00:45:38And the lyrics were written by the great Kavi Pradeep Ji, who wrote Eh Mere Vatan Ke Logon also.

00:45:45And he wrote for me.

00:45:47The song was, of course, it was an item song.

00:45:51It says,

00:45:51You know, that bedroom voice, oh boy.

00:46:08So, I don't know whether that was the first one.

00:46:11And then Hare Rama, Hare Krishna.

00:46:14Or, because it was all, you know, sometimes what happens in a Hindi film, you record much earlier.

00:46:21And then the film is, by the time it gets released, it's something else.

00:46:25But sometimes, you know, there's one song which overpowers the others.

00:46:28And I think Dhammaru Dham will go down in the annals of Indian history.

00:46:33Absolutely.

00:46:33Yeah, with Zeenat Aman and you at the back.

00:46:35And me, no, I was doing the other part of it, which said, I love you.

00:46:40I love you.

00:46:42Can't you see what I, I really do.

00:46:46Oh, please, please, please, give me another chance.

00:46:55And it's funny, isn't it?

00:47:01All my item songs have got God's names in it.

00:47:05All of them?

00:47:06Well, Hari Om Hari.

00:47:07Oh, yeah.

00:47:08Then Radhe Shama.

00:47:09Oh, yeah.

00:47:10So, so many.

00:47:12So.

00:47:12Which one's your favorite?

00:47:13Do you have one?

00:47:15Well, the God songs.

00:47:17Oh, the item songs and the God songs.

00:47:18Whichever one.

00:47:19No, item songs.

00:47:20Item songs.

00:47:21I think whatever is the favorite of the crowd is my favorite.

00:47:27Did you have one?

00:47:27Or is it too, you know, it's like they say in the cliches of it all, it's difficult to pick a favorite child.

00:47:32No, no, I have lots of favorite songs, but it's not singable to a normal audience that I'm singing to.

00:47:38Like, for example, if I were to sing a song called Windmills of Your Mind, which is just a beautiful song.

00:47:44I've recorded it as well.

00:47:46Also Rain.

00:47:47And there are many, many songs like that.

00:47:50But.

00:47:50Madonna's Rain.

00:47:51No, Jose Feliciano.

00:47:53Okay.

00:47:54It says, listen to the pouring rain, listen to it pour.

00:48:00Does that ring a bell?

00:48:01No.

00:48:02Sun sun sun bar saat ke dhun.

00:48:04Oh.

00:48:05Okay.

00:48:06Inspired.

00:48:07Right.

00:48:09So, I'm not sure which is my favorite song, but I would say that the one song that has gone across all over India,

00:48:21and this is, I feel very proud to say that it had to be a madrasi to do it,

00:48:26was, a nice Punjabi song, which was given to me by Asa Singh Mastana himself.

00:48:36I'm so grateful to him for giving me that song, because it really, I mean, in Tamil Nadu, or in Kerala,

00:48:44they don't even know the meaning of that, but they'll keep saying,

00:48:48because they want to hear that song.

00:48:51But I think one of the favorites is a song called, which I love singing also, is a song called Naka Bandhi.

00:49:01It's by, I mean, Shri Devi, when I had moved into a little bit more good girl,

00:49:06when she became the bad girl in the film.

00:49:09It was, it's a lovely song, and Shri Devi was just fabulous.

00:49:14I also did something for Rekha, a film called Lock It, which said,

00:49:18Ah, I'm Gulbadan, I remember this song, yeah, I heard that one.

00:49:23Yeah, Gulavi, Chehra, lovely, lovely songs.

00:49:26And it was really, when they found that there was no bad girl to give my voice to,

00:49:32they gave my voice to the titles, title song.

00:49:38So like that, I did Drishyam too, then I did Shaan.

00:49:41Shaan is, of course, the biggest song.

00:49:43Truly, for me, that is my lifestyle.

00:49:46Jo bhi karte hain, Shaan se kije.

00:49:49Or don't do it at all.

00:49:51That was a superb song.

00:49:52Yeah, really brilliant.

00:49:53Yeah, I agree.

00:49:54So they, then Dawn 2, then Rock On 2.

00:49:57I've done so many title tracks, okay.

00:49:59Wow.

00:50:00And yeah, which people don't even remember or know.

00:50:03You know, you're right.

00:50:04Because, you know, it's so, what's amazing is when you say it and you put it together,

00:50:10right from Hari Rama, Hari Krishna, all the way back.

00:50:13Because I know, okay, Dawn 2, I know.

00:50:15And I know Hari Rama.

00:50:16But when I see that, you know, people would say filmography.

00:50:20Imagine.

00:50:24Imagine.

00:50:25Priyanka Chopra's voice to being, you know, it's just.

00:50:29Really amazing.

00:50:30And there are many other things in between, which I did for Tamil movies.

00:50:36And so I've worked.

00:50:38I didn't get a chance to tell you who else was there in the audience in Trinkas when I started singing.

