When O. P. Nayyar shut down Amit Kumar's request for a safety take

Mumbai, Oct 18 (IANS) Playback singer Amit Kumar once revealed that the late music director O. P. Nayyar once told him he can’t sing better than his last take.

A recently resurfaced clip from one of Kapil Sharma’s shows, presents the playback singer narrating the incident. O. P. Nayyar had a feud with Amit’s father Kishore Kumar but the late music director was keen on working with Amit.

Recollecting the incident, Amit said, “I once sang for the late music director O. P. Nayyar. He used to prefer Rafi sahab over my father. He had an old feud with my father in the beginning. So one day, he called me. His voice was a bit strange. So I picked up the phone. He said, ‘Amit, son, will you sing for me?’ I said, ‘Yes sir without a doubt’. He then asked me to come to the hotel at 10:00 am. He said, ‘We will rehearse. You and Kavita will sing a duet. There will be a solo as well’. I couldn't reach at 10. I was 10-15 minutes late. And, he was standing at the door”.

The singer went on, “He said, ‘Is this the time to come? Do you think you are Mohammed Rafi? I am a military man. You should be mindful about the time’. After that, we recorded the song in Bombay Lab. What happened was... We started the take at 10 or 10.30. At 12, he said, pack up. I didn't like it. I said, I think I should go for another take. I didn't sing it well”.

“I told him, I want to go for one more take. He said, ‘You can't sing better than this’”, the singer shared, leaving the audience in splits.

He also recollected the moment when the late music director S. D. Burman appreciated him, as he said, “I worked with all the music directors. All the music directors. And I was so lucky. I was lucky. But I didn’t get to work with S. D. Burman. He passed away before I could work with him”.

“But he came for my first show. He was sitting in the audience. He threw a garland at me. That was the best award I got”, he added.

--IANS

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