“In my 45 years in this profession, I have done thousands of shows,” reveals Sudesh Bhosale. The singer-mimic, who has a high percentage of hit numbers with Amitabh Bachchan, says, “One Jumma Chumma is equal to thousands of songs. Playback singers with thousands of songs have an unfulfilled desire to sing for Bachchan saab. I have had the honour to get repeated opportunities to sing for the superstar of the millennium.”
To his credit, Sudesh isn’t resting on his laurels, he is still busy doing live shows and is currently involved with a charity show for Alert India, an NGO focused on leprosy control. The concert will take place on November 21 at Nehru Centre, Worli.
Excerpts from the interview:
It’s commendable that you are doing a show for the leprosy treatment campaign by Alert India. How did you get involved?
I am doing my third show to help raise funds for Alert India, an NGO which treats leprosy patients and helps them financially. When they had approached me initially, I had agreed to do a show for them because I liked their work. The first show was a success and we raised a decent amount of funds through ticket sales and sponsorships, so I did another show for them. And now I am doing a third show because they need funds at regular intervals. We artistes have got a lot from society and this is a small way in which we can repay it.
Do you regularly do social work?
I haven’t opened a charity commission. Many of us have the desire to make a difference. I get lots of calls for help and when I feel I have the capacity, I try to relieve some of their problems.
How did you start mimicking stars… was it because you were a major Hindi film buff? How many actors can you mimic?
Surprisingly, I would watch very few films. This is a natural talent. When I was 18, I suddenly realised that I can imitate Amitabh Bachchan. Thereafter, I started polishing this skill. Each of the earlier actors had an individualistic style of speaking. After Sanjeev Kumarji passed away, I dubbed for five of his incomplete films.
I was just calculating the other day and I realise that there are 30 actors and 21 singers who I can imitate!
How did you become the voice of Amitabh?
At that time, people would imitate Ashok Kumar, Dilip Kumar, Raaj Kumar, Om Prakash. But for the first time, the audience heard somebody imitating Amitabh on stage. Laxmikant Pyarelal and actor-director Shashi Kapoor gave me the opportunity to give playback for Mr Bachchan with the film Ajooba (1990). For the first time, a song was recorded with the playback singer imitating the actor’s voice. When Amitji heard the song that I had recorded, he remarked, “I do not remember recording this!” He arranged a meeting with me and complimented me: “Your voice really does match mine.”
Your vocals on Jumma Chumma resulted in a chartbuster.
When Jumma Chumma is performed at a show, the response it gets is equivalent to the rest of the songs. But crores of people, especially among the younger generation, still do not know that Jumma Chumma (Hum, 1991) was sung by me… instead, they believe it is Bachchan saab who has sung the song. People place bets on who is the real singer of the song. The same is the case with Shava Shava, Meri Makhna, Sona Sona, etc.
Does your close association with Amitabh inhibit you from singing with other heroes and from pursuing your own singing style?
The advantage is that I got a lot of work and shows. The disadvantage is that people believe that I can sing only in Bachchan saab’s voice. Overall, there have been more advantages than disadvantages. Right in the early days, I sang a popular song for another hero Raaj Kumarji — Imli ka boota (Saudagar, 1991). I gave playback for .l Kapoor, Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Govinda, Mithunda and delivered hit numbers like Lal dupattewali (Aankhen, 1993). I gave playback for several actors but whenever I sang for Amitabh, those songs became huge hits. Also, people recognised me for my songs with Bachchan saab whereas when I sang for other heroes, people didn’t know it was my voice.
Did you ever desire that your original voice should get more recognition?
No. Because Jumma Chumma became such an enormous hit that I didn’t find the need. But, yes, in retrospect, after all these years, I do think that a song in my original voice should also have been a superhit. My image was that of a singer who could sing in anybody’s voice; and as a result people would ask me to sing in the hero’s voice. Because they felt that I would be able to pull off anything. That was the problem. I would also listen to the music director and sing accordingly.
Are you still in contact with Amitabh?
We still stay in touch on WhatsApp. His films don’t feature him singing very often nowadays. But I still dub for his ad films in other languages besides Hindi… he always recommends my name.
