Sing is king

The gifted actor known to burn up the dance floor now takes to singing. After Kites, Hrithik Roshan gets into the recording studio again for Sanjay Leela Bhansali in Guzaarish

Hrithik Roshan enjoys a rich musical legacy (grandfather Roshan and uncle Rajesh Roshan have been composers of note), but he lays the credit for singing a song in Guzaarish squarely at director Sanjay Leela Bhansali's door.
Roshan is convinced that Bhansali is a virtuoso. The star says: "A lot of people don't know that he is a fantastic dancer.



When I saw him dance I was shocked and said, 'Yeh kya ho gaya.' He's also an unbelievable music director ufffd when he made me hear the tunes he composed for the film, I was like 'Wow!' and he's a singer too! I always thought he was very good at extracting performances from actors, but I found that he can make them sing too!"

Roshan adds, "The song that I have sung is not on the Guzaarish CD right now. It will be released in the second lot as a bonus. It took us three days to get that song right. It was a very difficult situation to sing for, so Sanjay sang the song on the mic; and sang it beautifully."

The actor explains how Bhansali had a back-up ready in case his singing did not make the grade. "Sanjay had already done the recording with another singer," says Roshan. Bhansali left for Goa, which is where the song has been shot when the actor got cold feet. "On the third day, a day before I was to fly to Goa, I decided I just had to get the song right. So I went to the studio and asked the sound recordist to press the record button and leave. I also asked for all the lights to be switched off," recalls Roshan. "I sang the song three to four times till I felt I had got it right.
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The film is shot in sync sound and the songs starts while my character is talking, so it had to be very honest and real. He is crying but I didn't want to overdo the emotion."

Finally, when the star was satisfied with his rehearsals, he presented it to Bhansali, who was was thrilled with the results. "We went ahead and picturised the song with my vocals."

Roshan brushes aside the idea that he is a singer. "I won't ever sing if I am playing the role of a singer; You need a perfect voice for that. But if the song does not sound real, and doesn't match the emotion of the actor, then I have no problem."

Roshan recounts his son's reaction to the song like a doting dad. "I remember Suzzane was playing the song I had recorded, and (my elder son) Hrehaan recognised my voice. Suzanne asked him: 'Whose voice is that?' and he replied with a broad smile on his face: 'Daddy'."u00a0

Bollywood News Service