00:50:45There was Amitabh Bachchan.

00:50:47There was Kabir Bedi.

00:50:48It's like the who's who.

00:50:49They were all sitting in Trinkas.

00:50:51Yeah.

00:50:51They came to listen to me.

00:50:52To you.

00:50:53Wow.

00:50:54Isn't that amazing?

00:50:54Yeah, that is amazing.

00:50:56There was Sharmila Tagore.

00:50:56And that young.

00:50:57Yes.

00:50:58Wow.

00:50:58There was Sharmila Tagore.

00:51:00Do you have memories?

00:51:01Do you have anecdotes?

00:51:02But fantastic.

00:51:05Because there was Uttam Kumar.

00:51:07I mean, you know, I didn't even know at that time how big he was or who he was.

00:51:12So Chitra Sen.

00:51:14Then there was Jyoti Basu.

00:51:16Jyoti Babu who came.

00:51:17Shomna Chatterjee who came to listen to me.

00:51:20Shottu Jit Rai.

00:51:21I mean, you name it, they've all been there to listen to me.

00:51:26And it was.

00:51:27Do you remember?

00:51:28Do you have an anecdote?

00:51:29Do you have a night you remember?

00:51:30Plenty.

00:51:31Plenty of nights.

00:51:33I remember when my husband said, Jani came up to me and he said,

00:51:38Will you sing Matilda for me?

00:51:41And I said, of course.

00:51:41You know me.

00:51:44I was so excited.

00:51:45So went into rehearsal and we did Matilda.

00:51:47And that night also Amitabh Bachchan was also there.

00:51:52And I remember saying to the audience when I say,

00:51:55One, two, three, four, Matilda.

00:51:58Sing a little louder, Matilda.

00:52:01They were all there.

00:52:02And it was such a lot of, not all of them.

00:52:05They came on different days.

00:52:07Sometimes it all happened together.

00:52:09But the anecdote that has never, ever left me was when Uttam Kumar, I mean, was there and

00:52:19Shupriya Devi, Suchitra Sen.

00:52:22Uttam Kumar's favorite song was Those Were the Days.

00:52:26I love that song.

00:52:28It's my favorite.

00:52:29My favorite song is Those Were the Days, My Friend.

00:52:32Those were the days, my friend.

00:52:35We thought they'd never end.

00:52:37We'd sing and dance forever and a day.

00:52:42What a song.

00:52:42It's my favorite.

00:52:43It's beautiful.

00:52:45Really.

00:52:45And that day, Jani hadn't come in for some reason.

00:52:51So when he...

00:52:52He'd come every time.

00:52:53Every night.

00:52:54Every night.

00:52:55Wow.

00:52:56Because that was, you know, the great thing that they say.

00:53:02That was because you were what you...

00:53:06Now you are what he has.

00:53:09So then everything changes that time.

00:53:12Yeah.

00:53:13So till the time that we were married.

00:53:15I love how honest you are.

00:53:17Yeah.

00:53:17Every night he was over there and it was such fun.

00:53:20And when he walked in, I sang the song Sunny, which is our son's name.

00:53:25And I sang...

00:53:27I don't know if you remember the words.

00:53:29It says, Sunny, yesterday my life was filled with rain.

00:53:35Sunny, you smiled at me and really eased the pain.

00:53:41And the hook line is, Sunny, once so true, I love you.

00:53:47Okay.

00:53:48So when Jani walked in, I just changed the words just like that.

00:53:51I said, Johnny, once so true, I love you.

00:53:56And after the show was over, I went up to him and I told him, I said,

00:54:01did you like the way I took your name in the song?

00:54:04I was so excited.

00:54:05And guess what he did?

00:54:07He said, I don't particularly relish my name being spoken in public.

00:54:13It was proper.

00:54:14It was a proper English gent.

00:54:16Oh, God.

00:54:18But I think that was fight number three or four, I'm sure.

00:54:23We learned.

00:54:23So when Uttam Kumar came then?

00:54:25And when Uttam Kumar came and he asked me to sing this song, he sent me a chit.

00:54:31Okay.

00:54:32And I said, somebody has asked me to sing Those Were the Days.

00:54:38And it's just signed, Uttam.

00:54:42And I said, I wonder who that is.

00:54:45I didn't know.

00:54:46So then the piano player at that time, he told me, called me on the side and he said,

00:54:53that's the biggest man over here in Bengal.

00:54:57And, you know, the whole audience was so amazed, amazed that Uttam would ask me to sing a song like that.

00:55:08Being a Bengali matinee idol.

00:55:11Yeah.

00:55:11And then we all sang together and he joined in and it was so marvelous.

00:55:17It was so marvelous, really.

00:55:19And after the show was over, I, when he came out to use the washroom, I told him, Dada.

00:55:26No, I didn't know at that time how to say Dada.

00:55:29That's being honest.

00:55:30So I said, thank you for asking me for that song because it's a favorite of mine.

00:55:36And he told me that it was a favorite of his too.

