In January this year, Usha Uthup was announced as one of the Padma Bhushan recipients for her outstanding contribution to the field of art. On April 22, the ceremony was held at Rashtrapati Bhavan in the presence of the President of India Droupadi Murmu, the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, the Vice-President of India Jagdeep Dhankhar, and Union Minister for Home Affairs Amit Shah.
While the feeling of winning the prestigious honour hasn’t sunk in yet, Uthup reveals that she immensely missed her frequent collaborator, the late Bappi Lahiri at the occasion. The iconic duo had joined hands for chartbusters like Ramba Ho, Hari Om Hari, and Koi Yahan Nache Nache, among others. “I missed him so much. I missed both him and RD Burman,” she says in an exclusive chat with News18 Showsha.
View this post on Instagram
What brought back his memories was a conversation with Murmu, says Uthup. “After the photo-op, we had a high tea with the President of India where the Prime Minister also came, met everyone and had an interactive session. She came up to me and said, ‘Hari Om Hari… Aap ke gaane sunke hum bade hue hai. There’s no celebration of Holi or any kind of puja without your songs.’ I was so amazed at that. It filled me with humility that she remembered my song, Hari Om Hari and Ramba Ho. That made me miss Bappi da so much,” the veteran singer says.
The conferring ceremony also allowed her to meet Mithun Chakraborty, with whom she has extensively collaborated throughout her musical career. She lent her voice to the song Aankhon Se Pee Le (Roti Ki Keemat) where Chakraborty was dressed as a drag icon. Talking about Chakraborty’s Padma Bhushan win, Uthup shares, “He’s a very old and dear friend of mine. It was great fun talking to him and exchanging notes about the whole thing. It was as wonderful as meeting an old friend after a long time and that too on a platform and podium like this.”
She further adds, “I would want to congratulate him again and wish him peace of mind and more strength to his arm and mainly, good health. I hope he continues to do really wonderful things in the coming future.”
Recalling her time at the ceremony, Uthup tells us, “We started the rehearsals at eleven and it got over exactly in an hour at twelve. In the evening, the event began at 6:02 pm and went on till 7:03 pm as we were told. At that time, I was totally zapped. I don’t know what was happening, whether I was doing the right thing, because I was just so excited.”
What made her happier was the chance to visit Rashtrapati Bhavan. “It was so neatly organised and beautifully done with no chaos or confusion. The amazing magnificence of Rashtrapati Bhavan cannot be replicated. I’m still trying to assimilate everything but it’s a huge responsibility now. So, whatever I do, I’ve do it better than what I did yesterday,” she states.
Comments
0 comment