R D Burman Death Anniversary: Singer Usha Uthup remembers Panchamda

Singer Usha Uthup needs absolutely no introduction Born with lsquoblessed vocalsrsquo she has lent her voice to many hit songs in many languages Even though she has worked under many music composers her association with the legendary R D Burman was truly special It was under his musical association that she had belted many hit tracks including the evergreen lsquoHare Rama Hare Krishnarsquo lsquoDoston se pyaar kiyarsquo amongst othersMid Day Online spoke to Usha Uthup where she walked down the memory lane and shared a few interesting anecdotes about himUsha ji which is your fondest memory about PanchamdaSince I have so many fond memories itrsquos difficult to pinpoint just one I think that one of the most amazing memory about Panchamda was his art of explaining things Once what had happened was that he was very keen that I should be there at the premiere of lsquoShaanrsquo where I was supposed to come up from the flight deck and get onto the main deck and sing lsquoDoston se pyaar kiya dusmanon sersquo Although the whole thing did not get materialized but the excitement with which Panchamda had explained the whole concept was totally awesome There is one more memory that will always be evergreen in my mind Then there was a Bengali song lsquoAagaami shishurarsquo which was recorded in Mumbairsquos Madhur Dhwani studio After the recording he said that he was happy that he could exploit the range of my voiceAlso ReadVidya Balan is Usha Uthups choice for her biopicPanchamda has created an ocean of songs Can you tell your top 4 songs which has been composed by himAgain I would say that its really difficult to pick up any one or four tracks from the legacy of gems that Panchamda has created I would say that my top 4 songs will include ldquoHumein Tumse Pyaar Kitnardquo because of the lyrics Then therersquos lsquoChinagri Koi Bhadkersquo because of the fact that it touches the heart so emotionally The third one will be lsquoBina dekhe bina jaanersquo the very song which was sung by Amitabh Bachchan in the film lsquoMahaanrsquo The fourth song will be lsquoDukh sukh ki har mala kudrat hi piroti hai Haathon ki lakeeron mein ye jaagti aur soti hairsquo from the film lsquoKudratrsquo What is that one quality about Pachamda that you admired the mostI really admired his capacity to realize how to bring about the best in any artist and where to give any suggestion and where to allow the artist put in his her input He allowed the artists to growAlso ReadHoly start to the next decade for Amitabh BachchanIf you were to dedicate one song in his remembrance from his own repertoire of songs which will that track beIt has to be the track lsquoDukh sukh ki har malarsquo and also lsquoHumein tumse pyaar kitnaarsquoYou have recorded many tracks with him Can you recall any incidents from the recordingPanchamda always gave me the kind of songs which he believed that I would be able to sing well One of incident about Panchamda was that he had told me to chew the lyrics of the Bengali song lsquoPremey pudey jaaayersquo Otherwise he always let me to sing the way I wanted toIf you had to describe the legacy of Panchamda what will that beItrsquos actually very difficult to describe legacy of Panchamda in just a few words or sentence Thatrsquos why I would say that Panchamda was all about the quality of work more than the quality of work