00:55:39So imagine coming to Bengal, to Calcutta and not knowing how big this man was.

00:55:47I really wondered how everybody was so amazed when I said it's signed Uttam.

00:55:56You know, I think it's just such rich memories when you go back.

00:55:59And even when Sharmila was there, she's, even now we're in touch.

00:56:04And she's such a lovely and dignified lady, honestly.

00:56:08She's so beautiful.

00:56:10And, oh, there was even Wahida Rahman who has come to.

00:56:14So a lot of the film world came to listen to me.

00:56:17You never regretted leaving the film world and, you know, being a part of it because you

00:56:22sung songs, but never living in Bombay, never a part of that.

00:56:25No, no, I never.

00:56:26I have no regrets.

00:56:27No regrets.

00:56:27No.

00:56:28Do you have any regrets at all when you look back?

00:56:30No, really.

00:56:31Zero regrets.

00:56:31Seriously, I think the one regret that I do have is maybe sometimes you miss birthdays,

00:56:39your children's birthdays.

00:56:40Sometimes you miss a special occasion.

00:56:44And those are regrets which you can get over, really, because it doesn't matter.

00:56:48As my husband would say, it's just another day.

00:56:52And I'd be looking before the 8th of November for one week, I'll be telling everybody, it's

00:56:59my birthday, it's my birthday, hoping that they keep some present here or there.

00:57:03Or my birthday, I'd look into the cupboard to see below this shelf and that shelf, what

00:57:08is, there was nothing.

00:57:10So, and then you'd say, why, why so bothered about that day?

00:57:14It's just another day.

00:57:15It's okay.

00:57:16So, looking back, no regrets.

00:57:19It's so that song really fits.

00:57:21Shansi.

00:57:22Yes, Shansi.

00:57:23No, I have no regrets.

00:57:24I sometimes feel that the only regret I would say musically, I mean, not in a personal life,

00:57:30musically, is that I wish I had learned sight reading.

00:57:36But you didn't do that because your music teacher didn't think you were good at that.

00:57:40And somewhere down the line, I, you know, shows got, you know, it kind of, so it's huge.

00:57:47And then you don't get the time to really, because to learn something like that, you need

00:57:53a lot of time.

00:57:54And it never struck me at that time that this could happen, that I could learn how to sight

00:57:59read.

00:58:00Because if I had, then I'd be able to pick up songs much faster.

00:58:04But now I need to take the song, get it into my head.

00:58:08And first make the three drafts, and get it into my head, and then get the expression

00:58:13and get, you know, get really ready.

00:58:15Because I don't like to go anywhere unrehearsed.

00:58:19I don't.

00:58:20How do you reflect to how the Indian music industry, both, you know, not just the filmed

00:58:27music or the cinema, but how has it evolved?

00:58:30Do you think it's done well?

00:58:32Do you think it could be better?

00:58:33Because we keep going through these various phases at times.

00:58:36How do you reflect on it?

00:58:37The film, if you're talking about film music, I think it's, sky's the limit, really.

00:58:43And I think, I think we have wonderful singers, wonderful artists.

00:58:51Do you have a favorite other than you?

00:58:52Oh, other than, I don't like myself.

00:58:55You don't like yourself?

00:58:55I thought you'd be somebody who'd love yourself.

00:58:57I hate listening.

00:58:58Do you listen to yourself?

00:58:59No, I hate listening to myself.

00:59:01I feel quite embarrassed, actually, to say, did I really do that?

00:59:05Did I really sing like that?

00:59:07You don't hear yourself.

00:59:08No, I...

00:59:09You're missing out on something, I must tell you.

00:59:11I introspect a lot.

00:59:12After a show is over, I do a lot of introspection.

00:59:15Did I say the right thing?

00:59:16Did I talk the correct thing?

00:59:19Did I hurt anybody's feelings?

00:59:21These are very, very important for me.

00:59:23But no, I'm not very fond of listening to myself.

00:59:26Okay.

00:59:27And except, even when we're recording, I always tell the music director,

00:59:33if you're happy, then I'm happy.

00:59:35Because I know I put in my best.

00:59:38So, if you are happy, then I'm okay.

00:59:41Who else do you like?

00:59:42Who else do I like?

00:59:44I love Harihiran.

00:59:46I love Shankar Madhut.

00:59:49Love Sunud Niam.

00:59:50Love, love, love, love, love Shriya Gosha.

00:59:53I think Sunidhi is just fantastic.

00:59:56I mean, Sonu Nigam.

00:59:58We've got such a fantastic crop of singers, you know.

01:00:01I don't know whether they feel the same way about me,

01:00:03but that doesn't matter.

01:00:04You're a legend.

01:00:05You've endured now, you know.

01:00:07Very, like I said, I don't even know who has as many years

01:00:10and as much diversity that you have in terms of your music.

01:00:14But you know something, it's just fantastic.

01:00:17People don't seem to understand or realize that so many years ago,

01:00:24Preeti, when I started singing, there was a cake.

