Top 7 ‘Playback Choices’ for Shah Rukh Khan

I would like to begin the list with the top voice of 1990s which gave the actor the most popular hits during his first phase of acting. It was a time when both Kumar Sanu and Udit Naryan’s voices were used to record Shah Rukh songs for a single movie. DDLJ and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai belong to the all-time blockbusters and musical hits of Shah Rukh Khan for which both the leading voices of Bollywood industry were used to record Shah Rukh Khan songs.  

The iconic pose of SRK for DDLJ

Now back to Kumar Sanu. For his first released film, Deewane, Kumar Sanu’s voice was used to record Rishi Kapoor’s song who played a singer in the film and Vinod Rathod recorded Shah Rukh’s first duet song – Aise Deewange. But for movies such as Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman and Chamatkar released the same year, Kumar Sanu recorded maximum songs for this budding star then. Is Pyar Se Meri Taraf Na Dekho and Yeh Hai Pyaar Pyaar for Chamatkar, and Seene Mein Dil Hai and Lovearia for Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman thus became the early chartbuster hits of Kumar Sanu-SRK combination. 

I believe Udit Narayan to be the most successful voice of Shah Rukh. As far as I know, their association began in 1993 with the film, Darr. Jaadu Teri Nazar was an instant chartbuster. As told above, many music directors tried successfully the voices of Kumar Sanu and Udit Narayan for a single film for Shah Rukh and DDLJ, Koyla, Duplicate, Yes Boss and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai are among the best examples. Very often a third voice of Abhijeet has also been tried very often, apart from these two voices for Shah Rukh for a single album. Yes Boss and DDLJ are the best instances.

When Madan Mohan’s music was recreated for Veer Zaara

When Sonu Nigam’s soft voice was used for Shah Rukh for Pardes (Yeh Dil Deewana) and Dil Se (Satrangi Re) in the second half of 1990s, the songs got appreciated. Sonu’s voice well expressed betrayal and pain through ‘Yeh Dil Deewana’ and the song got noticed too. Very soon Sonu Nigam’s voice got permanently tagged to Shah Rukh’s voice. I have described the top 15 songs sung by Sonu Nigam for King Khan. Read here.

One of the rare duets of Sonu and Lata, composed by A. R. Rahman for 1 2 Ka 4

Abhijeet has never earned popularity similar to Udit, Kumar Sanu and Sonu Nigam in industry. Yet he created a niche of his own through a few trademark songs he sang since 1990s, and he sang many super hit songs for Shah Rukh. He delivered many hit songs during the formative years of Shah Rukh’s career, aside Udit Narayan and Kumar Sanu. In fact, he earned his single Filmfare award for a Shah Rukh song from Yes Boss (Mein Koi Aisa Jeet Gao), the same year when Udit’s songs for Dil To Pagal Hai and Sanu’s songs for Pardes were highly noticed and appreciated in 1997.

Mein Koi Aisa Geet – The most popular song of Abhijeet which earned him the single Filmfare award

For a few films like Baadshah, Yes Boss and Chalte Chalte, majority of the songs were sung by Abhijeet for Shah Rukh, and songs got well-noticed. Mein Hoon Na, Anjaam, DDLJ, Phir Phi Dil Hai Hindustani and Asoka are a few more. Roshni Se of Asoka, Tauba of Chalte Chalte, Badi Mushkil Hai of Anjaam, Tumhe Jo Meine of Mein Hoon Naa and Zara Za Jhoomloo of Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge etc are some of the chartbuster hits. Also read: Abhijeet’s hit songs for Suniel Shetty.

Dard-E-Disco song from Om Shanti Om

Chayya Chayya of Dil Se was the turning point of Sukhwinder’s singing career. His high pitch voice was later used for several songs featuring Shah Rukh and most of them turned to be smash hits. Dard-E-Disco of Om Shanti Om, Haule Haule of Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, Phir Raat Kati of Paheli and Title track of Chak De India are a few more. Though Sukhwinder has sung only less number of songs for Shah Rukh, they have always received overwhelming response from music lovers.

Aise Deewangi – The first released song of Shah Rukh, marking a new era of his romantic songs in Bollywood

And last, but not the least Vinod Rathod also needs special mention in this list. Aise Deewangi is a popular duet from Deewana which featured Shah Rukh and Divya Bharti. Deewana was the first release of Shah Rukh. Obviously Aise Deewangi becomes his first song. Since then Vinod Rathod has sung a few songs for Shah Rukh, and most of them got noticed too. His voice was used to record maximum songs of Zamana Deewana.

Apart from Kumar Sanu, Anu Malik also used Vinod Rathod’s voice to record the songs of Baazigar. The duets – Kitaabein Bahut Se and Ee Mere Hum Safar featuring SRK and Shilpa Shetty were sung by Vinod Rathod. Mein Hoon To Pagal Munda of Army, Title track of Chaahat and Zamaana Deewana and Gulashan Kali-Kali of Guddu are a few more.

Conclusion

Kailash Kher for SRK