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Playback singing: the back story
The back story
About Playback singing: the back story
In Hindi cinema the songs are recorded first, by playback singers, and the actors perform to them on screen. The music credits on Yash Raj Films’ website name the voices behind every song, and they read like a roll call of the great singers of Indian film.
How it works
A Hindi film song is recorded in the studio, then filmed with the stars miming to it, often in spectacular settings. The singer is credited on the soundtrack, and many listeners know the voices as well as the faces. All the credits below are from the music pages of Yash Raj Films’ website.
Lata Mangeshkar
Lata Mangeshkar sings on Yash Chopra’s soundtracks from Daag (1973) to Veer-Zaara (2004), Kabhi Kabhie, Silsila, Chandni, Lamhe, Darr and Dil To Pagal Hai among them. On Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge she sings “Tujhe Dekha To” with Kumar Sanu and “Mehndi Laga Ke Rakhna” with Udit Narayan, and on Veer-Zaara “Tere Liye” with Roop Kumar Rathod and “Do Pal” with Sonu Nigam.
Lata Mangeshkar’s voice runs through Yash Chopra’s soundtracks, from Daag in 1973 to Veer-Zaara in 2004.
Kishore, Mukesh and Rafi
The 1970s soundtracks belong to the great male voices. On Kabhi Kabhie (1976) Mukesh sings “Main Pal Do Pal Ka Shair Hoon” and the title song, alone and as a duet with Lata Mangeshkar; Kishore Kumar sings on Daag, Kabhi Kabhie, Kaala Patthar and Silsila; and on Kaala Patthar (1979) Mohammed Rafi sings “Bahon Mein Teri Masti Ke Ghere” with Lata Mangeshkar, and “Mujhe Pyar Ka Tohfa Deke” with Usha Mangeshkar.
Asha Bhosle has her own moments: “Parbat Se Kali Ghata Takraee” on Chandni, “Zara Sa Jhoom Loon Main” on DDLJ and “Le Gayi” on Dil To Pagal Hai.
The voices of the 1990s
In the 1990s Udit Narayan became the voice of the romantic hero: he sings seven of the songs on Dil To Pagal Hai with Lata Mangeshkar, and “Jaadu Teri Nazar” on Darr. Hariharan, Alka Yagnik, Kavita Krishnamurthy and Abhijeet sing on Darr too.
Stars who sing
Sometimes the stars sing for themselves. Amitabh Bachchan sings “Rang Barse Bheege Chunarwali” and “Neela Aasman So Gaya” on Silsila; Sridevi sings the title song of Chandni with Jolly Mukherjee; Shah Rukh Khan recites the poem on Jab Tak Hai Jaan and joins in on Chak De! India. Pamela Chopra, who wrote the story of Dil To Pagal Hai, sings “Ghar Aaja Pardesi” on DDLJ with Manpreet Kaur, and Yash Chopra himself is credited on Veer-Zaara’s “Kyon Hawa”.
The new voices
From the 2000s a new generation took over: Sunidhi Chauhan with “Dhoom Machale” (Dhoom) and “Dance Pe Chance” (Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi), Sukhwinder Singh with “Haule Haule” and “Chak De India”, Shreya Ghoshal with “Saans” (Jab Tak Hai Jaan, with Mohit Chauhan), and Arijit Singh and Shilpa Rao with “Ghungroo” (War). For Dum Laga Ke Haisha, Monali Thakur, who sings the female version of “Moh Moh Ke Dhaage”, won the National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer; Papon sings the male version (Yash Raj Films).
Our advice: make a playlist of the songs above before you come; then look for a film-music concert at the NCPA or NMACC while you are in Mumbai.
Why it's on our list
- How it works
- Lata Mangeshkar
- Kishore, Mukesh and Rafi
- The voices of the 1990s
- Stars who sing
- The new voices
Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Playback singing: the back story before you go.