01:00:28Okay.

01:00:29And there were seven singers.

01:00:32Lata Ji, Mangeshkar, Asha Mosley, Mukesh Ji.

01:00:37Kishore Kumar, Muhammad Rafi, Manada, maybe one or two.

01:00:40Mahendra Kapoor, maybe.

01:00:42Talat Meibu, maybe.

01:00:43So say, make it maximum eight.

01:00:46Who ate from that cake.

01:00:49Fast forward to 2025.

01:00:52It's the same cake, the same size.

01:00:56But there are 1,500 singers to eat from it.

01:01:00So why is everybody clamoring for the same thing?

01:01:04There are so many avenues for you to sing.

01:01:07There are so many.

01:01:08It's changed a bit.

01:01:09You think it hasn't changed at all?

01:01:11You think there's still a fixation of wanting to be a playback singer?

01:01:13No one to be in the films.

01:01:15Why?

01:01:16For heaven's sake.

01:01:17I mean, there's a whole world outside of that.

01:01:21There's a whole world.

01:01:22And there are so many singers now who are doing, you know, all the reality shows,

01:01:26which are just so fantastic.

01:01:27Some of them are brilliant.

01:01:29Brilliant.

01:01:29Absolutely brilliant.

01:01:30And some of the singers too are so fantastic.

01:01:34And I tell people, you know, the critics, I keep telling them, don't be so with us.

01:01:40Don't be so sad because the good stuff will remain.

01:01:44It's a trend.

01:01:45The bad stuff will go.

01:01:46It's like a sieve, you know.

01:01:48Yeah.

01:01:48The good things will remain.

01:01:50But you need to give time for something to become a classic.

01:01:56You know, Rambaho, when I sang it so many years ago,

01:02:00everybody thought, what stupid words are these?

01:02:02What are you saying?

01:02:03Ho, ho, ho.

01:02:04You know, but it was, it was really.

01:02:06Who would write those songs?

01:02:08Big people.

01:02:10They would give a kid that Usha Uthup is singing this song.

01:02:14I must have Rambaho.

01:02:17No, it became a trend to have a repetition, the hook line.

01:02:22And it really became like even Hari Yoma.

01:02:25This is irritating me so badly.

01:02:27I can't tell you.

01:02:28You're Bindi.

01:02:28Because I think I'm sweating or something like that.

01:02:32Wait another, I think 15 minutes we are done.

01:02:34Okay, let it be.

01:02:35Let it be fine.

01:02:36It's now it's okay.

01:02:38So, yeah, you know, then it became a brand.

01:02:42Then you get typecast.

01:02:44And that every song has to be like that.

01:02:46Okay.

01:02:46And it's so funny because to do Rambaho was really a pioneering project to get, I mean,

01:02:55it was Bapi Lahiri who gave me the song.

01:02:56And to get that Ho, Ho, Ho, Ho correctly, well, we used, there was an echo machine which was being used in those days.

01:03:04And we called him Cyril who came all the way from Bandra, Bandra Men to set the correct speed.

01:03:13So, sometimes it was going Rambaho, Ho, Ho, Ho, Ho, Ho, Ho, Ho.

01:03:17And then sometimes Rambaho, Ho, Ho, Ho, Ho.

01:03:21So, to set it, it took so much time.

01:03:24Okay.

01:03:25And then everybody started using the same thing on stage.

01:03:29Okay.

01:03:30I mean, everybody was using repeat.

01:03:32They were using chorus.

01:03:33They were using gizmos.

01:03:35So many things.

01:03:36But it's okay.

01:03:38The thing is not how good or how bad, but how original.

01:03:44And I'm 100% original.

01:03:46I've never copied anybody.

01:03:48I've never tried because I can never even dream to sing like, say, either Shreya Ghoshal or Lataji Mangeshkar or Chitra from the South or S. Janaki.

01:04:00I can't sing like them.

01:04:02I don't, but that doesn't mean I don't appreciate them.

01:04:06I can't sing like Hariharan.

01:04:07I can't sing like Shankar Mahadeva.

01:04:09And though Shankar is wonderful that we have learned many songs like this.

01:04:13You know, we'd sit in the airports and he'd tell me, no, this is the note.

01:04:21This is the way you've got to go.

01:04:23And I've learned so much from him like that.

01:04:25But I can ratto one or two songs like that.

01:04:28But I can't become that genre, if you know what I mean.

01:04:31No.

01:04:31And I will not go that road.

01:04:34That's not your road.

01:04:35No, exactly.

01:04:36You must discover your weaknesses or your limitations and turn them into your strengths.

01:04:45What was your weakness?

01:04:47My weakness is that if you want to talk about it clinically, my range is more on the low side.

01:04:56I can't hit the notes that maybe the other singers can.

01:05:02But I can go so low because I can sing with Stevie Wonder or I can sing with Frank Sinatra.

01:05:09It's a black voice.

