Lalit Pandit rubbishes Kumar Sanu’s claim of singing ‘Tujhe Dekha Toh’ in 30 minutes; says, “It’s a pure lie”; also claims how he and Jatin Pandit made efforts to retain his voice in the song

By Subhash K. Jha -

October 21, 2024 - 1:48 PM IST

Kumar Sanu’s claims that he recorded the Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge chartbuster ‘Tujhe dekha toh yeh jana sanam’ in 30 minutes has incensed Lalit Pandit, one-half of the Jatin-Lalit duo who composed the evergreen song. “To say that he sang the song in 30 minutes is a pure lie! No one has ever sung our song in that short a time. Sanu too had sung for hours and hours sometimes to complete a song as was required to be rendered by us Jatin-Lalit. And to say he sang along with Lataji on the same day is a complete lie. Lataji always preferred to sing separately during the time we worked with her. Her niece and our friend Rachana would coordinate and convey Lataji’s wishes that there be as less people during her recording as possible. Her wish was adhered to by us to keep her in comfort zone when she came to sing,” said Lalit.

Lalit Pandit rubbishes Kumar Sanu’s claim of singing ‘Tujhe Dekha Toh’ in 30 minutes; says, “It’s a pure lie”; also claims how he and Jatin Pandit made efforts to retain his voice in the song

He added, “On her particular dubbing day, we did nothing but dub her voice! She sang on another day and not with Sanu. Who would know this better than the people who did the dubbing? So, it’s not right to say something which has not happened the way it did. A singer’s participation in a song is as much as the day he or she sings a song. There is a lot that happens before and after the song based on the reactions from the team of how it has all gone. From the director, the producer and the entire team that has worked on the song. Out of a sense of decency, I will refrain from talking about the comments about Sanu’s singing from one of the most revered members of the team.”

Lalit added, “We support the singers who sing or sang for us and take things forward, but to hear someone say later that it’s his or her song makes, at least, me remind and remember what went through the song and what would have happened had me and Jatin not supported Sanu for the song under the circumstances that happened right after Sanu had finished his dubbing ‘Tujhe dekha’. This was his last song for Yashji. I don’t want to say why but I know exactly what had happened and how we supported to retain his voice for the song. He knows what happened and considering that, he should as courtesy, not forget to mention the people who made the song and who supported him having retained his voice for the song!”

Lalit Pandit was hurt by Sanu’s claim that ‘Tujhe dekha toh yeh jana sanam’ was Sanu’s song. He said, “BBC’s Asian network in a poll declared the song ‘Tujhe dekha’ the best song created in the 1990s and interviewed Kumar Sanu regarding the song and what he thought about it. I saw this interview sent to me by our fans and some of Kumar Sanu’s fans and they seemed very upset about Sanu throughout in the interview saying, ‘My song, my song’ repeatedly. Both of us, Jatin and me, found it surprising that he did not mention anybody’s name including Anand Bakshi Saab, Jatin-Lalit, or even the great Lata Mangeshkar! How was this song Kumar Sanu’s song? Did he create it or write it?”

He added, “Also this song had Lataji singing, and she certainly has more than a billion music lowers following her songs! One should not have underestimated the popularity of the song taking Lataji’s strength and contribution away. Every song that Lataji sang gained a huge popularity and as one knows, she sang the most for Jatin-Lalit in the last decade of her work, which were extremely successful including the entire music of DDLJ. To say that ‘Tujhe Dekha Toh’ was a Kumar Sanu song alone is incorrect. A song always belongs to the people who conceive and create the song. It is an Anand Bakshi, Jatin-Lalit creation. Sanu is a singer in the song, and which could have been anyone else had we not decided to make him sing ‘Tujhe dekha’. By the way, most of the songs of DDLJ are sung by Udit Narayan. And we haven’t heard him calling any of the songs ‘his’ song.”

Also Read: EXCLUSIVE: Lalit Pandit of Jatin-Lalit duo disappointed by Kumar Sanu claiming sole ownership for ‘Tujhe Dekha Toh’; says, “Not good on his part”