Who was female Kumar Sanu in 90's? Alka Vs Anuradha? - Page 2

Reason for Kumar Sanu downfall as stated by Kumar Sanu fans in 2004 on Yahoo Groups

Dear Readers,

I could have used some nice adjectives to describe the personality in the title of this article itself. But I would better leave this responsibility to you – who should be the best judge. This article is nothing but a humble attempt to bring him back in front of the public before it gets too late. Yes, I am trying to refresh your memories of the good old 90s when he was the king of the Bollywood music industry. In spite of presence of stars like Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Madhuri Dixit, A.R.Rehman, Aishwariya Rai, Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik and all, he was the one who received Artist of the Decade of 90s award in Bollywood Music award. Yes, he is no other than the almost forgotten one and only Kumar Sanu who will be turning 47 in the coming year (2004).

I don’t know much about other countries. But in India, there are innumerable occasions where a deserving candidate does not get the required recognition during his/her lifetime. And also there are a lot of personalities who get their recognition at a very old age when he or she may not be physically/mentally strong enough to cherish that success. Kumar Sanu is going to be one of the latest additions to this list. Yes, his songs became superhits and megahits, he was the number 1 choice of the music directors, actors, producers and directors, he sang innumerable songs during 90s, music directors like Rahul Dev Burman, Laxmikant Pyarelal and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan Saab used his voice. But in spit of all these, he never really got the recognition that he really deserved. Why does one have to say this?

Firstly, he did not get enough praise from the purists which Sonu Nigam or Anuradha Podhwal or Kavita Krishnamurthy received. Secondly, he did not ever get national awards even during his best days which his contemporaries like Udit Narayan and Alka Yagnik received. And finally, there had not yet been any true attempt to appreciate his contribution to the Hindi film playback singing. Rather, people at the slightest opportunity, tried to undermine his works. His best songs got worst reviews on bollywood music websites. The reviewers never forgot to mention that Kumar Sanu sang with his nose but never really paid attention to the emotions that he put in his songs. What could be the reason for this?

Why was Kumar Sanu not liked by one and all like Mohammed Rafi or Kishore Kumar or Mukesh or Udit Narayan? There could be many reasons for this. The most important reason for this is his public image for which only he is responsible. Kumar Sanu never really showed respect to his contemporaries during his prime. He used to compare himself with Lataji and Ashaji. Following their paths, he declared that he won’t receive any more Filmfare award after 1994. When A. R. Rehman came to the industry, he failed to recognize Rehman’s potential and made bad remarks about Rehman’s music. This is how, he created more and more enemies in the industry. At that time, Kumar Sanu was in his prime; so people could not do much. But later at the slightest opportunity, people just threw him out of his throne.

How this opportunity was created? Once again, this opportunity was created by Kumar Sanu himself. Suddenly in 1995, he decided that he had sung enough and it was time to take a break. He went to Bengal to try his hands in acting. He spent nearly two years in making this Bengali film called “Gaane Bhuban Bhariye Debo”. During these two years, the music directors tried their best to use Kumar Sanu in their films because he had that “market value”. So, in spite of their “dislike”, they wanted to hang on to him. But unfortunately, he was unavailable most of the time. So, ultimately, his songs went to other singers like Udit Narayan, Sonu Nigam and Abhijeet. The music directors forced them to sing like Kumar Sanu during these years. Thus, Kumar Sanu style of singing became a school which was followed by his contemporaries and the upcoming singers.

Then Kumar Sanu came back and tried to regain his position. But unfortunately, it was not to happen again. The other singers have already shown their “market value” during these years – thanks to popularity of more and more music channels in India and secondly, Kumar Sanu’s sinus problem. This sinus problem virtually stopped Kumar Sanu to sing songs for quite some time. He ultimately had to resort to homoeopathy in order to get cured. Thus, he lost some valuable time and by the time he recovered, the bollywood music industry had taken a different course.

