Abhijeet Bhattacharya: Song ‘Wada Raha Sanam’ was originally intended for Balasubramaniam

Mumbai: Playback singer Abhijeet Bhattacharya — of 1990s era — has revealed that the song ‘Wada Raha Sanam’ was not intended for him but for legendary singer S P Balasubrahmanyam.

Abhijeet appeared on the stage of ‘Indian Idol 14’ for an episode themed ‘Abhijeet’s Challenge’.

Ananya Pal from Kolkata, who is known for the ‘Mishti Dhoi’ voice, performed beautiful renditions of, of ‘Waada Raha Sanam’ and ‘Zara Sa Jhoom Loon Main’ songs both originally sung by Abhijeet from the movies ‘Khiladi’ and ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’, respectively.

Impressed by Ananya’s singing style, and sharing interesting insights about the song ‘Wada Raha Sanam’, Abhijeet said: “The song ‘Wada Raha Sanam’ does not appear to be intended for me. Champak Jain, the owner of Venus Records Music, is no longer with us; nonetheless, he is a dear friend and I consider him as my Godfather.”

“This was Venus’s debut picture, and Akshay Kumar, who began his journey as a rockstar here, had previously portrayed his work in motion and action films,” said the ‘Ole Ole’ singer.

He further shared the back story around the song, saying, “This was not my song as it was meant to be for Balasubrahmanyam. But then the music director, Jatin-Lalit had hoped that this song would be featured in their debut film. So, the dream was for Balasubrahmanyam and Lata Ji to perform this song together. But it wasn’t happening; as Lata Ji’s dates were difficult to come by.”

“When things didn’t work out and rehearsals became difficult, it was agreed that Balasubrahmanyam and Alka Yagnik would sing it. And now, what do I do? as it was not in my hands. I was informed I would dub the song; just as multiple singers are currently brought in for dubbing.

“So, I was given the song with Alka Ji. Post that, we’d figure things out. However, it remained as it was my song, But believe me, if I had sung the song now, it would have sounded a lot better because of Alka Ji’s velvety voice,” he continued.

He added: “At the time, I didn’t have the season and experience that I have now; what we call ‘crawling’ wasn’t within me, as it is today.”

‘Indian Idol Season 14’ airs on Sony.

–IANS