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After crooning Darrrling and cleaning up Priyanka Chopra’s murderous mess as her maid in 7 Khoon Maaf, Usha Uthup was back in the Bollywood studios once again, summoned to sing a song for Farhan Akhtar’s ode to the suave anti-hero Don 2 starring Shah Rukh Khan. A t2 chat with our very own local pop diva on her recent outing…
How did you bag a song for Don 2?
I got called by Shankar (Mahadevan) and went to Mumbai for a day between shows in London and Dubai. Whenever I like a song from one of SEL’s releases, I always call Shankar to congratulate him and I’ve also been asking him to give me a song to sing. I was very excited when he called me and said, ‘Usha, I have a song for you!’
What’s the song?
It’s called Hai yeh maya. A complete club song, typically my kind. It’s a number with mysterious and eerie words and tunes. I recorded two versions of it, both of which will be used in the film. One, a totally club groove and the other very funky, both layered with voices in the background done by me in different styles.
Any specific thing they wanted you to do for the song?
These days one is hardly into rehearsals before a recording but I never learnt music so it’s different for me. I have to really get a song into my system. That’s the way I can do justice to it. They had sent me a rough scratch a few days before the recording and I worked hard to get the mood and expressions right. In the studio, Shankar, Ehsaan, Loy and Farhan, all were present. Before stepping up to record, Shankar said, ‘Just rock it Usha like you would rock the Salt Lake stadium’ and Farhan told me, ‘Let go… I love your energy’. They gave me a free hand and it was done in about 45 minutes.
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| Shah Rukh Khan in Don 2 |
Farhan also tweeted: ‘Recorded a song with Usha Uthup for Don 2. What a voice and what amazing energy and attitude... a rockstar in a Kanjeevaram sari!’…
He did? That’s so sweet of him! (Squeals in delight) I’ve actually known Farhan for a long time. My nephew had a company called Script Shop now known as Squirkle in Bombay and Farhan used to work there. He was a bachcha then. I remember him coming in with his knapsack, this beautiful boy, an absolute simpleton but very clever at his job. Fast forward to now when he’s moved on and become so huge. When I walked into Purple Haze for the recording, he was seated there. It’s so hard to believe that he’s the same lad. I had met him briefly in between at a family wedding but it was after many years that I got to interact with him. He was excited to see me and so was I. I told him that I loved the song Senorita in Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and wanted to do a Bengali version. He has advised that I get in touch with T-Series and I’m in the process of working that out.
Are you keen on singing for Bollywood? Are you getting more offers?
Yes, I have been getting offers but nothing as big as this one. I recently sang a song for Sujoy Ghosh’s Kahaani. It was a complete rock song called Thoda bizarre hai, which has the potential to become a runaway hit if given the right publicity. I’m glad that people are giving me my kind of songs.