So, Kumar Sanu made a second come back in 2000s once again through some more Nadeem Shravan films. But it was not to be for long. Soon,, Nadeem Shravan pair broke up. It was practically impossible to create music being in two different countries. Almost at the same time,  we have Anand Milind and Bappi Lahiri who themselves are not in the market anymore. Anu Malik is a producer/director’s composer. Today’s producers/directors don’t like Kumar Sanu anymore as he is no longer having that “market value”. Today’s westernized songs have more market value – the trend had been set up by music directors like A. R. Rehman, Shanker-Ehsaan-Loy and Himmesh Reshammiya. Incidentally, Himmesh used to depend a lot on Kumar Sanu in his initial stages. But once he got the popularity, he forgot Kumar Sanu. And Kumar Sanu, unfortunately, did not learn from his previous mistakes, which is why he made some bad remarks on Himmesh’s singing in the recent past. This way, Kumar Sanu closed some of his doors himself.

Therefore, we can say that, we have almost seen the end of Kumar Sanu. He will never ever get back his position in the bollywood film industry. He is now among the “veterans” who will occasionally get some situational songs – maybe once or twice a year. Today Udit-Shreya and Sonu-Shreya are 2 hit “jodis” but not Sanu-Shreya. Yes, Kumar Sanu does not have the same beauty of the 90s in his voice anymore but still he has that mesmerizing capability. Still, he is now among the veterans because of his own attitude. His enemies tried their best to wipe him off the bollywood music industry at the cost of meoldy which is almost lost in bollywood music now.

Why Kumar Sanu dug his own graveyard? The most important reason is, his lack of proper “education”. Yes, he is a commerce graduate and he had musical environment in his family. But in spite of all these, he probably did not learn some of the basic things. He did not learn to show respect to his colleagues, he did not recognize the talent of Rehman and he did not learn to be humble. In spite of blowing his own trumpet, he should have allowed his songs only to talk for himself. Had he done that, probably he would have got all possible recognitions. But unfortunately his songs are gradually disappearing from people’s minds.

So many memorable and classic songs he sang in such a short time – people are slowly forgetting them now. We talk about his songs in Aashiqui, Deewana, Saajan, Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin and 1942 – A Love Story. But at the same time, he sang songs in films like Dil Ka Kya Kasoor, Dilwale, Rang, Hum Hain Rahi Pyaar Ke, Salaami and Sapne Saajan Ke. Not only for Nadeem Shravan, but he sang some evergreen classics for Anu Malik in Sir, Phir Teri Kahani Yaad Aayi, Vijaypath, Imtihaan, Main Khiladi Tu Anari and Naajayaz. Eventhough Anand Milind and Jatin Lalit became popular through Udit Narayan songs, they also gave great songs to Kumar Sanu in films like Gopi Kishan, Ek Ladkee Ek Ladka, Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa, Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman. Rajesh Roshan, who once used Kishore Kumar, did not hesitate to use Kumar Sanu in films Karan Arjun, Koyla, Papa Kehte Hain etc. Then Kumar Sanu did some great songs in his second innings for Anu Malik and Jatin Lalit in films like Duplicate, Soldier, Hum Aapke Dil Mein Rehte Hain, Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha and Jab Pyaar Kisise Hota Hai. Finally in his third innings, once again Nadeem-Shravan Kumar Sanu jodi became famous through songs in Haan Maine Bhi Pyaar Kiya Hai, Yeh Dil Ashiquana, Dil Hai Tumhara, Qayamat, Andaaz and Barsaat. He also sang for other music directors in his third innings like in Shabd, Humko Tumse Pyaar Hai and Shukriya. I have just mentioned very few of the songs which made him popular. But there are innumerable low profile songs which were really classy and were sung by Kumar Sanu. One can go to the Kumar Sanu website to rediscover them. The point is, Kumar Sanu left no stone unturned to enliven a song in spite of what banner it belongs to. Kumar Sanu Lovers should be the best persons to tell you more about all these. It is the responsibility of the Kumar Sanu Lovers to bring them to the limelight.

