Anuradha Paudwal, iconic 90s singer, recently fulfilled her dream of singing bhajans at the Ram temple pran pratishtha, garnering headlines. Join her candid conversation with senior journalist Bharti S Pradhan for Leharen Retro, where she delves into her relationship with T-Series founder Gulshan Kumar.
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00:00 Did Gulshanji encourage you in this? Because you, T-Series, Gulshanji, you were the people
00:06 who gave devotional music that kind of platform. I know, he was always encouraging for anything
00:12 because he had that knack to understand, you know, ki yeh correct cheez ho rahi hai. Because
00:18 he was also a commercial man. He was commercial, but he had to be na. But he understood ki
00:24 devotional music ka… Of course, because when I entered T-Series, jo maine Saptashati
00:32 ki, uske baad jo Manachesh Shlok, that was a instant hit. Instant hit, Manachesh Shlok.
00:38 But jab aapne shuru kiya, they allowed you to do it, T-Series mein? I entered with Durga
00:45 Saptashati na. And that was what you made it? Yes, matlab, uske baad jo, tulsi bhajan, fir
00:53 Krishna bhajan hua, toh matlab Lion se toh devotional hi huye, kyuki wo concept nahi
00:59 tha. And then like, and this Saptashati, I had done with Babuji. That's Gulshanji's
01:09 father. Oh, really? First four, five albums I did with him. Then Gulshanji came on the
01:16 scene. Oh, okay. You know, and then they decided to make, because they had just entered the
01:23 industry. So they decided to make a film. And it was called Mamata Ka Mandir. Now, he
01:33 had a, because the world knows his love for Mata Vaishna Devi. So for him, Mamata Ka Mandir
01:41 was Mata. Mother means Mata. So he was, he approached Ms. Directors, aisa aisa karna
01:53 hai, toh they said, aisa aapko super hit gaana de denge na, matlab, dekho duniya hilake rak
02:01 hai. And he said ki, mujhe sunna chahata ho, he said, nahi nahi aap aake khar, wohi pe
02:07 sunna, toh maza aajayega. Unfortunately or fortunately, that was a time of double meaning
02:13 songs. Oho. When he came, he went there. This is 70s, 80s. Haan, toh 89. And he went there.
02:26 The song was, main raat bhar soi, mere pyaar dabate rahi teri maa. Main raat bhar soi,
02:33 pankha dete rahi teri maa. You know? He said, what is this? I mean, the music writer, unke
02:44 isaapse woh theek tha, unko hit gaana dena tha. Chali raha tha woh. Yeh Vaishnav maa
02:50 dimaam mein leke gaye tha. He was very upset. Aur moorat toh hum log sab pahunch gaye the
02:56 wahaan pe. He was like furious. Ki yeh kya hai? You know? Ki matlab, main Vaishnav mein
03:04 matlab, mere film mein yeh gaana aaye. Correct. That was the time I had, I said, Gulshan ji,
03:12 yeh hum log, then he was, you know, he was very angry. Toh he said ki yeh hum log, koi
03:21 matlab ek gaane ke upar wagare, itna woh nahi, matlab, you know, paisa, matlab, it's not
03:28 so important for us as a song. Okay. But he said ki hum log main hai, cassette bechna.
03:40 Because that was your main. Jisme ek lakh cassette ek din mein hoti hai. Toh humko
03:46 woh bechna hai. Toh bikne ke liye humko gaane dalne padte hai. Aur humare upar vangata Vaishnavi
03:53 ki itni krupa hai. Hum jo daalte ho bikta hai. So I said yeh achi baat hai. Because that
04:01 time they were doing a lot of versions. Cover versions. Hum log jo bhi daalte ho bikta hai.
