Her voice casts a magic spell

She has become a grandmother. Yet USHA UTHUP is going places with her magical career. K. KANNAN takes her down memory lane....

``I want to sing till I die,'' says the 53-year-old Usha Uthup, whose journey from Mumbai to Calcutta has been a sizzling one indeed. However, her husky voice has been honed in the City of Joy and she has had several avenues to express herself, including charity shows.

Following the trail of one such programme -- Christu Jayanti celebrations organised by the YMCA on Wednesday last -- she was in the Capital for a performance at FICCI Auditorium. Feeling on top of the world on her birthday and certainly singing better, she says: ``Getting better has something to do with how you evolve as a human being -- something you can't get at the age of 25''.

Continuing with her magic spell, Usha is back with yet another album containing razy, dance numbers which has music by Jawahar Wattal. ``There are nine songs in the as yet untitled album including a ballad and a Sufiana quawwali,'' she informs, humming a tune from it: ``Mast Nigahon Ka Suroor Koi Kya Batlaye''.

Usha, who began her magical career in Mumbai has razy filmi numbers to her credit like ``One Two Cha, Cha, Cha'', ``Dosto Se Pyar Kiya'', ``Koi Yaha Aha Nache Nache'' and ``Ramba Ho Ho''. ``I am recording a song in Mumbai this week for Karan Johar's ``Kabhi Khushi, Kabhi Gam'', she informs, adding that two of her latest films have been ``Daud'' and ``Godmother''. ``I have also sung for a host of Tamil, Bangla, Oriya, Malayalam, Kannada and Telugu films''.

This year, Usha is having another English release titled ``Usha in the Mood''. ``Besides her old English songs, the album has a Sri Lankan, Mauritian and even a Swahili song,'' she informs. ``I have not kept tracks of the number of albums I have to my credit,'' she says adding live performances keep her busy these days.

While Usha has continued to sing after moving base to Calcutta, though with a little less frequency, she says she came at a time when there was no television to promote any artist. ``If I hadn't happened in 1969, all these other artists would not have had an opportunity''.

Going down memory lane, Usha says she likes the song ``Hari Om Hari'' because her audiences still love it. ``Would you believe that I sang a popular Punjabi pop number when none of these pop artists were around?'' she asks, of course referring to ``Kali Teri Guth Te Paranda Tera Lalni''.

Among the younger lot of artists, Usha says she likes Penaz Masani, Shuba Mudgal and Lucky Ali. While she says she will reduce the pace of her work -- now that she has become a grandmother -- she asserts she has no intentions to retire. ``Music is not my business, communication is,'' she, however, adds.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Other States
Previous : A collective voice for peace