01:05:10And I can sing with S.P. Balas Subramaniam.

01:05:13But with most men, I can't do duets because, say, for example, with Bapida.

01:05:20You know, he sang one song with me and I sounded like the man and he sounded like the woman.

01:05:25What's this?

01:05:26Tu mujhe jaan se bhi piyara hai.

01:05:30And then he said,

01:05:31Tere bhi na sinai.

01:05:33Dil tere bhi.

01:05:35Piyar kare na to zaruri hai.

01:05:38I mean, he gave me so many hit songs.

01:05:41But I realized that my voice cannot do okay with certain male voices.

01:05:50Okay.

01:05:50Oh, I forgot to say I love Arijit.

01:05:53He's the love of my life.

01:05:54Everybody loves Arijit.

01:05:57Everybody loves Arijit.

01:05:58Yeah.

01:05:58He's just brilliant.

01:06:00And but mind you, I don't think any of these will deny it.

01:06:05Whenever I found that a song was good and it touched me, I'd start calling Anub Jalota.

01:06:13Everybody, you know, Pankajudas.

01:06:15Pankajudas.

01:06:16Everybody.

01:06:17And they always say, you're the only one who keeps doing this.

01:06:20And many of them don't even pick up my call.

01:06:22So Shreya, why don't you pick up my call?

01:06:24Yeah.

01:06:24All I want to say is you're just fantastic.

01:06:28Yeah.

01:06:28Sunidi is return mankal for me.

01:06:30Yeah.

01:06:30But I do believe that if you, if you consider it a weakness, I don't consider it a weakness.

01:06:36But I know that I can't sing a particular song.

01:06:39Like I can sing, this is for me a very, very important lesson in my life.

01:07:00You know, don't think that your problems are the biggest in the world because you look around

01:07:05you and you find so many problems around you.

01:07:07And now I could sing that.

01:07:10That was given to me by the Brahma Kumaris.

01:07:12Lovely song.

01:07:14And there is another song which I really adore.

01:07:18It says, you know, funny, this happens to me very often.

01:07:22And this is an anecdote which is happening to me quite often now.

01:07:25I find people in the airport looking.

01:07:28And this is the truth.

01:07:29Okay.

01:07:30They look, come running to me and I'm already with the, get the selfie or whatever.

01:07:36Oh, I'm all ready.

01:07:37And they look and stare and they say, Shubha Mutgal.

01:07:45They mistake you for Shubha Mutgal because of the voice?

01:07:47No, I think it's, we don't even look alike.

01:07:50But you don't look alike at all.

01:07:51I think it's the general assembly.

01:07:53Okay.

01:07:53And so people think that I'm Shubha and they say,

01:07:57And before I used to clarify, now I just ring her up and I say, Shubha, it's happened

01:08:05one more time.

01:08:05She said, don't worry, don't worry.

01:08:07Yesterday somebody called me and said, I sing Ramba Ho very well.

01:08:11So, it's great.

01:08:13Yeah.

01:08:14So, but there are people who come and do the same thing to me and they say, Runa Laila?

01:08:21Anything.

01:08:23Kujhbi.

01:08:23Yeah.

01:08:24They have to say something.

01:08:25So, it's okay.

01:08:25Yeah.

01:08:25Because they think you're familiar.

01:08:27Yeah.

01:08:27So, it's all right.

01:08:28But because of your limitations, Ushadiri, have you missed out on some songs in the past

01:08:32which you've heard?

01:08:33Of course.

01:08:34Of course.

01:08:34So many songs I missed out.

01:08:36Yeah.

01:08:37The title song of Naseeb, then the song which Kavita Krishnamurti sang, Hava Hawaii.

01:08:45Oh, you were considered for Hava Hawaii.

01:08:47No, I was told first.

01:08:48So, but there was so many.

01:08:49But I'm not a person who gets angry and feels bad.

01:08:53So, I mean, it doesn't matter.

01:09:04I sing those songs on stage anyway.

01:09:07But it's a limitation.

01:09:09And if you get frustrated by your limitation, that's ridiculous, isn't it?

01:09:14Somebody has a crooked nose or you've got a different kind of...

01:09:18You make the best of your lot.

01:09:18Yeah.

01:09:19I mean, it's okay.

01:09:20I know so many people who are deformed and still they're one of the hottest properties

01:09:28going, you know, really wonderful looking people.

01:09:32You speak about being original originality.

01:09:34That you think is the currency going ahead and has been the currency till now which has

01:09:38worked.

01:09:39And you have, you know, not just your style of music, your style of singing.

01:09:42It's just your personal style.

01:09:44You know, when I look at you, we've spoken about the Kanji Varam saris.

01:09:47Then we saw the Kanji Varam saris turn into kids.

01:09:49Yeah.

01:09:49You know, the big bindi, you know, the whole look, the hair, everything, the way you put

01:09:54it together.

01:09:55Do you think it's important for artists to inculcate a personal sense of style?