04:08 I said agar Vaishnava ki krupa hai Gulshan ji aur aap jo karte bikta hai, toh achha daalo
04:15 na usme. Bikna hai na. You can take a chance. You can take a risk. Give it a shot. Achha
04:24 matlab kya? Main ek nahi daaliye na. Nahi gaani daaliye. Give me a chance. Let me work
04:31 upon an album. Jo gaane aap versions daalte na, ussi mood ke, ussi character ke gaane,
04:39 nahi bana ke daalenge na. Toh kaun karega? I said if you trust me. Ek lakh rupiah bhi
04:46 itni huge amount nahi that you can't trust me with it. So he told Sushil ji, I mean let
04:52 her do it. I went to Anand Milind. I said bhi aaye karne. Situation kya hai? Kaun heroine
05:00 nahi hai. Situation wohi hai, jo aaj se 40 sal se chali aaye, 50 sal se wohi situation
05:07 hai. Ladka ladki mile, ladka ladki bichad gaye, mele me mile, mele me bichad gaye. Yeh
05:14 toh hota hai. Third song. That is how Laal Dupatta got made. Yes, because I remember
05:22 that was the first album made without a film. Haan. Aur uske baad film. Aur film kyun bani
05:29 uske baad. Then he said ke abhi isko popular. It become a instant hit. He said no, abhi yeh
05:34 gaane Chhaya Geet mein chalana chahiye. Now Chhaya Geet mein jab tak film ka registration
05:40 nahi hai. You need film. Isliye unhone ek team li thi, ladka ladki aur unke upar gaane
05:46 picturise kiye the. I said nahi, jab tak you don't have a certificate of a film, tab tak
05:52 Chhaya Geet nahi chalayega. He said what's so difficult? Matlab you know, jiska passion
05:57 hota hai usme. He said ki saad minute ka toh already aapke paas shoot kiya hua material
06:04 hai gaano ka. Beech beech mein thoda thoda karke story bana do. Just woh thappa lagge
06:10 ki film hai. Karke woh film bani. And then, you know, that was the first time. Haan, that
06:17 was. And I remember music writer asking me yeh kya hai? Yeh gaana hai? Film hai? Jo
06:24 bhi hai. Achha hai gaana. So that is how it started. Yeah. So he was very encouraging.
06:29 Matlab agar kuch achhi idea agar hai aur kuch click hota hai toh he was, he really went
06:36 out of his way to support whether it was music directors or you know. And then when I said
06:46 ki re abhi Gulshan ji, now I will turn to devotionals, he was horrified. He said I have
06:54 worked like nothing, you know, to matlab itni mehnat ki ki you know usko promote ho gaye.
07:00 I said nahi par wohi toh bhi bola hua tha ki number one hone ke baad then I will dedicate
07:07 myself to devotional. But as luck would have it, unka bhi devotional suddenly pick up ho
07:18 hai. North India mein toh devotional. And they had VCD tha unke paas. Toh woh picturized
07:25 wagare ho ke na. Toh everything supported it. That's right. Everything supported. Yeah,
07:31 absolutely. Tailor made tha woh. I think he was also a Shiv bhakt na. Great Shiv bhakt.
07:38 Shiv bhakt hai aur woh Vaishno Devi mein toh unhone woh prashad. Woh toh abhi bhi chal raha
07:44 hai. But he started it. But he was a great Shiv bhakt. But he started it. Yes, yes. Toh
07:48 he was a great. Kab 70s, 80s mein shuru kiya tha unhone. Must be, must be. He was a great
07:53 Shiv bhakt. In fact, jab guzar gaye bhi, woh Shiv mandir mein hi gaye the na. So that was
08:05 a huge, huge thing. I would, you know, you had such a big part to play in the success
08:13 in the making of T-series when it started. So now when a film is made on Gulshanji, what
08:20 role should you have in it? I mean, how should you be portrayed in it as his inspiration?
08:27 Bhati, let me tell you one thing. As a very integral part of T-series. One thing I would
08:32 like to tell you is, you know, it was like, it was like a hand and glove combination.
08:42 You know, whatever I put forward, toh usko showcase karna aur duniya tak le jaana, woh
08:51 bhi utna hi important hota hai. So it was both ways. Yeah. Yeah. You know, so I won't
09:00 say ki mera itna haath tha. And then it is up to them to realize what part I have played.
09:11 So in any case, I'm the last person, you know, and I really don't think much about
09:18 all this. Because yeh duniya aaj kal aise chaliye especially thanks to social media.
09:24 Kisi ko bhi kuch bhi dikhana hai, kuch bhi dikhata hai. Kyunki you know hum log the
09:29 us wakt. I know. Toh humne dekha hai aap logon ka aapka contribution. Like you said hand
09:38 and glove partnership that you had with Gulshan ji. That was such a, you know, we've seen
09:44 it and we've seen what our built DCP is. I know, I know. But still it depends a lot
09:50 on the people who are making the film. Unko kitna, how much they acknowledge, depends
09:57 on that. And actually, you know, it really doesn't make a difference to me. And then
10:02 after that, within six years or something in 1997, you lost Gulshan ji, who was another
10:08 big pillar of support for you. Yes. He was, I mean, professionally, he had a lot to do
10:19 with your career. So that was that must have been another dhakka, isn't it?
