Udit Narayan | |
---|---|
Born | Udit Narayan Jha 1 December 1955 |
Nationality | Indian |
Alma mater | Ratna Rajya Laxmi Campus, Tribhuvan University |
Occupation | Playback singer |
Years active | 1980–present |
Spouses | |
Children | Aditya Narayan [2] |
Relatives | Shweta Agarwal (daughter-in-law) |
Awards | |
Honours |
|
Musical career | |
Genres | |
Instrument(s) | Vocals |
Labels |
|
Udit Narayan Jha (born 1 December 1955) is an Indian playback singer [3] whose songs have been featured mainly in Hindi films. He has also sung in various other languages including Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, Bengali, Sindhi, Odia, Bhojpuri, Nepali, Malayalam, Assamese, Bagheli and Maithili. [4] He has won four National Film Awards [5] and five Filmfare Awards with twenty nominations among many others. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri in 2009 [6] and the Padma Bhushan in 2016 for his contribution towards arts and culture. [7] As many as 21 of his tracks feature in BBC's "Top 40 Bollywood Soundtracks of all time". [8]
He got to sing with Mohammed Rafi in his Hindi playback debut in Unees-Bees in 1980 and also with Kishore Kumar in the 1980s. He finally made his mark in the 1988 film Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak starring Aamir Khan and Juhi Chawla, his song "Papa Kehte Hain" was his notable performance which earned him his first Filmfare Award in the 1980s and he established himself in Bollywood Playback Singing. The soundtrack became one of the highest selling albums in the 1980s. The soundtrack was a breakthrough for the careers of Anand–Milind, [9] as well as T-Series, one of India's leading record labels. [10] after which he was one of the favourites of music directors. In the 1990s he sung for a thousands of songs including Hindi and Nepali languages.
Recognising his contribution, the King of Nepal Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev honoured him with the Order of Gorkha Dakshina Bahu in 2001 after his contribution to Indian cinema and music, and Chitragupta Cineyatra Samman 2015 for his contribution towards Bhojpuri cinema. [11] He is the only male singer in the history of the Filmfare Awards to have won in over three decades (the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s). [12]
Udit Narayan Jha was born on 1 December 1955 in an ethnic Maithil Brahmin family to Harekrishna Jha, a Nepalese national, and Bhuvaneshwari Jha, an Indian national. [13] [14] [15] In 2009, when Narayan was awarded India's fourth highest civilian honour Padma Shri , there were reports questioning his Indian citizenship, claiming that he was born in Nepal. However, Udit Narayan himself branded these reports as "completely false", and stated that he was born in the Baisi village of Supaul district in Bihar at his maternal grandparents' home near the India-Nepal border. [16] When his acceptance of the Padma Shri led to his criticism in Nepal, he told the Nepalese daily Kantipur that he was "from Nepal but his mother's home was in Bihar." [17] In a 2017 interview with the Indian magazine Outlook , he clarified that he was born in Baisi, and clarified that his father Harekrishna was a native of Bhardaha, Saptari District, Sagarmatha Zone (present-day Madhesh Province), Nepal on the border with India. [15] In September 2018, Udit Narayan revealed at a ceremony held by the Bihar Jharkhand Association of North America, that he identifies as a Bihari. [18]
Narayan studied at Jageshwar High School, Kunauli, Supaul, Bihar, India, where he finished his SSC and later obtained his intermediate degree from Ratna Rajya Lakshmi Campus of Tribhuvan University in Kathmandu, Nepal. His father Harekrishna Jha was a farmer and his mother Bhuvneshwari Devi was a folk singer who encouraged his career. [19] [1] [20]
In 2006, Ranjana Narayan claimed to be Narayan's first wife, but Narayan consistently denied it. Later, he accepted her as his wife and promised to provide for her maintenance. [21] [22] Narayan has been married twice, first to Ranjana Narayan Jha and then to Deepa Gahatraj. He began his relationship with Deepa Gahatraj while he was still married to Ranjana Narayan. Narayan and Deepa were married in 1985. With Deepa Gahatraj, he has one son, Aditya Narayan, who is also a playback singer. [2] [21] [23] [24]
Narayan is one of the most prominent singers of Bollywood throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. He has been the on-screen singing voice for various Bollywood stars. He has sung for Bollywood actors Amitabh Bachchan, Rajesh Khanna, Dev Anand, Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar and Ajay Devgn. Most of his duets are with Alka Yagnik. He began his career in 1970 as a Maithili folk singer (staff artist) for Radio Nepal, singing mostly popular folk songs in Maithili and Nepali. [25] [ unreliable source? ] Gradually, he started singing modern Nepali songs. After eight years, Narayan moved to Bombay on a musical scholarship for Nepalese from the Indian Embassy in Nepal to study classical music at Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan.
