‘Shooting with Pankaj was a pleasant expertise as a result of he was a captivating, straightforward and easy singer.’
IMAGE: Pankaj Udhas in Naam.
Pankaj Udhas handed away on Monday, February 26, after a protracted sickness. The ghazal singer and Padma Shri recipient was 73.
As tributes poured in from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan to singers Hariharan, Anup Jalota and Anu Malik, Sonu Niigam, from actors like Madhuri Dixit, Abhishek Bachchan to administrators like Mahesh Bhatt and Sanjay Gupta.
Speaking to Rediff.com Senior Contributor Roshmila Bhattacharya, Mahesh Bhatt shares, “After Naam, whenever Pankaj and I bumped into each other, we would talk about Chitthi Aayi Hai and I would thank him for this priceless contribution to the success of Naam.”
‘The music was the brainchild of Salim Khansaab‘
IMAGE: Sanjay Dutt in Naam.
When an icon like Pankaj Udhas who had such a big audio work is remembered at the moment for one music, Chitthi Aayi Hai from my 1986 movie Naam, you understand it has burnt throughout all courses and bridged generations.
Time, they are saying, is the very best critic and when a movie and a music stands the check of time, there’s one thing life-affirming about this murals.
Chitthi Aayi Hai, Watan Se Chitthi Aayi hai, Bade Dinon Ke Baad, Hum Be-Watnon Ko Yaad Watan Ki Mitti Aayi Hai, Chitthi Aayi Hai… captures the craving of the human coronary heart to return to its personal area of origin which is your vatan (nation).
Pankaj Udhas was not a singer within the filmi beat, however this was a novel scenario, the mind baby of Salim Khan saab who had separated from his former writing accomplice Javed (Akhtar)saab and reasserted himself by Naam, which was an enormous box-office hit.
Salimsaab identified that we wanted a second of metamorphosis within the narrative for the central character, Sanjay Dutt’s Vicky Kapoor, who due to his have to excel and make a mark, has gone down life’s darkish lanes and has distanced himself from his personal.
During the course of this music, Vicky has a change of coronary heart and decides to go again dwelling.
For this turning level within the narrative to be convincing, Salim saab instructed we do it by using a transferring music.
‘Pankaj had been reluctant to face the digicam’
IMAGE: Pankaj Udhas in Naam.
Since the custom of ghazals had peaked throughout the nation on the time, in South Asia and the West too, we opted for Pankaj whom I appreciated as a singer.
He had been somewhat reluctant earlier to face the digicam as a result of he by no means deluded himself in believing that he was an actor.
But I defined that he could be enjoying himself, Pankaj Udhas, and that satisfied him.
Shooting with Pankaj was a pleasant expertise as a result of he was a captivating, straightforward and easy singer.
But not like most actors who’re used to taking pictures a music in fragments, with shut ups, mid-shots, extensive angle pictures and lengthy pictures, since Pankaj was a singer, we needed to take most of his efficiency in uninterrupted takes.
The requirement was that this actor had an idiom the place except he was given his area to sing a music the best way he renders it in regular mehfils, it will look laboured.
That was a problem, however Sarojji (choreographer Saroj Khan) and I nonetheless managed to wrap up Chitthi Aayi Hai in simply two days.
‘The junior artistes have been moved to tear’
IMAGE: Sanjay Dutt and Amrita Singh in Naam.
What made the picturisation memorable was that the music was not restricted to the important thing actors.
I additionally panned on the reactions of the so-called junior artistes, enjoying NRIS or expats who’ve settled overseas.
And what was path-breaking was that simply listening to Pankaj sing these actors who should not skilled or emotionally invested in a scene, have been additionally moved to tears.
I attribute this to the standard of (Anand) Bakshisaab‘s writing, the greatness of Laxmikant-Pyarelal’s composition and the heartfelt abandon with which Pankaj sang.
He would shoot with us in the course of the day and fly off to totally different components of the nation within the night for his mehfils.
Chitthi Aayi Hai was a protracted music, but it surely did not have too many digicam setups, simply Pankaj singing and reactions of the actors.
We come from a college of austere and exact film-making.
Also, that was not a digital age and uncooked movie was an costly commodity so we did not have the posh of taking pictures a sequence from totally different angles.
Yet, even after 38 years, the music nonetheless resonates.
‘Sanjay and I shared messages, he was emotional’
IMAGE: Pankaj Udhas. Photograph: Kind courtesy Pankaj Udhas/Instagram
After Naam, every time Pankaj and I ran into one another, we’d discuss Chitthi Aayi Hai and I might thank him for this priceless contribution to the success of Naam.
When I heard yesterday that he had handed away, I reached out to 2 individuals, Salim Khan and Sanjay Dutt.
Sanjay and I shared messages, he was very emotional.
He had been actually susceptible after we shot the movie and this music, getting back from rehab and desperately on the lookout for a rebirth.
He remembered how when he went overseas, individuals would cry remembering the music.
Salimsaab and I additionally spoke very warmly about Pankaj and Chitthi Aayi Hai.
I identified to him that his suggestion had added an additional dimension to Naam and that once you look again by the mists of time, you realise the contributions of giants like Pankaj Udhas to Indian cinema.
When my driver heard the information, he agreed that whereas Pankaj has sung many lovely songs, nothing might beat Chitthi Aayi Hai.
He’s from Nepal so I perceive why it means a lot to him.