The whole point is, in spite of having so many chartbusters during the last 12 years and in spite of having so many classy but forgotten gems, Kumar Sanu did not get the recognition that he deserved. Yes, he did some mistakes by not being humble, by not showing respect to the contemporaries, by criticizing people like Rehman and Reshammiya. But the steps that had been taken by the producers/directors/music directors/ music companies (they shut off all the doors for Kumar Sanu and stamped him as a “veteran”) as a result of this are nothing but a compromise with the quality. The melody is gone; songs are copies of western cultures and the voices are without any polishes. Boxer Mohammed Ali also used to claim “I am the Greatest”. But this did not prevent him to get the recognition that he deserved. Therefore, why Kumar Sanu can’t get that? 

Edited by Arsalan_khan - 2 years ago

Originally posted by: Arsalan_khan

you said better that others were there too but kumar was at the top of the game , i know regarding dil to pagal hai song of kumar sanu but i seriously didnt liked that , the song which was used instead of this was chand ne kuch kaha pyar kar that is a great song , regarding kumar sanu downfall i was reading somewhere that he was very arrogant during his peak sucess went to his head and he use to consider himself something superior, then he had issues with yash chopra and that is the reason yash chopra never used him after ddlj and with rehman too , but i guess the main reason for kumar sanu downfall was due to change of music , when rehman came in he changed the game entirely for bollywood with new sounds and arrangemnets, kumar sanu got a very monotonous sound to his voice , kumar sanu was a top singer in his peak career wise but he was never really that great of a singer, probably technically weak had less vocal range and very limited variations, he was used mainly for simple easy songs, but by the time rehman came in he used to make complex songs composition wise , i can not expect kumar sanu to render a saathiya or satrange re or mera rang de basanti chola from the legend of bhagat singh as he dont have that flexible vocals to suite such songs so for changing times there were better substitutes like sonu nigam who was one of the top singer of his 2000 era and also kk they got better ranges and voice modulations so kumar sanu had to go, but till nadeem shravan were taking breath they kept on using kumar sanu in 2000 as well, but shanu never had much to his singing then doing his hey hey hey and la la la thing which he used to do in his peak days too , 

if we compare these 90's singers to m rafi and kishore kumar era particularly on songs selection then very few would have done something like they did in their career one is sonu nigam who kept on doing different kinds of songs kept on challanging his range and his singing and was never struck to one hey hey la la la kind of zone singing , and the other singer whom i found immensely talented was vinod rathod that guy never got the due he should have gotten 

this song alone tell the greatness of sonu and vinod dimension as singers 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIQWQaOnGn4

You give the impression of just really disliking Kumar Sanu Which is fine I suppose, your choice 

But to question is talent his... questionable. And not credible I feel.

Personally I love his voice and songs. Although his personality is another matter. I saw a video of him mocking other male singers quite recently and it was a complete turn-off.

I did hear about the tiff with Yash Chopra, I'm not sure what happened exactly but they had a fall-out and the songs were re-done with Udit. The film began shooting in 1995, so the songs could very easily have been started in early 1994, post-Darr when Kumar was way on top. By mid-97 things had changed and it wasn't unusual to re-record songs a few months before the film release.

Regarding Sonu Nigam, you're absolutely right, he is majorly talented. The way he delivers his vocals with versatility and colour and many different shades was something refreshing when he was rising in the early 2000s. In terms of talent and technical ability I would rank him higher than Kumar and Udit (although I prefer them two on a personal level) - but Sonu elevated the game. You're right, it was reminiscent of a Kishore Kumar's golden era.

It's quite interesting that again we have this romantic era of Arijit Singh, who kinda reminds me of Kumar Sanu's reign. Sonu's decline has many factors, some of his own choosing, and more power to him, but I do think that fickle audiences (including me) were just so over the over-saturation of Sonu Nigam. When a singer is THAT popular for an extended period of time, their fall is harder. The cycle repeats.

EDIT: I wanted to add that Sonu Nigam certainly had a strong talent for altering his voice for different actors, I really appreciate that. 

His vocal performance in "Phir Mileage Chalte Chalte" from Rao Ne Bana Di Jodi was so exceptional, the was he paid homage to the different eras was so beautifully done, and it's one of the songs that's cemented his place as one of the Top 10 Male Vocalists Of All-Time. 

