Pankaj Udhas
Pankaj Udhas made the ghazal a cassette-shop commodity in the best sense: Aahat (1980), Mukarar, Tarannum, Nayaab and their successors sold in the millions, and Chitthi Aayi Hai in Naam (1986), sung on screen by him, made grown men weep in cinema halls across the world. Chandi Jaisa Rang, Aur Ahista, Na Kajre Ki Dhar and Jeeye To Jeeye Kaise followed.
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Landmark songs
Life
He was born in Jetpur in 1951, the youngest of three singing brothers (Manhar and Nirmal), studied at St Xavier's in Bombay, learned from Master Navrang, and after years of small film work released Aahat in 1980; the 1980s albums made him India's best-selling ghazal singer, and Naam, Saajan (Jeeye To Jeeye Kaise), Mohra (Na Kajre Ki Dhar) and Yeh Dillagi kept him in film. He received the Padma Shri in 2006 and died in Mumbai in 2024.
The voice
A soft, slightly nasal, intimate tenor, sung close to the microphone with little ornament — the ghazal as a quiet confidence rather than a classical display.
Composers
- His own settings
- Laxmikant-Pyarelal
- Nadeem-Shravan
- Viju Shah
Sang for
- Himself (Naam)
- Salman Khan
- Sunil Shetty
- Akshay Kumar
Sang with
Honours
Padma Shri (2006)
More film songs 7 songs, by year
1980s
1990s
Ghazals and non-film recordings 3
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