29 Years Of DDLJ: Did Kumar Sanu Sing Tujhe Dekha With Lata Mangeshkar In 30 Minutes? Lalit Pandit Says 'Pure Lie' - EXCL

Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol's iconic film, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge turns 29 today (October 20). Beyond the great performances and a story close to the heartland, the romantic drama lives on with its chartbuster songs even now. From Lata Mangeshkar, and Asha Bhosle to Udit Narayan and Kumar Sanu, Aditya Chopra brought a dream team on board.Today, on the occasion of 29 years of Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Zoom spoke to Lalit Pandit of the legendary music director duo Jatin-Lalit, who made shocking revelations about Kumar Sanu and his claim that he sang Tujhe Dekha Toh Yeh Jaana Sanam in 30 minutes. Excerpts from the interview:

Some time ago, Kumar Sanu spoke on Tujhe Dekha Toh Yeh Jaana Sanam as his song, not mentioning Lata Mangeshkar, you and Jatin who composed the songs and Anand Bakshi who wrote the song.BBC’s Asian network in a poll declared the song Tujhe Dekha the best song created in the 1990s and interviewed Kumar Sanu regarding the song and what he thought about it. I saw this interview sent to me by our fans and some of Kumar Sanu’s fans and they seemed very upset about Sanu throughout in the interview saying, ‘My song my song’ repeatedly. Both of us, Jatin and I found it surprising that he did not mention anybody’s name including Anand Bakshi Saab, Jatin-Lalit, or even the great Lata Mangeshkar! ALSO READ: Why would he do something so self-centred?We feel it was unprofessional and unethical on Kumar Sanu’s part to speak like that. How was this song Kumar Sanu’s song? Did he create it or write it? Also, this song had Lataji singing and she certainly has more than a billion music lovers following her songs! One should not have underestimated the popularity of the song taking Lataji’s strength and contribution away. Even Aditya Chopra has acknowledged Lataji’s contribution to the music of DDLJ.Every song that Lataji sang gained huge popularity and as one knows, she sang the most for Jatin-Lalit in the last decade of her work which was extremely successful including the entire music of DDLJ. To say that Tujhe Dekha Toh was a Kumar Sanu song alone is incorrect. It’s like one of the masons who built Taj Mahal claiming to be his own...Yes! A song always belongs to the people who conceive and create the song. It is an Anand Bakshi, Jatin-Lalit creation. Sanu is a singer in the song which could have been anyone else had we not decided to make him sing Tujhe Dekha. By the way, most of the songs of DDLJ are sung by Udit Narayan. Kumar Sanu also claimed that he sang Tujhe Dekha Toh in half an hour.To say that he sang the song in thirty minutes is a pure lie! No one has ever sung our song in that short a time. Sanu too had sung for hours and hours sometimes to complete a song as was required to be rendered by us Jatin-Lalit. And to say he sang along with Lataji on the same day is a complete lie. What do you mean? Tujhe Dekha Toh is a duet featuring Lataji and Sanu, isn’t it?Lataji always preferred to sing separately during the time we worked with her. Her niece and our friend Rachana would coordinate and convey Lataji’s wishes that there be as less people during her recording as possible. Her wish was adhered to by us to keep her in her comfort zone when she came to sing. On her particular dubbing day we did nothing but dub her voice! You mean, Lataji didn’t actually sing Tujhe Dekha Toh with Sanu?No! She sang on another day and not with Sanu. Who would know this better than the people who did the dubbing, it’s not right to say something which has not happened the way it did. A singer’s participation in a song is as much as the day he or she sings a song. There is a lot that happens before and after the song based on the reactions from the team of how it has all gone. From the director the producer and the entire team that has worked on the song. What was everyone’s reaction to Tujhe Dekha Toh?Out of a sense of decency, I will refrain from talking about the comments about Sanu’s singing from one of the most revered members of the team. We support the singers who sing or sang for us and take things forward, but to hear someone say later that it’s his or her song makes at least me remind and remember what went through the song and what would have happened had me and Jatin not supported Sanu for the song under the circumstances that happened right after Sanu had finished his dubbing Tujhe Dekha. This was his last song for Yashji. Why was Sanu not allowed to sing for Yash Raj after DDLJ?I don’t want to say why but I know exactly what had happened and how we supported to retain his voice for the song. He knows what happened and considering that,he should as a courtesy, not forget to mention the people who made the song and who supported him having retaining his voice for the song!