Anwar (singer)

Last updated

Anwar
Birth nameAnwar Hussain
Born(1949-02-01)1 February 1949 (age 74)
Bombay, Bombay State, India
Genres Playback singing
Occupation(s)Singer
Instrument(s)Vocalist
Years active1979–present
Website anwarsinger.com

Anwar Hussain (born 1 February 1949), known popularly by his first name Anwar, is an Indian playback singer who rose to prominence in the Hindi playback industry because of the uncanny resemblance of his voice with that of singer Mohammed Rafi.

Contents

Early years

Anwar was born in Mumbai on 1 February 1949. His father, Ashiq Hussain (Ahmed Ali Khan), was an accomplished sitar and harmonium player and an assistant music director to the musician Ghulam Haider. Anwar is the brother of actress Asha Sachdev, through Ashiq's first marriage to actress Ranjana Sachdev, and the half-brother of actor Arshad Warsi through his second marriage after divorce. The siblings have never lived together and are estranged from each other.

The young Anwar was classically trained by Ustad Abdul Rehman Khan, along with Mahendra Kapoor, the same teacher who was the preceptor of the legendary playback singer Mahendra Kapoor also. Anwar started singing Mohammad Rafi songs at various concerts. It was during one of those musical shows that Anwar was spotted by the music director Kamal Rajasthani, who gave him a chance to sing for his film Mere Gharib Nawaz .

Singing career

Anwar made his debut as playback singer in the film Mere Gharib Nawaaz (1973) and the music director who gave him this break was Kamaal Rajasthani. Music Director Kamal Rajasthani relates that during the recording sessions of the song "Kasme Hum Apno Jaan Ki" for this film, Mohammed Rafi was so impressed that he described Anwar as the one singer who could take his place after him. Indeed, the rendition of that song shows promise, but the film, flopped very badly at the box office and the songs also did not find traction with the audience.

In 1977, comedian Mehmood and music director Rajesh Roshan hired Anwar to sing for the film Janta Hawaldar . The songs "Teri Aankhon Ki Chahat", and "Humse Ka Bhool Hui", were picturised on famous actor Rajesh Khanna. Both the film and song were superhit; hence Anwar started getting work and recognition. Here onwards, for several years, Anwar was on a roll. He sang duets alongside playback singers Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle and Alka Yagnik, under music directors Khayyam, Laxmikant Pyarelal, Kalyanji Anandji, Bappi Lahiri, Anu Malik and Dilip Sen-Sameer Sen. In a career span stretching over thirty years, Anwar sang a variety of songs including filmi songs, classical songs and contemporary ghazals, bhajans, qawwali, and Sufi songs.

The Hindi blockbuster movie YEH ISHQ NAHIN ASAN released on DEC 31, 1984 exclusively featured Anwar Hussain as the male singer lead besides others. This movie starred Rishi Kapoor, Padmini Kolhapure, Radha Saluja and Yogita Bali where the character of the poet/architect Salim Ahmed Salim was played very well by Rishi Kapoor who is well-known to request his playback singer and by then Mohammad Rafi had already left the world (July 1980) and the closest semblance to his voice was Anwar Hussain's rather than Shabbir Kumar's. Frankly, the gazals and songs sung by Anwar Husssain for this movie excels any other movie-group for which Anwar Hussain may have sung.

Recent years

In an interview given to Hindustan Times in November 2007, he cite the rise of Kumar Sanu after the release of Aashiqui as the reason for his moving to the United States, where he gave music lessons and performed live shows to audiences in San Francisco and Los Angeles. [1]

In 2004 Anwar composed an album called Meri Aashiqui Se Pehle broadcast on popular RKB show of Sahara Channel. All the songs in the album were mesmerising so much so that one would sense the magic of Mohammad Rafi and appreciate Anwar's talent.

In 2007 he admitted being in construction business. He stated that he was expecting the release of his latest album Tohfa. [1]

He is not in good terms with his half brother Arshad Warsi and half sister Asha Sachdeva. [2] [3] He was reported by the Mumbai Mirror to be living on a very meager income obtained by singing in a night bar. [2]

Thanks to a 20 November 2010 interview [4] published in the Mumbai Mirror, Anwar got a few offers to sing for few TV shows like Rishton Ke Bhanwar Mein Uljhi Niyati.

Notable songs

Film songs
Other selected hit songs
Selected classical ghazals
Selected contemporary ghazals
Contemporary ghazal albums

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asha Bhosle</span> Indian playback singer (born 1933)

Asha Bhosle is an Indian playback singer, entrepreneur, actress and television personality who predominantly works in Indian cinema. Known for her versatility, she has been described in the media as one of the most influential and successful singers in Hindi Cinema. In her career spanning over eight decades she has recorded songs for films and albums in various Indian languages and received several accolades including two National Film Awards, four BFJA Awards, eighteen Maharashtra State Film Awards, nine Filmfare Awards including a Lifetime Achievement Award and a record seven Filmfare Awards for Best Female Playback Singer, in addition to two Grammy nominations. In 2000, she was honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, India's highest award in the field of cinema. In 2008, she was honoured by the Government of India with the Padma Vibhushan, the second-highest civilian honour of the country. The Guinness Book of World Records acknowledged Bhosle in 2011 as the most recorded artist in music history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kishore Kumar</span> Indian singer and actor (1929–1987)

Kishore Kumar was an Indian playback singer and actor. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest, most influential and dynamic singers in the history of Indian music. He was one of the most popular singers in the Indian subcontinent, notable for his yodeling and ability to sing songs in different voices. He used to sing in different genres but some of his rare compositions, considered classics, were lost in time. According to his brother and legendary actor Ashok Kumar, Kishore Kumar was successful as a singer because his "voice hits the mike, straight, at its most sensitive point".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mohammed Rafi</span> Indian singer

