Boney Kapoor recalls ‘pleading’ with Lata Mangeshkar to feature in Pukar’s ‘Ek Tu Hi Bharosa’ song.
Lata Mangeshkar gave us goosebumps with her melliferous singing when she sung and featured in the famous prayer song ‘Ek Tu Hi Bharosa’ song in Rajkumar Santoshi’s Pukar (2000).
The film’s producer Boney Kapoor, in his recent interview with o2 India, shared how he pursued the celebrated singer for 3-5 months to convince her to sing and make an appearance in this track.
Boney said, “I think God was kind. I pleaded, requested, and somehow she saw my madness and passion. I showed her the film, whatever we had shot till then. I said, ‘Only you can do justice to this.’
He shared that the idea of getting Lata Mangeshkar onboard for ‘Ek Tu Hi Bharosa’ after Pukar director Rajkumar Santoshi shared with him that he needed a profoundly revered figure to lend their presence and voice to this track. He said that Santoshi challenged him to either get the ‘Nightingale of India’ or Mother Teresa to appear in the song.
“In fact, when the situation was thought of, Rajkumar Santoshi told me, ‘Boney, I want either Mother Teresa or Lata Mangeshkar. I need a very pious personality to sing this song.’ Mother Teresa wasn’t there, she had already passed away, and there wasn’t any other choice left for me but to get Lata Mangeshkar,” Boney recalled in his interview.
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While speaking about his relentless pursuit of the singer, which lasted for months, the producer shared how she gave her nod despite her health issues.
Boney said, “I followed her for 3-5 months. I used to meet her every day and talk to her. She was very sweet and consented. She even came to Hyderabad and was there for a week. We shot at nights and she wasn’t keeping too well those days. She had some illness, but she was there! She liked the situation and song as well.”
He expressed his gratitude towards the late singer for being a part of the iconic song and said, I feel blessed, I am the only filmmaker who got Lata Mangeshkar on screen and sang in a film. It was a big deal, it still is, to get her on board to sing in a film.”
Pukar featured Anil Kapoor, Madhuri Dixit, Namrata Shirodkar and Danny Danzongpa in pivotal roles. The film revolves around how a dreaded terrorist manipulates an Indian army major’s jilted lover into helping him obtain a classified military code and frame him for treachery. The film bagged two National Awards.
