‘The songs will live on for 100 years’
Singer Kumar Sanu enjoyed recording songs such as Neend Churai Meri and Kaise Kahoon Kaise Ho Tum from the 1997 hit. “Ishq’s songs are timeless. They will continue to live on for the next 100 years. Aaj kal aise gaane bante nahin hain jahan lyrics, composition aur voice sab perfect ho,” he says.
Sanu credits composer Anu Malik for his way of working. “An interesting thing about working with Anu ji was that we would always have arguments. Neend Churai Meri, which was a huge hit, was no exception. Whenever I found some parts tough, I’d request that he alter them, but he wouldn’t oblige. I felt the arguments were very healthy, and those challenges were fun to overcome. It was not an easy song to record. It was very well written, and every singer’s part stood out. The moment the song was wrapped up, I knew it would create magic,” Sanu shares.
Singer Kavita Krishnamurti feels proud that even after two and a half decades, the music of Ishq continues to stay relevant. “Anu Malik (composer) is a friendly, relaxed music director. So, working with him was always full of masti,” recalls the 64-yearold. She goes on to share a fun anecdote from the recording days: “Back then, all the singers would record together, which made it memorable. For the song Mr Lova Lova, there were four microphones at Sunny Super
Sound for all four singers (Udit Narayan, Abhijeet Bhattacharya, Sudesh Bhosle and Krishnamurti). Since we are all good friends, we would make fun of each other.”
The singer feels the way the songs were recorded and composed in the ’90s hugely contributed to the longevity of the tracks: “Songs from films [of that era] are still liked by people as the tunes are melodious, and [as for Ishq], the lyrics written by Dev Kohli ji were matched so well with the tunes.”