Narayan started his Bollywood career in 1980 when he was noted by music director Rajesh Roshan, who asked Narayan to playback sing for the Hindi film Unees-Bees. Narayan was given the opportunity to sing with the singer Mohammed Rafi. He sang for Devanand a couplet in Swami Dada.His first duet was in the film Sannata. Soon after, Narayan sang for a number of other films, including Bade Dil Wala in 1983, where he sang a duet with senior singer Lata Mangeshkar, composed by senior music director R. D. Burman. In the same year, Narayan sang with Kishore Kumar in the film Kehdo Pyar Hai. Another singer he sang with was Suresh Wadkar with music composed by Bappi Lahiri. A significant milestone in his career occurred in 1988 when Anand–Milind gave him the opportunity to sing all the songs for the Bollywood film Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak , with Alka Yagnik, which earned him a Filmfare Award. [26] In a 2014 interview with The Times of India, Narayan said: "The song I've sung, "Manzilein", is the best song of my career after "Pehla Nasha", which gave me superstardom!". [27] Narayan remained prolific through the 2000s, singing numbers in films such as Pukar , Dhadkan , Lagaan , Devdas and Veer-Zaara .
In 2002, Narayan sang "Bairi Piya" with newcomer Shreya Ghoshal, from the film Devdas , of which Rediff.com mentioned: "Narayan successfully captures the eternal romanticism of Devdas". [28] In 2014, Narayan sang a song titled "Naa Hum Jo Kah De" along with Shreya Ghoshal, for the album Women's Day Special: Spreading Melodies Everywhere. The song was composed by Ram Shankar and penned by A. K. Mishra. [29]
He competed with his closest professional rival Kumar Sanu who won five consecutive Filmfare awards in the 1990s. [30]
Narayan's work has been praised by his contemporaries Alka Yagnik, Kavita Krishnamurthy and music director Ankit Tiwari. [31] [32] [33] Mid-Day included him in the list of notable 90s playback singers. [34] Narayan is considered one of the most prominent singers of his generation. [35]
Narayan's friend Jiyand Nawab Deedag suggested he change his work from old to modern in order to be selected as a playback singer, but this did not work and, considering old films in 1973, Narayan sang a song for a Nepali film called Sindoor. This was a comedy song for the Nepali comedians GopalRaj Mainali (Chankhe) and Basundhara Bhushal (Nakkali). Narayan sang this song with Sushma Shrestha, now known as Poornima in Hindi films. Narayan has also acted in two Nepali films – Kusume Rumal [36] and Pirati in 1985. In 2004, he released his first non-movie Nepalese album, Upahaar, in which he sang duets with his wife Deepa Jha. Narayan has many solo albums as well, such as Bhajan Sangam, Bhajan Vatika, I Love You, Dil Deewana, Yeh Dosti, Love is Life, Jaanam,Jhumka de Jhumka, Sona No Ghadulo, Dhuli Ganga and Ma Tarini. [37]
Narayan has performed in many stage shows in India and abroad and is the recipient of many awards. These include Screen Videocon Award, MTV Best Video Award and Pride of India Gold Award. In 2010, Narayan with Madhushree sang for the English independent film When Harry Tries to Marry .
