How Adnan Sami convinced Amitabh Bachchan to sing 'Kabhi Naee'
What's the story
In a recent interview with Komal Nahta, singer-composer Adnan Sami revealed some fascinating behind-the-scenes details about working with Amitabh Bachchan on the song Kabhi Naee. The megastar not only featured in the music video but also lent his voice to the track. Initially, however, Bachchan was hesitant about singing for this project because he thought it would be too difficult. Here's how Sami convinced him.
Initial hesitation
Bachchan thought the song was 'difficult'
Sami said, "I told him that you've sung in Mr Natwarlal (1979), Silsila (1981), etc., and hence, he can sing my song as well."
To this, Bachchan replied, "Woh sab gaane toh theek hai, but your song is difficult."
Sami assured him that Kabhi Naee wasn't hard to sing.
After a few days of deliberation, Bachchan agreed to sing but with one condition: he would only sing in his natural baritone range.
Innovative workaround
Sami wanted actor to sing in higher octave
Sami explained why he wanted Bachchan to sing in a higher octave.
He said, "If you sing in the higher octave, toh gaana ubhrega."
Sami added, "When he came to the studio...I told him, 'Aap upar waale sur mein gaaiye'. He did, and I told him, 'See, it's sounding so beautiful.'"
Bachchan said, "Yes, that's because there are such big speakers in this studio. When I sing using the headphones in the recording booth, saara josh khatam ho jaayega."
Solution
How the duo recorded the track
The singer instantly came up with a solution.
He revealed, "I told him, 'If that's the case, please do not go into the recording booth. You can record the song right here. You don't even need to wear the headphones'. Hence, we got the mic stands and some bedsheets to block the speaker."
"And then we recorded him live with the speakers on and with no headphones. This was never done before."
Praise for Bachchan
'He sounded like a million bucks'
Sami further stated, "The performance he gave can be heard in the song. He sounded like a million bucks."
"I wish we had the facility to record BTS footage back then... Gen Z may not understand this, but it was truly a Kodak moment!"
The song was released in 2002.