Edited by Rekha_ji - 2 years ago

Originally posted by: Rekha_ji

You give the impression of just really disliking Kumar Sanu Which is fine I suppose, your choice 

But to question is talent his... questionable. And not credible I feel.

Personally I love his voice and songs. Although his personality is another matter. I saw a video of him mocking other male singers quite recently and it was a complete turn-off.

I did hear about the tiff with Yash Chopra, I'm not sure what happened exactly but they had a fall-out and the songs were re-done with Udit. The film began shooting in 1995, so the songs could very easily have been started in early 1994, post-Darr when Kumar was way on top. By mid-97 things had changed and it wasn't unusual to re-record songs a few months before the film release.

Regarding Sonu Nigam, you're absolutely right, he is majorly talented. The way he delivers his vocals with versatility and colour and many different shades was something refreshing when he was rising in the early 2000s. In terms of talent and technical ability I would rank him higher than Kumar and Udit (although I prefer them two on a personal level) - but Sonu elevated the game. You're right, it was reminiscent of a Kishore Kumar's golden era.

It's quite interesting that again we have this romantic era of Arijit Singh, who kinda reminds me of Kumar Sanu's reign. Sonu's decline has many factors, some of his own choosing, and more power to him, but I do think that fickle audiences (including me) were just so over the over-saturation of Sonu Nigam. When a singer is THAT popular for an extended period of time, their fall is harder. The cycle repeats.

EDIT: I wanted to add that Sonu Nigam certainly had a strong talent for altering his voice for different actors, I really appreciate that. 

His vocal performance in "Phir Mileage Chalte Chalte" from Rao Ne Bana Di Jodi was so exceptional, the was he paid homage to the different eras was so beautifully done, and it's one of the songs that's cemented his place as one of the Top 10 Male Vocalists Of All-Time. 

i dont dislike kumar sanu infact i love his slow songs , but yeah i put him in the rank of one of the overrated singers from the 90's he was good for his songs but yeah there were better singers than him existed ,

regarding sonu nigam downfall which has many reasons but the major one is his tussle with music companies by 2012 the copyright amendment happened but the labels were not following the law and singers were bound to sign illegal contracts,... Sonu was outspoken of wrong happening ....

"one can not say that he was out of work in 2012 he already had agneepath , 1920 evil return , dabang 2 , raaz 3, har ek friend kamena hota hai , kya super kool hai hum , and there was one other saleem suleman film called love breakup zindagi the song i just instantly remembred Rab Rakha with Shreya" ,,,,,,,,,,,,

but the day sonu nigam come on forefront regarding singers mistreatment made to sign illegal contracts he was bycotted and banned by music labels , he got major songs in 2014 films like kick , heropanti , main tera hero , heartless but it all got dubbed by other singers because of bann on sonu nigam 

Sonu also tweeted this when zee music label banned him too 

and salman in one video also pointed figure at singers by saying that its us actor faces which are used in the songs that is why the song gets popular to which sonu replied that if that is the case then every song picturezed on these actors would be a hit , why is that certain are hits and certain are not there must be something in song composition , lyrics , singers and since then salman also never used him in his films although he was a regular part for dabang 1 and dabang 2 , salman made Javid ali sing in dabang 3 

Compilation of Why Sonu Nigam was sidelined by Music Labels in Bollywood since 2013

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRKLdqs3Q8s&t=548s

Originally posted by: Festival

Sonu Nigam was the female Kumar Sanu in 90s

shemale 😆

Sonu was a newcomer copying Rafi songs for T series in 90s. 

Bashing Kumar and Udit just because Sonu was struggler for most of 90s until Border, is useless.

You seem to be angry why Sonu was not used in early to mid 90s.

Kumar Sanu has seen a resurgence recently not in terms of songs although alot of his songs have been remade, but on TV shows etc. People are nostalgic and he looks happy which is great. Any singer as dominant as Sanu will face a quicker downfall. As for his YRF tiff he said in one interview that once he had asked to be payed for his singing (Ddlj I guess) and that Music label never worked with him again.

