Friday,
October
12,
2007
Parveen
Sultana
was
the
first
Indian
to
be
honoured
with
the
Padmashri
award
in
1976
at
the
young
age
of
23.
She
also
received
other
awards
like
Cleopatra
of
Music
(1972),
Gandharv
Kala
Nidhi
(1980),
Miyan
Tansen
Puraskar
(1986)
and
Sangeet
Natak
Academi
Puraskar
(1999).
She
is
undoubtedly
one
of
the
evergreen
singers
in
the
industry.
As
she
says,
music
is
Parveen's
life.
While
Assam
is
her
place
of
birth,
the
singer
believes
Mumbai
is
her
place
of
deeds.
The
singer
who
won
over
a
huge
fan
following
with
her
song
"Hame
tumse
pyar
kitna" from
film
"Kudrat"
in
1980,
had
in
the
recent
past
sung
a
thumri
in
Anil
Sharma's
"Gadar".
Parveen
is
choosy
about
the
songs
she
sings
but
puts
her
and
soul
into
every
performance.
She
has
lent
her
voice
to
a
beautiful
love
song
with
a
classical
touch
in
Vikram
Bhatt's
forthcoming
film
"1920".
Parveen's
first
step
into
singing
was
at
the
tender
age
of
five.
She
trained
in
singing
under
renowned
singer
Dilshad
Khan,
before
marrying
him
in
1975.
Her
playback
debut
was
in
"Pakeezah" when
she
was
just
16.
Impressed
by
her
talent
at
a
stage
show
elsewhere,
composer
Naushad
made
her
the
offer
of
singing
a
background
track
in
"Pakeezah".
The
film
changed
her
life
forever.
The
couple
have
since
toured
the
world
several
times
performing
together
at
concerts.
Parveen
says:
"Naushad
saab's
offer
opened
my
doors
to
playback
singing
in
Hindi
films.
"Pakeezah"'s
music
was
a
blend
of
thumri,
Mishra
pilu
and
Khamaj
ragas."
Soon
more
offers
poured
in.
Composer
Madan
Mohan
signed
Parveen
to
sing
in
"Parvana".
The
other
composers
the
singer
worked
with
over
the
years
were
Lakshmikant
Pyarelal,
Shankar
Jaikishan
and
R.D.
Burman,
who
had
been
Dilshad
Khan's
classmate
in
St
Xavier's
School,
Kolkata.
Burman
even
approached
his
childhood
friend
to
convince
Parveen
for
singing
"Hame
tumse
pyar
kitna"
in
"Kudrat".
"He
feared
that
I
would
turn
down
the
proposal
if
he
spoke
to
me
directly,"
smiles
Parveen.
It
was
only
when
Khan
revealed
to
Burman
that
his
wife
was
a
big
fan
of
his
that
the
composer
spoke
directly
to
Parveen.
Eventually,
the
song
won
her
the
Filmfare
Award
in
1981.
Parveen's
found
fans
amongst
the
music
composers
as
well.
Amongst
today's
musicians,
the
biggest
fan
of
Parveen
is
singer
Adnan
Sami,
who
has
a
collection
of
all
of
Parveen's
songs,
from
films
to
concerts.
He
got
bowled
over
by
her
thumri
in
"Gadar".
Parveen
is
very
particular
that
the
songs
she
sings
should
not
only
be
melodious
but
also
have
good
lyrics.
"There
are
so
many
singers
in
the
industry
today.
But
I
have
made
it
a
point
to
sing
a
composition
only
if
satisfies
me
and
the
audience.
I
decided
on
the
song
"Vaadaa
tera
vaadaa"
from
"1920"
after
hearing
just
two
lines
from
it.
I
finished
off
the
recording
in
less
than
two
hours,"
Parveen
says.
As
the
title
suggests,
"1920"
is
starts
off
with
pre-independent
India
as
the
backdrop
and
the
story
weaves
it
way
to
2007.
"If
I
get
songs
like
the
one
in
"1920",
I
would
gladly
sing
every
day.
Bollywood's
music
industry
was
in
quite
bad
shape
till
some
time
back.
The
good
part
is
that
young
music
buffs
these
days
are
wholeheartedly
accepting
traditional
songs
along
with
fusion,"
the
singer
says.
However,
Parveen
rues
that
most
music
directors
who
are
genuinely
talented
get
put
off
because
of
lack
of
scope
to
experiment.
"For
creating
scope
for
good
music,
the
producers
and
directors
must
have
a
good
sense
of
melody,
too.
What's
lacking
in
songs
these
days
is
melody.
The
GeNext
is
also
fed
up
with
the
musical
scenario
in
India.
The
industry
can't
get
good
playback
singers
from
musical
talent
hunts
only.
Singers
must
have
a
solid
classical
base,"
Parveen
sums
up.
The
most
difficult
thing
for
a
singer
to
do,
says
Parveen,
is
to
ask
her/him
to
sing
his
mentor's
composition.
The
singer
believes
there
are
no
shortcuts
to
success
and
fame.
She
thinks
today's
budding
singers
don't
practise
hard
and
reality
shows
give
them
false
hope
of
money
and
fame.
Even
parents
are
desperate
and
push
their
children
a
bit
too
hard.
"I
request
parents
to
recognize
the
true
potential
of
their
children
and
encourage
them
in
the
right
field,"
the
singer
suggests.
Never
to
disappoint
her
fans,
Parveen
has
stuck
to
her
classical
base
all
through
her
career
as
she
feels
"classical
music
is
the
real
thing".
The
difference
between
classical
singing
and
playback
singing
is
that
the
singer
has
to
change
the
voice
technique.
And
although
Parveen
is
still
signing
select
films,
she
refers
to
today's
film
music
as
"fast
food".
Amongst
today's
music
directors,
Parveen's
favourites
are
Adnan
Sami,
Uttam
Singh,
Ilayaraja
and
A.R.
Rehman.
She
claims
these
are
the
only
ones
who
exploit
the
voice
quality
of
the
singer.
She
wants
to
work
with
them
over
and
over
again.
Surely,
these
musicians
would
consider
themselves
lucky
if
Parveen
sings
for
them.