Kumar Sanu. Picture by Gautam Dey

As Kedarnath Bhattacharjee, he often made visits to Dhanbad to meet Lakshminarayan Chakraborty, his maternal uncle, who lived near Jharia. Thus, it is no wonder that Kumar Sanu is a visibly excited man regarding his Dhanbad visit. He talks to The Telegraph regarding his childhood picnics at Topchanchi and Bhatinda, his music and Aashiqui — a film that holds a special place in his heart.

“Plans were being made and cancelled every time there was a talk of coming to Dhanbad. But finally it happened,” Kumar Sanu says happily. Much to the delight of his fans, former Kedar Bhattacharjee, who rose to great heights in nineties, stresses: “Getting a chance to sing here is always welcome.”

For his fans who have been missing his magic voice for long, he asks them to be patient. “I would rather not spend time doing what is called ‘music’ today. Most songs made today are forgotten after two months,” he adds.

He also adds that the next generation’s idea of music gets affected with “today’s” music, which neither offers lyrics nor music. Moreover, he believes that in all the remix rage, a singer’s voice , which is his or her identity gets lost.

“It becomes difficult to identify one singer from the other. I am averse to such a situation,” he said.

For him, gone are the days of music and lyrics, or Aashiqui, which catapulted him to fame. “The songs of Aashiqui are my treasures, I always open concerts with the songs from the film and I will do the same here, too,” Sanu stresses.

At present Sanu is busy as a bee with his home productions. He is doing the music direction for a film Sunday Kyon Ata Hai? and his dream production Aandhare Alo, a Bengali film.

Alka Yagnik

Initially, apprehensions about the coal capital’s security arrangements had deterred her, but assurances from fellow artistes saved the day for her fans as Alka Yagnik is now in Dhanbad for a show at the golf ground.

After landing here, the fans’ welcome has won her over, completely.

“Last I came to Dhanbad was when I was 10 years old to sing in a family function,” she says with the characteristic smile and a dimple.

While talking to The Telegraph, like Kumar Sanu, Alka, too, rues the bygone days. “Everyday a new singer is born, with each new video being made, while existing playback singers slowly take a back seat,” she says. But, Alka is more than busy. For her fans there’s more of her in the future with Sanjay Leela Bansali’s Saanwariya, Ashutosh Gowarikar’s Jodha-Akbar and Harry Baweja’s Love story 2050 all lined up.

“There is an overwhelming trend of remixes. Those are not my cup of tea. My only album Tum Yaad Aye, released some nine years ago, did well . But, that was a different era altogether Now, I would not take the same risk. If I cut an album there will be a lot of classical, semi- classical and pure folk influence in it. But, a rehashed song with an obscene video, which sells more nowadays, is not my cup of tea,” Alka adds.

Getting her to talk about the talent hunts is difficult, but when she does speak Alka is quick to admit that the shows have both a positive and a negative aspect. “When they (children) rise they rise high, but when the ladder is taken away some kids fall flat,” she says.