Singer Anuradha Paudwal Reveals She Was 'Moved To Tears' After Listening To Arijit Singh's Version Of 'Aaj Phir Tum Pe'

Veteran playback singer Anuradha Paudwal, one of the leading female voices in the film industry during 80 and the 90s. The veteran singer made her singing debut in 1973 with Amitabh Bachchan’s film Abhiman. Anuradha had become so popular that people started comparing her to legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar, who dominated the Indian music industry since the ’50s. Owing to the trend of remixing and reprising old songs, Anuradha revealed in a recent interview that Arijit Singh’s version of Aaj Phir Tum Pe had moved her to years but not for the reasons you’ll think of.

In an interview with Indian Express, the veteran singer weighed her thoughts on iconic songs being recreated in bulk. She explained, “I do sometimes listen to my own songs, not a lot, but when I do, I listen to devotional ones. But you know when I listen to them? When there is a remix and I am horrified and I want to cry– that is when I immediately, without fail, I put to my own songs and listen to them! That, ‘Oh wow, well now this is such a good song.’”

Quoting Arijit Singh as an example who had sung the recreated rendition of the chartbuster song

Aaj Phir Tum Pe Pyaar Aaya Hai from Dayavan, Anuradha recalled that she was ‘moved to tears’ after listening to it for the first time. It was originally composed by Laxmikant-Pyarelal and vocalised by Paudwal and Pankaj Udhas. Arijit Singh’s version was a part of the erotic thriller Hate Story 2.

“That had happened when someone asked me to listen to this (remix) from Dayavan (Aaj Phir Tum Pe). That person told me it is a super-duper hit track and sent it to me. I was in tears when I heard it, I immediately switched to YouTube and heard my original song from the film multiple times. Tab jaake mere mann mein shaanti aayi (Finally I found peace),” she said.

Anuradha Paudwal has sung songs in many superhit Hindi films, including Tezab, Aashiqui, Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahi, Beta, Sajan, Ram Lakhan, and Hero. Her career flourished and she was at one point in time getting almost as many songs as legendary Lata Mangeshkar. She has also lent her voice for various films in Odia, Tamil, Nepali, Bengali, and Kannada. There are many successful devotional songs that Anuradha sang and that people still listen to.

When the great musician O. P. Nayyar heard Anuradha Paudwal, he was so impressed with her melodious voice that he went on to say that now Lata Mangeshkar’s era was over and Anuradha Paudwal would take her place.

Anuradha rapidly rose to fame with her songs and was applauded by everyone for her talent. Every musician in the industry believed that she would be the biggest singer in the country. And even T-series owner Gulshan Kumar decided to make her the Lata Mangeshkar of the 90s era. Following her collaboration with T-series, she sang several songs for the music company.

Anuradha’s husband Arun Paudwal was also a great musician. He died in 1990, and following his death, she decided that she would only sing for the T-Series music company.

After that, the companies stopped approaching her and the playback singer started singing devotional songs. Anuradha had once expressed that found pleasure in singing devotional songs.