Mohammed Rafi was an Indian playback singer and musician. He is considered to have been one of the greatest and most influential singers of the Indian subcontinent. Rafi was notable for his versatility and range of voice; his songs varied from fast peppy numbers to patriotic songs, sad numbers to highly romantic songs, qawwalis to ghazals and bhajans to classical songs. He was known for his ability to mould his voice to the persona and style of the actor lip-syncing the song on screen in the movie. He received six Filmfare Awards and one National Film Award. In 1967, he was honored with the Padma Shri award by the Government of India. In 2001, Rafi was honoured with the "Best Singer of the Millennium" title by Hero Honda and Stardust magazine. In 2013, Rafi was voted for the Greatest Voice in Hindi Cinema in the CNN-IBN's poll.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manna Dey</span> Indian playback singer, music director, musician and vocalist

Prabodh Chandra Dey, known by his stage name Manna Dey, was an internationally acclaimed and celebrated Indian playback singer, music director, and a musician. As a classical vocalist, he belonged to the Bhendibazaar Gharana and was trained under Ustad Aman Ali Khan. He is considered one of the most versatile and celebrated vocalists of the Hindi film industry, often credited with the success of Indian classical music in Hindi commercial movies. As a musician, Dey is best known for infusing Indian classical music in a pop framework that ushered the golden period in Hindi cinema.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">O. P. Nayyar</span> Indian film music composer, singer-songwriter, music producer, and musician

Omkar Prasad Nayyar was an Indian film music composer, singer-songwriter, music producer, and musician. He is considered to be one of the most rhythmic and melodious music directors of the Hindi film industry. He won the 1958 Filmfare Award for Best Music Director for Naya Daur. Nayyar worked extensively with singers Geeta Dutt, Asha Bhosle, Mohammed Rafi, though not with leading Bollywood female singer Lata Mangeshkar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kumar Sanu</span> Indian playback singer

Kedarnath Bhattacharya, professionally known as Kumar Sanu, is an Indian playback singer. He is known as the King of Melody in Bollywood. He is famous for singing thousands of Bollywood Hindi Super Hit songs. Apart from Hindi, he has also sung in other languages including Bengali, Marathi, Nepali, Assamese, Bhojpuri, Gujarati, Manipuri, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil, Punjabi, Odia, Chhattisgarhi, Urdu, Pali, English and his native language Bengali, both in West Bengal and Bangladesh. He holds the record for winning five consecutive Filmfare Award for Best Male Playback Singer from 1991 to 1995. He holds the Guinness Book of world records since 1993 for recording the maximum number of songs in a Single day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kalyanji–Anandji</span> Indian composer duo

Kalyanji–Anandji are an Indian composer duo: Kalyanji Virji Shah and his brother Anandji Virji Shah. The duo are known for their work on Hindi film soundtracks, with many evergreen songs being composed by them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madan Mohan (composer)</span> Indian composer and singer

Madan Mohan Kohli, better known as Madan Mohan, was an Indian music director of the 1950s, 1960s and the 1970s. He is considered one of the most melodious and skilled music directors of the Hindi film industry. He is particularly remembered for the immortal ghazals he composed for Hindi films. Some of his best works are with singers Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammed Rafi and Talat Mahmood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">C. Ramchandra</span> Indian music director (1918–1982)

Ramchandra Narhar Chitalkar, also known as C. Ramchandra or Chitalkar or Anna Sahib, was an Indian music director and playback singer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Suman Kalyanpur</span> Indian singer

Suman Kalyanpur is an Indian playback singer, one of the best-known and most respected playback singers in India.

Sharda Rajan Iyengar, shortly Sharda, is an Indian playback singer in the 1960s and 1970s. She won the Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer for the cabaret "Baat Zara Hai Aapas Ki" in Jahan Pyar Miley (1970), though she is most remembered for her song "Titli Udi" in Suraj (1966). In 2007, she released the album Andaaz-e-Bayan Aur, featuring her own compositions based on Mirza Ghalib's ghazals.

Shabbir Kumar is an Indian playback singer, notable for his work in Shabbir. Known for his sweet and resonating vocal texture, Shabbir Kumar is an ardent fan of Mohammed Rafi. He has sung for Amitabh Bachchan, Anil Kapoor, Govinda, Mithun Chakraborty, Sunny Deol, Chunky Pandey, Dharmendra, etc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amit Kumar</span> Indian singer (born 1952)

Amit Kumar is an Indian playback singer, actor, music composer. Kumar launched his own music production company, named Kumar Brothers Music. He predominantly worked in Bollywood and regional film songs since the 1970s, including 150 Hindi and Bengali compositions by R. D. Burman. After Burman's death in 1994, citing a lack of quality music composition, Kumar withdrew from playback singing and concentrated on live orchestra shows. In addition to singing in Hindi, has also performed in Bengali, Bhojpuri, Odia, Assamese, Marathi and Konkani. He is the eldest son of singer-actor Kishore Kumar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">G. M. Durrani</span> Musical artist

Ghulam Mustafa Durrani was an Indian radio drama artist, playback singer, actor and music director.

References

  1. 1 2 "Manmohan Desai threw me out: Anwar". 21 November 2007. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
  2. 1 2 "Arshad's half brother in financial mess - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
  3. ↑ "9 Celebs Who Don't See Eye To Eye With Their Families". The Times of India. 16 November 2015. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
  4. ↑ "Tables turn for Anwar Hussain - Mumbai Mirror -". Mumbai Mirror. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.