01:10:00I wouldn't say that it's important to...

01:10:05It's important definitely to be turned out well.

01:10:08I think that's very, very important.

01:10:10I think you owe it to the stage.

01:10:13You also owe it to the audience to be properly turned out.

01:10:18I think that's important.

01:10:20For me, that's important.

01:10:21And so you wouldn't find me shabbily dressed or, you know, because I respect the stage and

01:10:28I respect my audience.

01:10:30I respect my musicians who are part of my life and, you know, who've done so much for

01:10:35me.

01:10:35But I don't think it's so important for people to just do things because somebody else is

01:10:45doing it or wearing clothes because somebody else is wearing it or wearing boots because

01:10:50somebody else is doing it.

01:10:52I don't think it's necessary.

01:10:54I think it's more necessary for you to have your own personality.

01:10:59Self-expression.

01:11:00You'll find that.

01:11:00Absolutely.

01:11:01Because Bapita was always, you know, with the gold.

01:11:05So, yeah.

01:11:06So, okay.

01:11:06So, have your own sense of personality.

01:11:08Yes.

01:11:08I think in any case, for me, fashion is all about being comfortable.

01:11:13Where did the bindi come in from?

01:11:14That big bindi.

01:11:15Actually, it came in from...

01:11:17It evolved.

01:11:18Being South Indians, when you washed your face.

01:11:22Oh, by the way, for my mother, you know, any problem in life, if you didn't want to go

01:11:29to school, you had a stomach ache or you had a headache, she'd say, go and wash your face

01:11:33and you'd be okay.

01:11:34Everything was about washing your face.

01:11:36About washing your face.

01:11:36So, we used to wash our face.

01:11:38So, that's why during COVID, it wasn't so difficult for us to follow those things because

01:11:43we've been following it from childhood.

01:11:45Just above the basin would be a little bottle.

01:11:50We used to call it the Chand Putt.

01:11:52And there was a little dip.

01:11:55Yeah.

01:11:55Just put that.

01:11:56It was just one small thing.

01:11:58And all the girls in the family did it.

01:12:00And soon, the size became bigger.

01:12:04And then the colors changed and the advent of Shingar coming in with so many different

01:12:11colors.

01:12:11Then I started doing it with myself with Camel Krylin.

01:12:15And I used to draw my own bindis.

01:12:17And so, it just became something that people looked forward to.

01:12:22Or in the airports now, if I don't have it in the show.

01:12:27I mean, when I'm walking through the air.

01:12:29Early in the morning.

01:12:30I mean, you know, four o'clock flight or something like that.

01:12:32They expect you to be turned out just that way.

01:12:35Just the way you look.

01:12:35Yeah.

01:12:36Yeah.

01:12:40That's okay.

01:12:41But that's the.

01:12:42You've got to.

01:12:43Then over here.

01:12:44Oh, Maa, you can't take the bindis?

01:12:47In the south.

01:12:48It's become synonymous with you.

01:12:55Yeah.

01:12:55Like if today you didn't have the bindis, I'd say it's a lot of wish.

01:12:57I'd say no bindis today.

01:12:58No bindis.

01:12:58And it's like that.

01:13:00And it's so amazing.

01:13:02Sometimes you're caught in your own web.

01:13:05Yeah.

01:13:05So, I was saying for me, fashion is all about comfort, consistency, and constancy.

01:13:12I think when you, you know, have that kind of, what shall I say?

01:13:18Some people do things just to be different, you know, every time.

01:13:22Yeah.

01:13:22And get that, get that high when somebody says, oh, it's you, you know, you look so

01:13:29different that, but I don't get that high with that.

01:13:33I, I get my high when people look at me and they say, oh, there are people who say, oh,

01:13:39especially if you are in the south and they would say, gosh, you're looking just completely

01:13:46the same, Usha.

01:13:47Usha, after so many years, I'm watching you, you're looking just the same, perhaps trifle

01:13:53aged.

01:13:54You're so good as a mimic.

01:13:56It's amazing how good you are.

01:13:58You should have been an actor also.

01:14:00Trifle aged.

01:14:00Who only sounds in the middle of you.

01:14:01It says trifle, trifle aged.

01:14:03Perhaps.

01:14:04Perhaps.

01:14:04Oh.

01:14:05Perhaps trifle aged.

01:14:07So, you have some people like that.

01:14:08And on the other extreme, you find people who tell me, gosh, Usha, you're looking just

01:14:14the same as I saw you so many years ago.

01:14:16Well, I think you look lovely.

01:14:18And, you know, the producers have told me twice now that we have to, it's too, yeah,

01:14:22wind up.

01:14:22I'm going to ask you just two questions in the end.

01:14:25What's your piece of advice to so many, you know, young girls, young boys who are trying

01:14:29to make a life in music?

01:14:31Because I think, you know, it's, if a career has endured a lifetime, that's been yours.

01:14:38So, if you have to give a piece of advice, what would it be?

01:14:41Actually, I don't like to give advice.

