It’s not surprising that Alka Yagnik has fans across age groups, generations. In a recent interview with Anu Ranjan, Alka Yagnik was asked about Osama Bin Laden being her fan after the CIA discovered Bollywood chartbusters sung by singers Udit Narayan, Kumar Sanu and Alka Yagnik when they seized Osama Bin Laden’s computers during the 2011 raid in his Abbottabad safehouse.
Alka Yagnik replied, “Is it my fault? Osama Bin Laden jo bhi hai jaisa bhi hai, uske andar ek chota sa kalakaar hoga kahin… (There’s an artiste inside him no matter what he did). Pasand hai toh phir, accha hai na (It’s good that he liked my songs, right)?”
The title track from Salman Khan and Madhuri Dikshit’s Dil Tera Aashiq, Ajnabee Mujhko Itna Bata from Ajay Devgn and Kajol’s Pyar Toh Hona Hi Tha, and Tu Chand Hai Poonam Ka from Jaane Tamanna were among the music discovered on Bin Laden’s laptops.
In the same interview, Alka spoke about losing several songs due to industry politics.
She shared, “Politics exists in every line of work. A lot of songs were taken away from me. One of my contemporaries played very dirty politics with me. Like I’d rehearse a song only to know that a senior singer had eventually sung it.”
She added, “I’d say koi baat nahin. I didn’t bother who was doing what, saying what… I was a homebody and only too happy to return home after work. I sang from my heart. I was self-analytical, self-critical… Even if today a song of mine is playing on the radio, and I find something wrong with it, I ask the driver to switch the station.”
Alka Yagnik sent shockwaves among fans when she revealed she had a rare hearing disorder last year. She has won Best Female Playback Singer seven times at the Filmfare Awards.
