In 1968-69, when Usha Uthup was preparing for her opening night at Trincas on Park Street, her soon-to-be-husband requested her to sing Harry Belafonte’s ‘Matilda’. She knew the song, having heard the American singer’s 1959 album Belafonte at Carnegie Hall.
Calling the singer-actor-human rights activist’s passing at 96 as “quite a heartbreak”, she says he has singularly been her inspiration to be a performer and entertainer. “He was the greatest, not just because of his voice or the way he sang, but because of the way he connected to the audience,” says the Kolkata-based singer. “I was all of 21 when I began to sing his songs and throughout my career of more than 50 years, when people have asked me who is my inspiration, the only name I had to give was Harry Belafonte — and Radio Ceylon.”
For many of her concerts, exits from the stage would be with much-loved Belafonte numbers such as ‘Jamaica Farewell’ or ‘Hava Nageela’. Other favourites include ‘Banana Boat Song’, ‘Island in the Sun’, ‘Danny Boy’, ‘Darlin’ Cora’, and, of course, ‘Matilda’. Taking a cue from Belafonte, who often asked the people who had gate-crashed a concert to sing ‘Matilda’ loudly, Usha would reach out to her audience, asking people in white shirts or in saris to sing along. “I learnt to engage with the audience from him,” she says.
Her biggest dream was to meet Belafonte in person. Uthup had made “plenty of efforts” to catch up with her inspiration when she visited the U.S., but somehow the meeting did not happen. She had also been in talks, post-pandemic, for a UNESCO campaign in Africa, where she hoped the sari (she is always in one) and style (of Belafonte) would be on stage together, but the dream will now remain unfulfilled.
As fans mourn his loss, we hope that the next time Uthup takes the stage, it will be with a Belafonte special.