01:14:45No?

01:14:46No.

01:14:46I like to guide them.

01:14:48And I'd like to guide the younger generation.

01:14:52But actually, it's all up to us.

01:14:55We have to give the right signals to the children.

01:14:59And the future of our lives, actually, the future of the nation, the future of the world

01:15:05are the youth.

01:15:06Without them, so you've got to speak their language and say, yo, bro, my grandson tells

01:15:11me, please don't say, good evening, ladies and gentlemen, please say, yo, bro.

01:15:15So, I'm saying, yo, bro, listen to what I'm saying, okay?

01:15:19Then nobody wants to listen to you.

01:15:20So, advice or messages are for people who have an open mind.

01:15:27And I want you all to have an open mind to say that if you have a dream, dream big.

01:15:32Because if you don't have a dream, how are you going to make a dream come true?

01:15:36You've got to have a dream.

01:15:38Hang in there.

01:15:39There's no shortcut for success or for hard work.

01:15:43Just hang in there and be prepared to really, really attain or get what you dreamt about.

01:15:53It happens and you can do it.

01:15:55Press away.

01:15:56Yeah, absolutely.

01:15:58We can't let you, you know.

01:16:00And be honest.

01:16:00100% honest.

01:16:02100% honest.

01:16:03You have to be honest.

01:16:04There's no way that you can, you know, just fool the world around you and just get by.

01:16:10No.

01:16:11You've got to be honest.

01:16:12We have to end with a song, you know that.

01:16:15No.

01:16:15No, we have to.

01:16:16Who wants to end what?

01:16:18My producers told me, ho gaya ab.

01:16:20Okay, ho gaya.

01:16:20We are running out of cards.

01:16:22So, what would you like with a sing?

01:16:24You have to sing what you want to sing.

01:16:26No.

01:16:27This is about you.

01:16:28No.

01:16:28English or what?

01:16:29No, language or what?

01:16:30English is good.

01:16:31Let's go with an English song.

01:16:32Okay.

01:16:32You sing your favorite song, Ushadi.

01:16:34Okay.

01:16:37Wouldn't it be nice if I gave you, can I give you a track later?

01:16:42Yeah.

01:16:43Yeah.

01:16:43Then you can put it on.

01:16:45So.

01:16:45We can.

01:16:46Then that would be nice.

01:16:48We can do that.

01:16:49Yeah.

01:16:49Because.

01:16:51So, you start with the song and we will mix it on the end.

01:16:55On the track in the end.

01:16:56Let's do that.

01:16:57Is that done?

01:16:58No, you tell me what should I sing.

01:17:00You have to sing what you want to sing.

01:17:03You'll suggest something.

01:17:04Okay.

01:17:05What do you guys want?

01:17:06What's your favorite?

01:17:07Himanchu, tell me.

01:17:08Say Hindi too.

01:17:08If you have Hindi.

01:17:09Let me say that it's really amazing how, you know, Durandar has brought Rambaho back.

01:17:19I can't even begin to tell you what a shock it was for me to know that it could reach that

01:17:27kind of, you know, people just sending it all over the place and in all different kinds

01:17:33of positions and different kinds of dance formations and fights at home and all kinds

01:17:39of things happening because of Rambaho.

01:17:42So, I would definitely say that, you know, one of the lines, I said, I didn't want people

01:17:47to, I don't believe in giving messages.

01:17:50I believe that if you are open-minded enough, you will glean the message from the song that

01:17:55I sing.

01:17:57And for me, every song has that.

01:17:59There's a line in Rambaho which says, for people who thought it was a meaningless song,

01:18:05it says,

01:18:06It's so sad we never touched upon any of the work that I had done on jingles.

01:18:24We'll talk about it.

01:18:26We'll plug it in.

01:18:27Okay.

01:18:27So many jingles that I've done.

01:18:29You've done so many jingles.

01:18:30I want to talk about all your philanthropy.

01:18:32All that you've done right from Mother Teresa to all the way down.

01:18:34We'll just take two quick questions.

01:18:36Okay.

01:18:37But yeah.

01:18:37So, then I definitely want to say that there is a song now which is, you know, for me,

01:18:44it means a lot because, as I said, the trifle aging.

01:18:47I believe that now is when I've really started living.

01:18:52Truly.

01:18:52And I think today is when it's all happening.

01:18:57And I don't, though people say age is just a number.

01:19:02For me, age is age.

01:19:03Definitely.

01:19:05Age is age.

01:19:06And you have to savor it.

01:19:08You've got to really enjoy it like I'm enjoying it.

01:19:11And thank God for that.

01:19:12Thank God for the capacity that he gives us, the strength he gives us to enjoy every moment of it.

01:19:18And I've really, really enjoyed it.

01:19:20And today has been so special.

01:19:22So, I'd like to say, you know, there's a song in, it's a Haryanmi song which says,

01:19:28Bhajan kar obhari jawani mein budha pa kisne de khya se.