Sonu's decline has to do with rise of Pritam and Vishal-Shekhar. Both these composers used a variety of Male singer. 2005 onwards is peak of these two composers. After 2005 no one male singer was dominant till Arijit's arrival.

Originally posted by: atominis

Sonu was a newcomer copying Rafi songs for T series in 90s. 

Bashing Kumar and Udit just because Sonu was struggler for most of 90s until Border, is useless.

You seem to be angry why Sonu was not used in early to mid 90s.

there is no such problem for me dude 😉 being a mainstream 90's singer would have limited sonu nigam talent to that generic specifc songs , so chill 😉😃 i am more happy that he had sung 90's kinds of songs in a balanced proportion and his entire career is not based on same typical 90's kind songs and by then he brought the youthfulness and westernised nuances in playback singing 

Originally posted by: Digitallove

Kumar Sanu has seen a resurgence recently not in terms of songs although alot of his songs have been remade, but on TV shows etc. People are nostalgic and he looks happy which is great. Any singer as dominant as Sanu will face a quicker downfall. As for his YRF tiff he said in one interview that once he had asked to be payed for his singing (Ddlj I guess) and that Music label never worked with him again.

Sonu's decline has to do with rise of Pritam and Vishal-Shekhar. Both these composers used a variety of Male singer. 2005 onwards is peak of these two composers. After 2005 no one male singer was dominant till Arijit's arrival.

Kumar sanu really asked for money to yash chopra , i never knew it ,,,,,,so wasnt he paid for the song?

regarding sonu , even pritam had used sonu nigam quite consistently during that time so their entry hadn't impacted sonu much, infact pritam started his carrer with Sonu , and sonu had sung for his first film TERE LEYE for free of cost during 2001 , and during the phase after  2005 Sonu had pritam's garam masala , Ankahe , Choclate that famous song "halka halka sa yeh nasha" , dhoom 2's "My name is ali sun zara manchali" , Dhak dhak dhak mera dil dharke from Kismat konnection , emran hashmi's Jawani diwani , Nagada Nagada from Jab We Meet  , and fardeen khan's Just married in 2007 and that one Jal jal ke dhuan horhe hum from ek khiladi ek haseena, Sonu has sung many songs for pritam and vishal sheker both during 2006-7-8 , 

one of my fav vishal sheker sonu nigam song from that time are these 2 besides om shanti om 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5xDXrCAOHo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmUTgAmYuSo

and this one also a memorable vishal shekher- Sonu combination song 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wW_ZjNUwe0M

and even this gem song from film Karam which is also by Vishal Shekher

infact at that time shankar ehsan loy have used sonu nigam much more consistently be it KANK , or Salam e isqh or Hey Baby, Don , Sonu Nigam still had sung more songs than shaan and KK during mid to late 2000, 

so i dont think by any mean vishal shekher and pritam affected him, but yes but there was every kind of music happening during that time ,himesh became singer by that time and was equally popular as sonu and kk 

Edited by Arsalan_khan - 2 years ago

and this also i got remembred a gem song from vishal shekher side by sonu, i guess vishal shekher best work are most probably with sonu and shaan and kk as during late 2000 they were really good and better than Student of the years likes 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMKmJyusMPg

Look you are a diehard Sonu fan so I can't convince you anyways. But when I think of Sonu and Pritam I can't think of a single iconic song. Pritam gave all the best romantic songs to other male singers. KK specially benefitted even when he was singing less. Even in Kismat connection Bakhuda tumhi ho went to Atif while Is this love went to Mohit Chauhan. With Vishal- Shekhar his only iconic song is Main agar kahoon. I am not saying Sonu completely disappeared after 2006 but he was a singer who was singing close to 100 songs every year during his peak (2000-2005) and suddenly went down to just 30-40 songs in next years. Himesh's domination in 2006-2007 definitely hurt Sonu. That's also when Sonu's conflict with T-Series Started.