MUMBAI : She sang her way through the 70s and 80s, before quitting playback for Bollywood films at her peak in the 90s, and Anuradha Paudwal says she always wanted to leave the game when on the top.
Anuradha first sang a shloka in the 1973 “Abhimaan”, starring Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya, following up with films like “Kalicharan”, “Aap Beati” and the blockbuster, “Hero”.
It was, however, in the 90s where the 64-year-old singer came up with consecutive hits in “Aashiqui”, “Dil Hai Ki Maanta Nahi” and “Saajan”.
“I had decided to give up film singing much before ‘Aashiqui’ and ‘Dil Hai Ki Maanta Nahi’. But I had decided that I will give it up when I am at my peak,” Anuradha told PTI.
When asked why did she want to leave at her peak, the singer added, “Because you should be missed.”
Her decision to quit singing for films came as a surprise for many but Anuradha says nobody was privy to her idea.
“Nobody knew. I didn’t discuss it with anyone. It was only between me and my God. I’d rather be missed than people say ‘why is she singing,'” she says.
She, however, did reach a stage in her career where after having several highs with films like “Ek Duje Ke Liye” and “Karz”, she saw a dry run post “Hero”.
“There was a big lull of four years after Hero. I faced that. There were hardly any films. They were all multi starrers,” Anuradha says.
The singer then gradually moved to singing devotional songs. Anuradha says she had to initially face difficulty even for singing devotional tracks.
“You will be surprised, that time when I had gone to a couple of companies, I said I want to sing ‘bhajans’ but they said no there is no market for your bhajan. And see today. The whole scenario has changed.
“They said ‘no one wants to listen to bhajans from you.’ They wanted me to sing only ghazals. Now that I look back, it has been a very rich journey.”
The veteran singer feels she can’t fit into the music scene of today, “there is Jazz, pop, rock kind of music which I can’t sing”. She doesn’t have any disdain for it except for a word of caution for contemporary singers.
“I feel bad when singers don’t try to retain their identity. Everybody sounds the same. You can’t figure out. Songs are composed only on those four notes. (AGENCIES)
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