Narayan also sang the title song for the TV show Yeh Duniyan Gazab Ki , with Kumar Sanu. [38] In 2015 he was involved in a mega series campaign Melancholy, where 421 Nepali artists had sung a 33 minutes 49-second long environmental song, in which 365 artists set a Guinness World Record on 19 May 2016 at Radio Nepal Studio, Singhadurbar, Kathamandu. It is written, composed and directed by environmentalist Nipesh DHAKA. [39]
Narayan was on the panel of judges of Indian Idol 3 in 2007 with music composer Anu Malik and playback singer Alisha Chinai on Sony TV.
Narayan was on the panel of judges on Sony TV for Waar Parriwar , a reality show based on the bringing together of a singing gharana (family of singers). He shared judging duties with fellow playback singer Kumar Sanu and Jatin Pandit of the music duo Jatin–Lalit. [40]
Narayan has appeared on Jo Jeeta Wohi Super Star [41] and Sa Re Ga Ma Pa L'il Champs as a guest. [42] In mid May 2024, he appeared as guest in Colors TV's Mangal Lakshmi for Kartik and Lakshmi's Sangeet caremony. [43]
Udit Narayan Jha acted in and sang all the songs in a 1985 Nepali film called Kusume Rumal which is one of the All Time Classics in Nepali film industry starring himself with Bhuwan K.C. and Tripti Nadakar, which spent 25 weeks on the box office top ten list and became the highest-grossing Nepalese film of all time until overtaken in 2001 by another Tulsi Ghimire film, Darpan Chaya. [36] [44]
Udit Narayan career started in 1980 and flourished during 90's. During the huge span of playback singing, other than the duet songs with notable female playback singers, Udit Narayan was fortunate to collaborate with playback singers from all generations. Udit Narayan debuted with legendary singer Mohammad Rafi and then got opportunity to share songs with Kishore Kumar, Amit Kumar, Suresh Wadkar, Mohammad Aziz and others during 80's. Most of his male duets are with Kumar Sanu & Abhijeet.Though his best discography songs were duets with singer Abhijeet Bhattacharya.Khudko kya samjhti ha, mai khiladi tu anari, lagi lagi ye dilka. Some of the rest selected and notable songs are as follows
Narayan has won four National Film Awards and five Filmfare Awards. [11]
In 2012, Narayan was one of the jury members of the film music jury for the Global Indian Music Academy Awards [45] In 2015, he was one of the jury members in Mirchi Music Awards, and the same year he was the judge of the Jagran Film Festival. [46] [47] [48]
Alka Yagnik is an Indian playback singer who works predominantly in Hindi cinema. One of the most prominent singers of 90s era Bollywood, she has received several accolades, including two National Film Awards, two Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards and a record seven Filmfare Awards for Best Female Playback Singer from a record of thirty-six nominations.
Kedarnath Bhattacharya, professionally known as Kumar Sanu, is an Indian playback singer who primarily sings in Hindi film 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 World Record for recording the maximum number of songs in a single day since 1993.
Danny Denzongpa is an Indian actor, playback singer, and film director who primarily works in Hindi and occasionally in Bengali, Nepali, and Tamil films. In a career spanning five decades, has acted in over 190 films since 1971. In 2003, Denzongpa was awarded the Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian honour.
Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, also known by the initialism QSQT, is a 1988 Indian Hindi-language romantic musical film, directed by Mansoor Khan in his directorial debut, and written and produced by Nasir Hussain. The film stars Aamir Khan and Juhi Chawla in lead roles, making their acting debut. The film features music by Anand–Milind, with lyrics written by Majrooh Sultanpuri. Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak tells the story of two individuals and recounts their journey of falling in love, eloping, and the aftermath.
The Filmfare Best Male Playback Singer Award is given by Indian film magazine Filmfare as a part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise a male playback singer who has delivered an outstanding performance in a film song.
