I represent a true ‘Bharatiya’: Usha Uthup
USHA Uthup’s husky voice has brought her fame in Hindi songs in Bollywood, but she is equally famous for singing hit regional songs in Punjabi, Bengali and Marathi. She says she represents a true Indian.
When asked how she manages to sing in so many different languages, she said: “I represent a true Bharatiya.”
“What I love about myself is that I am a Madrasi (Tamilian), studied in Mumbai, married to a Keralite and live in Kolkata. Isn’t it amazing?” she asked.
Usha, doesn’t understand why people want to restrict themselves to a particular region.
“I have realised that when you sing in someone else’s language, your language has a spark. Now I could do many shows in Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, South and other places because of the same spark,” she said on the sidelines of the MTV India Music Summit.
According to Usha, her love for different languages started during her school days, when she had English, Hindi, Marathi and French as subjects and she performed equally well in all, unlike in maths and science.
Known for her sari and bindi-clad look, Usha, who has a distinct style of singing, said: “What is this amma going to sing here?” was the first comment she received on the first day of her job at her first workplace – a nightclub in Chennai, which she had joined in the 1960s.
“I was draped in a sari covering myself and, beside me, there were singers who were dressed in small black dresses, reflecting glitz and glamour. I was walking down the aisle and people were watching, glaring at me for entering a nightclub in a sari. I tried ignoring all the comments and the glitz and glamour around me, and concentrated solely on giving the best performance,” she recalled.
But for her, the nightclub was like her “preliminary school where I learnt”. She drew a monthly salary of Rs750. “My voice, which is quite distinguished, brought several awards to me. It was also here in the nightclub where I met my husband Jani,” Usha said.
She feels Bollywood has set certain stereotypes in the industry.
“While Lataji and Asha ji (Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhonsle) were given the songs of leading ladies, I was asked to sing for vamps in films. However, I managed to break this set notion of the film industry that good females shall always come with that feeble, sweet voice.
“Ultimately, there came a time when I sang for Bollywood divas – be it Rekha or Sridevi.”
Nevertheless, she is proud to have her signature style of singing.
“I can’t sing like anybody, only like me. I do what I can on stage, but not all that everyone else is doing,” she said. This also goes for her sense of style. “I love myself, my sari and my husky voice. We came from the middle class where I never thought about what to wear before going on for my show. My mother and my sisters all used to drape saris and so I started doing the same, and somehow, the bond between sari and me grew stronger with time,” she added.
Speaking of her inexhaustible energy on stage, she said: “It’s all psychic. You need to give it to the audience and they shall give it back – it’s that simple.” – IANS