Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Song in 1942: A Love Story was originally penned for Madhuri Dixit
Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Song in 1942: A Love Story was originally penned for Madhuri Dixit
Three decades after its release, the song ‘Ek Ladki Ko Dekha’ from the 1994 film “1942: A Love Story” continues to hold a special place in hearts of particularly among millennials.
The song’s timeless
popularity stems from its beautiful melody, heartfelt lyrics, and the video featuring Manisha Koirala and Anil Kapoor. Manisha looked innocent in the film that every word of the song seemed apt for her.
But not many know that the lyrics for the song was originally penned with Madhuri Dixit in mind and she was initially cast in the film. But, scheduling conflicts led to her departure. She was replaced by Manisha Koirala who got the role after auditioning for the second time.
Lyricist Javed Akhtar had shared this detail at an event, saying that “No one knows that the song Ek ladki ko dekha toh, which became so popular was penned by him keeping Madhuri in mind. When he was asked to write the song, she was doing the film, but later she left and Manisha Koirala came in.
Madhuri was the guest speaker at the event where Javed Akhtar had made this revelation.
When Kumar Sanu was asked to shave before recording the song
There is one more trivia associated with the song that not many know. According to IMDb, Kumar Sanu, who has sung the track, had went to record the song unshaven but director Vidhu Vinod Chopra felt that Sanu’s unkempt look didn’t match the youthful vibe needed for the song. Chopra asked him to go home, shave, and return for the recording. The next day, Sanu arrived clean-shaven, much to Chopra’s satisfaction, and they successfully recorded the song.
In a conversation with Indian Kumar Sanu shared that after recording the song, music director RD Burman hugged the singer, kissed his forehead, and started abusing him.
Kumar Sanu quoted “Pancham da (RD Burman, his last film work) entered the singing room and told him, ‘See this song has a lot of ‘jaise’ word. Jaise khilta gulaab, jaise shayar ka khwaab, jaise ujli kiran, jaise ban mein hiran….’ There were many ‘jaise’ in just one mukhda and he wanted ‘Sanu, to make mention of ‘jaise’ to be different from each other. They shouldn’t be similar sounding.’ He told him if if he can sing each ‘jaise’ distinctively, then his song is a hit..He also added, he tried hard singing the word differently each time it appeared and, the song became a hit! Pancham da’s thinking was great. He was a visionary. It was such an extremely creatively way to know how you would want a song to sound different. So, if he liked something, if he liked how the recording went, he would abuse in the name of mother father. When he wasn’t aware of this initially, he asked someone next to him. ‘Why is he abusing him?!’ then he was told, because he really liked it!
Kumar Sanu won a Filmfare Award for Best Male Playback Singer for the song.
1942: A Love Story also featured Jackie Shroff, Anupam Kher, Danny Denzongpa, and Pran. This was the last project of RD Burman, who died before the film was released.
News Edit K.V.Raman