10:23 It was. Yes, it was a big setback for the reason that I had put everything into T-Series.
10:34 Yes. I remember your whole career you had just put into it. Yes. Because whether it
10:39 was film, song, it was devotion, it was whatever it was, you know, like I had just cut off
10:44 myself. And one reason for me cutting off myself from the entire industry was I was
10:49 concentrating upon my own family. I couldn't be leaving the children just like that and
10:55 then, you know, recording udhar ho rahe, program udhar ho rahe. And T-Series was your territory.
11:01 You could. Yes, I mean, it was, I didn't have, that was my comfort level. Mujhe kuch
11:06 karna nahi padta tha. I just go and sing. But you were a director there. No, I was never
11:11 a director. I was only a singer. You were only a singer. OK, OK. But you had concentrated
11:21 all your singing on that. Yes, because, because, you know, they gave you the opportunity. Yes,
11:26 and I got it. I mean, kisko itna, who would be so lucky to get, I mean, jis tare se everything
11:36 laid out and ek ke baad ek hit bhi hote gaye na. Pictures bahut log banate, music bahut
11:44 log banate, paisa bhi usme bahut dalte ki itna bada hit, khali paise se nahi hota hai. To
11:50 be appreciated by people. Creativity. Yes. So wo ek bahut, wo ek bahut, yeah, that was
11:58 a big turning point. But I remember one incident, you know, when this happened, I was totally
12:04 I don't know what to do. That came suddenly. What to do? Because tab tak main programs
12:12 karti nahi thi. OK. I, programs hi nahi karti thi. I was heavily into recordings only. Because
12:20 ek, even Gulshan ji felt, you know, ki nahi nahi nahi, aap program ke liye idhar udhar
12:26 karenge, kahan kaisa mic hota hai, kahan kaisa. To usme vocal chords affect hote hai. So
12:32 he used to be very particular ki nahi, you concentrate upon music and matlab recordings.
12:39 To us isaab se bhi, you know, ki jaise programs karte rhta hai, to log confidence hota hai
12:45 ki nahi, nahi, programs hai, vahegad, wo bhi nahi tha. And, but I always looked at T-Series
12:55 ki I told Vaishno Devi, I said, look, T-Series for me is Vaishno Devi ek company. I never
13:01 forget that. So you look after me. You know, matlab Babu ji ke saath mene shuru kiya, Gulshan
13:11 ji came in later on. But for me, constant Vaishno Devi. So you please give me a direction
13:20 and you, matlab ye meri bhavna hai. You have to show me whether what I have done is right
13:26 or wrong, whether you are with me or not. You know, that was the time in 1997, December,
13:37 that I got the cultural ambassador to devotional music. I got felicitated by the United Nations
13:45 of America. Wow. OK. You know, just one more thing on Gulshan
13:53 ji. When he passed away, it was very tragic assassination. It was cruel. And I think he
14:02 paid the price for just being, wearing his devotion on his sleeve. You know, I think
14:09 he paid the price for that. He would have been very happy in today's mahal, I would
14:13 think. He was much needed, actually. He was much needed in today's mahal. Yes. Yes. And
14:19 I always felt he paid the price for being so devoted, for wearing his devotion on his
14:25 sleeve. I won't say devotion. I don't think that was the cause. Probably people wanted
14:33 something else out of him. Business. Whatever. Whatever. But were you happy with the way
14:40 the court thing has gone? Because you were one of the witnesses. Bharti, I have never
14:47 really, you know, I don't want to say that, not given it a thought or whatever, you know,
14:56 but then I have seen too much of life where people twist and turn things to their, to
15:01 suit themselves. So what is there for me to say? So you've seen that in the court of
15:06 law also? No, no, I have seen that a lot. I mean, we are seeing it all over the world.
15:14 Court of law, why? If you go to see, the whole world is a court. But now, all things are
15:21 broken and twisted, people, you know, their own, like for example, we see reels on YouTube
15:31 and on social media. They just write and talk anything to sell their own at the cost of
15:40 people's families and family life. Unscrupulous. So what we feel bad is for the person who
15:53 has gone. Absolutely.
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