Usha Uthup reacts to ‘Rambha Ho’ being rehashed for Dhurandhar: ‘Song is bigger than the singer…’

Usha Uthup had praise Madhumati in recent interview with Republic TV as well. “Madhubanti has done a fabulous job. We also did a reel together at Trincas (nightclub in Kolkata), which was amazing. I’ve always believed the song is much bigger than the singer. Whoever sings ‘Rambha Ho’ will hit it there.” She added that while she’s been consistently performing “Rambha Ho” in her concerts for over 40 years now, Dhurandhar has lent even more traction to the song now.

“Truly, who ever thought? Every show of mine, in any case, I have to sing ‘Rambha Ho.’ But now, it’s with a new force, and all thank god for Dhurandhar for making it so popular. I don’t know how many million hits ‘Ramba Ho’ gets every second on what the Gen-Z call Insta. It’s amazing,” she said.

Usha Uthup has maintained that she doesn’t mind remixes as they help extend the song’s lifetime by years. “I don’t think about it as a remix at all. I’m not saying remixes are bad. But I wouldn’t say all remixes are bad. Because some melodies would be lost if there was nobody to do another version. The younger generation probably wouldn’t have heard a song like ‘Babuji Zara Dheere Chalna’ if there wasn’t anybody else to sing it,” argued Usha in an interview with India Today.

Originally sung by Geeta Dutt, composed by OP Nayyar, and written by Majrooh Sultanpuri for Guru Dutt’s 1954 noir comedy Aar-Paar, “Babuji Dheere Chalna” has been rehashed multiple times over the years. “I’ve always believed a song is a song is a song, and it’ll live forever if it’s stood the test of time. And if people still want to sing “Ae Mere Zohra Jabeen,” why not? If we’ve not gotten Manna De to sing it, we’ve got so many wonderful singers to sing it. I feel remixes are more good than bad,” added Usha.

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Originally composed by Ravi and written by Sahir Ludhianvi, “Ae Meri Zohra Jabeen” from Yash Chopra’s 1965 blockbuster Waqt has also been recreated countless times since. Its most quirky interpretation has been done by singer-composer Himesh Reshammiya and lyricist Sameer in Priyadarshan’s 2006 comedy Phir Hera Pheri.