gs or that I'm sounding very
dramatic, but six to seven days before my mother passed away last year, she took
one look at me and laughed a lot. She said that I should never worry, that God
would always be with me.
Some months later, I was in San Francisco where I had gone to cut a record -
Legacy - with the great Ali Akbar Khansaab. And I started getting numerous phone
calls, informing me that my songs of Rangeela had become extremely popular.
Tanha Tanha had started topping the charts.
It was almost as if what my mother had said had come true. It's because of what
my mother... and my father made me believe in - in honesty and straight-talk -
that I'm still here after a career spanning 52 years. Imagine, I've won the
Filmfare Special Award at the age of 62. I am sure it is because of the
aashirwaad of God and my parents.
Your badi didi, Lata Mangeshkar, won the Special Award last year for her
songs in Hum Aapke Hain Kaun..!
Yes I am aware of that. She has their aashirwad too.
Why did you retire from the awards?
Because the Filmfare awards would mostly go to didi, Mohammed Rafi, Kishore
Kumar and me. New female singers who were coming in were missing out on the
awards. Moreover, often I would feel that an award-winning song is the result of
teamwork. It would be written well and composed well. I would feel that it was
unjust for me to walk away with all the credit and the trophy.
Could you cite specific instances?
I got the award for Garibon ki suno (Dus Lakh) but neither Rafisaab nor Ravi
were awarded for this song. Similarly, I got the trophy for Chain se humko kabhi
(Pran jaaye par vachan na jaye) but O.P.Nayyarsaab didn't. I w ..... |
