Fans in his native Nepal, where he is quite a star, would like him to get his due or come back and be amongst them. "I was a guest on a live phone-in show on Nepal radio," Mr Shaha reminisces. "I was stunned when a little child said his country had given me so much love and respect but that I didn't love Nepal enough to live there. I got out of a sticky situation by gently answering that Mumbai was one big school where I had to complete my education in music; when that was done, I would surely return." He blames it on fate, because after all, noted dancer Sitara Devi, actress Mala Sinha and singer Udit Narayan hail from Nepal and have attained stardom in their fields in India.

Yet, despite the willingness to persevere in Mumbai, each time the song Dil tujh pe aa gaya from Mahesh Bhatt's film, Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahin, is featured on radio or television, Mr Shaha suffers a pang. The record will not be set straight and listeners will continue to believe that the song is another hit delivered by Mr Sanu. In fact, Mr Shaha has sung it.

Mr Shaha, or Kanchha as he is affectionately known in the film industry, has performed with Ms Asha Bhosle, Mr Suresh Wadkar, Ms Anuradha Paudwal, Mr Mohammed Aziz. In fact, he has paired with most of the singers except Ms Lata Mangeshkar and Ms Alka Yagnik. He once missed an opportunity to sing for composer R D Burman when he was away performing in Nepal. "I was also involved with the Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA) where I acted alongside Mr M S Sathyu and ms Shabana Azmi," he adds. And yes, he has played the villain in a few films in what is now Chhattisgarh, and says he is afraid to visit the area because the villagers might kill him for his sins on celluloid!

The film industry acknowledges Mr Shaha's talent and gives him work, but fame is as elusive as it was many years ago. He says, "I was a boy of ten when I came away from Calcutta to pursue my dream. I learnt vocal music from Mr Kedorchandra Bhattacharya in Mumbai. Then, I trained with the well-known music arranger, Mr Surinder Singh Sodhi. Some time after I began to get work regularly, my friends and I brought out a music album called Sab Ka Malik Ek with Venus when the company was newly established."

Mr Shaha does not want it to sound like a sob story but one cannot miss the point. He did the playback for Mr Mohsin Khan when the former Pakistani cricketer came to India to be an actor, but that film remained incomplete.

"My music directors include Shyam Sunder, Amar-Utpal and now, Sandesh Shandilya, who gave me the pahadi lines in Piya Basanti. I am working with Sandesh again on a project which is wickedly experimental!" Mr Shaha laughs.

Indeed, the opening lines of Teri yeh surmai aankhen, which Mr Shaha has sung with Ustad Sultan Khan and Ms Chitra, sound beautiful even before you understand them. "It is a naughty proposition from a young man to his beloved. He says it is nice of her to dance to the beat of his drum, but if she gives him a little affection also, he just might consider marriage the following year!" Mr Shaha says and laughs.

The four lines give one a complete idea of his range when juxtaposed with a qawwali that familiarised listeners of the genre with his name. Nachyo maichung, timi damphu ko talai ma! from Piya Basanti and Ek tu hai tujhe parwah hi nahin call for completely dissimilar styles. In the first, Mr Shaha sounds a child of the mountains while the Sufi rendition would have you believe he was nothing but a believer. "Well, I have worked on my diction from the beginning. Playback is not about the grammar of music, it is about putting yourself in the actor's shoes. You even need to know what time of day the song will be picturised so you can sing either in muted tones or in a full-throated manner," he says.

Mr Shaha's Ghintang Ma is on top of the charts in Nepal. "I agree I don't look the quintessential Nepali, but then, I belong to the Aryan race not the Mongoloid. The people love me so much in that country that even Kumar Sanu, who performs a lot in Nepal, says that he feels neglected when I am with him! I retort that I am happy for the occasional role reversal!"