01:19:36Can I tell you something?

01:19:38It is amazing.

01:19:39Now, this is Serendipity.

01:19:40I'm from Haryana.

01:19:41I don't believe it.

01:19:44What are you saying?

01:19:46I'm telling you with Serendipity.

01:19:47When you asked me, what do you want?

01:19:49And you said, I sing in so many languages.

01:19:50So, can I do this now?

01:19:51Of course, now do it.

01:19:52Now you have built it.

01:19:53So, it says,

01:19:55I have not seen budha pa and I don't really care.

01:20:26I'm going to end on that.

01:20:28You haven't seen budha pa and you don't really care.

01:20:31No.

01:20:31And Ushadi, you know, I will end with what you began with.

01:20:35If you have to pray for me, pray for health, I pray for health for you.

01:20:40Yes.

01:20:40And I pray that you sing till you sing and you sing.

01:20:43Yes.

01:20:44You know, I want to laugh till I cry.

01:20:47I want to sing till I die.

01:20:50That's how it's going to be.

01:20:51That's how it's going to be.

01:20:52But please play my song, Bada Apa Kese.

01:20:54Bhajan Karo Bari Jawani Me.

01:20:56Because it's Haryanmi.

01:20:58I don't believe it.

01:20:59Imagine.

01:21:00I'm telling you with surrender pity.

01:21:02How could it happen?

01:21:03How could it happen?

01:21:03What are the chances, baby?

01:21:05It's all.

01:21:05Yeah.

01:21:06Give me some nice words.

01:21:09Words.

01:21:09Gen Z uses.

01:21:10Gen Z.

01:21:11I'll have to ask my niece.

01:21:12I'm not Gen Z.

01:21:13I'm 42.

01:21:15I'm my Gen Z.

01:21:16You're very Gen Z.

01:21:17Okay.

01:21:17But it's just great because, you know, I think to be relevant, you've got to make friends

01:21:24with time and move along with time and move along with the younger generation and talk

01:21:31their language instead of making them talk yours.

01:21:36I think that's very important.

01:21:37Oh, and another thing which I keep on saying to everybody.

01:21:40Why is it that people are thinking that South Indians don't know how to talk English at

01:21:44all?

01:21:45What about our own, our very own Chashi Tarur?

01:21:49True.

01:21:49I agree.

01:21:51So that was, of course, on the lighter side.

01:21:54But the truth is, you've got to, if you want to be relevant, you've got to move with

01:21:59time.

01:22:00Don't keep saying that, you know, like you want to be in 1975 or something like that.

01:22:10No, it doesn't work.

01:22:11You could sing the same song, but present it differently.

01:22:15Like everything is being done so differently.

01:22:18Why not with music?

01:22:20Why not with music?

01:22:21And I think that's very, very important.

01:22:23Ushadi, I really, you know, thank you first.

01:22:28And it is an absolute privilege to be here.

01:22:31And there was so much I wanted to speak of, jingles that, you know.

01:22:35Jingles.

01:22:35We can't say that.

01:22:49You can say it.

01:22:49You have to say it.

01:22:50Okay.

01:22:50I amudud, peeta hai India today.

01:22:55Super.

01:22:55Today.

01:22:57India today.

01:22:59Yeah, I read that.

01:23:00But, and I also wanted to talk about your philanthropy because I just want to say it.

01:23:03We haven't been, you know, spoken about it much.

01:23:05What do you say when you, when you have a bad throat?

01:23:07Okay.

01:23:08That's how it happened when Suresh Malik, the genius who wrote also Mille Sur Meera Tumara.

01:23:14He came into my studio and he said, Usha, I don't want any words.

01:23:19Tell me what happens when you have a cough.

01:23:23I don't want a word.

01:23:25Okay.

01:23:25He said, think hard and think deep.

01:23:27He went out, had a drink, came back.

01:23:29And he said, did you?

01:23:30I said, yeah.

01:23:31It's like a, like a kich kich.

01:23:33And as he said, yeah, that's it.

01:23:35That's what I want.

01:23:36And then he said, think hard and think deep.

01:23:39What do you do when you get that kich kich?

01:23:41So he went out, tried to drink, came back.

01:23:42And I said, I do.

01:23:45Gale me kich kich.

01:23:46That's what.

01:23:46Gale me kich kich.

01:23:48Gale me kia karu.

01:23:50Vex ki go lilo.

01:23:52Kich kich door karu.

01:23:54So there are so many of my jingles that are being revamped and, you know, redone.

01:23:59And I'm very thrilled about being called a jingle singer, a jingle queen.

01:24:04It's not limited to a jingle singer, you know, and we've discussed all of that.

01:24:09But thank you.

01:24:10You know, thank you.

01:24:11It is.

01:24:11It's amazing that we had you.

01:24:13Yeah, I'm so happy.

01:24:13It's going to be one of my top, you know, I love them.

01:24:16I love this conversation.

01:24:17I loved every bit of it, really.

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