Was destined to sing new rendition of 'Ramayan Ki Chaupaaiyaan', says Sachin Pilgaonkar

Mumbai, Jan 21 (PTI) Veteran actor Sachin Pilgaonkar, who has forayed into devotional music with "Ramayan Ki Chaupaaiyaan", says a divine intervention led him to sing this song.

The 66-year-old multihyphenate said he was "destined" to sing this track as it was picturised on him in the 1975 film "Geet Gaata Chal".

"I've never marketed myself as a singer. I was waiting for the right opportunity. This is a God-given opportunity. This is my first bhakti song.

"I think this was destined. That's why 44 years ago, these chaupaiyaan were picturised on me (in 'Geet Gaata Chal')" Pilgaonkar, also a writer-filmmaker, told PTI.

"Ramayan Ki Chaupaaiyaan", an 8.44-minute music video song which was released on YouTube on Saturday, is directed and produced by Deepak Pandit.

As a singer, Pilgaonkar has over 200 songs to his credit largely from his own directorial ventures in Marathi and Hindi languages, such as "Choricha Mamla" from "Gammat Jammat", "Hee Navari Asli" and "Aala Jairam Aala" from "Navari Mile Navaryala" as well as "Yeh Ho Raha Hai" from "Prem Deewana", among others.

Not many people are aware about his work as a singer, he said.

"In my life, many things have taken the front seat: acting, which I started with, then directing, producing and writing. Singing took a back seat somewhere.

"Hence, not many people are well versed about me being a singer. I'm sure people would have heard my songs but they don't know if they have been sung by me," he added.

Pilgaonkar also said he is "fortunate" to have played the roles of Lord Ram and Lord Krishna in different films.

He played Lord Ram as a child artist in the Marathi film "Swayamvar Zale Siteche" (1964). Later, he starred as Lord Krishna in Homi Wadia's 1971 film "Shri Krishna Leela" (Hindi) and followed it up with the 1979 Hindi movie "Gopal Krishna".

"I was happy about playing these roles. Later, nobody asked me to play Lord Ram, but I have played Kishan ji twice in my life, so that was also a pleasure. We are devotees of Lord Ganesh too," the actor said.

"Ramayan Ki Chaupaaiyaan" is part of Shemaroo's 'Shri Ram Bhakti Utsav', an exclusive musical series celebrating the Ram temple consecration ceremony, to be held in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, on Monday. It also features popular traditional songs and new creations sung by legendary artists like Suresh Wadkar, Pilgaonkar, and others. PTI KKP RDS RDS