Anuradha Paudwal, who made her singing debut with Amitabh Bachchan’s film Abhiman (1973), recently expressed her views about the trend of remixing and recreating old Hindi songs. Regarded as one of the best singers in the 1980s and 1990s, Anuradha recalled her reaction to singer Arijit Singh’s version of 'Aaj Phir Tum Pe' from 'Hate Story 2' which was a remix of her song from the 1988-film 'Dayavan.' Slamming the trend of remix songs, she expressed she feels like crying every time she listens to one.
The iconic singer said she had to listen to her original song ‘multiple times’ to forget Arijit's song, which had left her horrified. Anuradha said, "This person told me it is a super-duper hit track and sent it to me. I was in tears when I heard it, I immediately switched to YouTube and heard my original song from the film multiple times. Tab jaake mere mann mein shaanti aayi." While many thought the singer took a dig at Arijit Singh for creating a remix of her song, she issued a statement explaining her side."
Clarifying her statement, Anuradha said, "I have always preferred the original song to a remix. Many people feel the same. My comment about 'Aaj Phir Tum Pe' was about the remix not the singer (Arijit Singer). Remixes should do justice to the original song. So many nineties songs are redone but they don’t do any justice to the original. We have also done tributes to music composers but they were done gracefully. I would urge respectable media not to sensationalise statements ..isn’t there enough in the world to talk about . If they must let them speak about the cause we have taken up of gifting sound to the underprivileged."
In an interview with Indian Express, Anuradha shared her opinion on the remixes of famous old songs. She told, "I do sometimes listen to my own songs, not a lot, but when I do, I listen to devotional ones. But you know when I listen to them? When there is a remix and I am horrified and I want to cry – that is when I immediately, without fail, I put to my own songs and listen to them! That, ‘Oh wow, well now this is such a good song.’" She further gave Arijit Singh's example as he had sung the recreated rendition of her famous song Aaj Phir Tum Pe.
Listen 'Aaj Phir Tum Pe' by Arijit Singh
Apart from Hindi films, Anuradha Paudwal has also sung songs in Tamil, Nepali, Bengali, Kannada, and other languages.