Anuradha Paudwal is an Indian playback singer and politician who works predominantly in Hindi cinema. She has been described in media as one of the most prominent Bhajan singer and also as one of the most successful playback singers of 80s and 90s era of Bollywood. The recipient of several accolades including a National Film Award, four Filmfare Awards and two Odisha State Film Awards, she has been honoured by the Government of India with the Padma Shri, the country's fourth-highest civilian honour for her contribution in the field of arts. Her contribution in Indian devotional music and Bollywood Industry gained her the titles such as "Bhajan Queen", "Melody Queen".
Sonu Nigam is an Indian playback singer, music director, dubbing artist and actor. Nigam is a recipient of Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian award. Nigam sings predominantly in Hindi and Kannada language films but has also sung in Bengali, Marathi, Telugu, Tamil, Odia, Bhojpuri, Gujarati, Malayalam, Nepali, Tulu, Chhattisgarhi, Meitei and other Indian languages. Nigam has released a number of non-film albums and acted in some Hindi films. He is known as the "Modern Rafi", a title given to him after his musical idol Mohammad Rafi.
Tulsi Kumar Dua, popularly known as Tulsi Kumar, is an Indian playback singer, radio jockey, musician, and actress in the Bollywood industry. She was born to businessman Gulshan Kumar, the former owner of T Series who also worked as a singer, and his wife Sudesh Kumari. She is also the sister of film producer Bhushan Kumar and actress Khushali Kumar. She also owns Kids Hut, a YouTube channel owned by record label T-Series, featuring children's content including nursery rhymes and stories.
Aditya Narayan Jha is an Indian singer, host and actor. He is the son of singer Udit Narayan. He is known for hosting Indian Idol and participating in Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi 9.
Sapna Mukherjee is a Bollywood playback singer who won the Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer for the song "Tirchi Topi Wale" in Tridev (1989).
Javed Ali is an Indian playback singer who predominantly sings in Hindi. He has also sung in various Indian languages including Bengali, Kannada, Malayalam, Gujarati, Marathi, Odia, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu.
Arijit Singh is an Indian playback singer and music composer. The recipient of several accolades including a National Film Award and seven Filmfare Awards, he has recorded songs in several Indian languages, predominantly Hindi and Bengali. He is noted for his ability of performing songs in diverse music genres and is acclaimed for his significant contributions to the contemporary Bollywood Music. Singh is also considered as one of the best singers of his generation.
Ankit Tiwari is an Indian playback singer, live performer, music director, composer. His career began upon meeting Pradeep Sarkar where he got a chance to work on jingles and started composing background music for television programmes. Subsequently, he was offered to compose music for Do Dooni Chaar (2010) and Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster (2011), where he started his singing career with the song he composed for the later.
Jha is a surname of Maithil Brahmins native to the Mithila region of India and Nepal. Notable people with the name include:
Udit Narayan Jha is a playback singer who works in Bollywood and whose songs have been featured mainly in Hindi language, Nepali and Bollywood movies. Besides Nepali and Hindi, he has sung in 36 languages. He has won three National Film Awards and five Filmfare Awards. He is the only male singer in the history of the Filmfare Awards to have won over three decades. Udit Narayan was awarded the Padma Shri in 2009 and, in 2016, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India, an honour that has so far been awarded to only a handful of singers, in recognition of his achievements in various film industries across India. He was also awarded the Prabal Gorkha Dakshin Bahu by the late King of Nepal Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev in 2001 and Chitragupta Cineyatra Samman 2015 for Bhojpuri Cinema. He has sung over 25000 songs over 36 languages as many as 21 of his tracks feature in BBC's "Top 40 Bollywood Soundtracks of all time".
Anand–Milind did six films before hitting the jackpot with Qayamat se Qayamat Tak in 1988.
'They say I was born in Nepal, but that's completely false. I was born in a village called Baisi on the Supaul district of Bihar in 1955 at my maternal grandparents' home,' Udit had said in a recent interview with IANS.