41 years- that’s the time Kumar Sanu has released one chartbuster song after another. And one of them is the song Tujhe Dekha Toh from one of the biggest Bollywood films, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. The popularity of this track can be gauged from the fact that recently BBC voted it UK’s favourite 90s Bollywood song.
Lalit Pandit, one part of the music composer duo Jatin-Lalit, however, is not happy with Sanu. In an interview to Bollywood Hungama, he said, “The fact that Kumar Sanu did not acknowledge Anand Bakshi who wrote the lyrics and us Jatin-Lalit who composed the music for Tujhe Dekha To, which was successful, was a bit upsetting. His constantly saying ‘mera gaana hai, mera gaana hai’ (It’s my song, it’s my song) is not right.”
When we spoke to Sanu, who is currently in the US for live shows, he said that he has always appreciated his music, “Of course if the music was not like this, this song would not have been a hit. Same is the case with the lyrics. I never thought of anything else. Jatin Lalit is such a music director… every song has something special. After Pancham Da, if anyone took forward the legacy of good music, it was him. Nadeem Shravan, Anu Malik, they are also great. Jatin Lalit’s music has that touch of Pancham Da which everyone likes, although there is no one who can be compared to him. There is no doubt that if the composition of Tujhe Dekha To was not like this, then the song would not have been a hit. If the lyrics were not so lovely… it was a complete team work. The song is a hit because of that.”
“The lyrics were easily understood by people. So the credit goes first to Jatin Lalit ji and Anand Bakshi sahab,” the 66-year-old singer said.
Maybe there is some misunderstanding, we ask further. Sanu replies, “There is nothing. When we meet, we will talk. Jatin Lalit ji has given great songs to the industry. He should not think like this, I have respected him and will always do so. Whatever he says to us, I will respect him. He has contributed a lot to my life and career, I want to respect him in every way.”
Meanwhile, he says he enjoys performing in live shows more than playback singing (he has performed in 12 shows in the last two months), “I like live shows more because in playback singing you have to wait for the applause and for the song to hit. Here, in shows, people react instantly. I like the applause.”