Pankaj Udhas

In today’s weekend blog, I am writing about a famous singer who left us a few days back. Friends, I am talking about the famous Ghazal and playback singer PANKAJ UDHAS. He and Jagjit Singh were responsible for bringing ghazals to the general public, earlier ghazals were considered in the classical category and their listeners were limited, and they were people belonging to either listeners of classical songs or elite people who were interested in Urdu poetry (Shayari).

He was born on 17^th May 1951 at Jetpur in Saurashtra area of Gujarat. He was the youngest of three brothers. His eldest brother Manhar Udhas achieved some success as a Hindi playback singer in Bollywood films. His second brother Nirmal Udhas is also a well-known ghazal singer and was the first of the three brothers to start singing in the family. Their father realized from the early days that his three sons were interested in music, so he enrolled them at the Sangeet Academy in Rajkot. Pankaj started learning to play table there and later moved to Mumbai to train and learn singing under Navrang Nagpurkar, a singer from the Gwalior Gharana.

Pankaj’s first song was in the film ‘Kamna’ (in the late 70s), a solo composed by Usha Khanna and written by Naqsh Lyallpuri, the film was a flop, but his singing was much appreciated. Subsequently, he developed an interest in ghazals and learned Urdu to try and pursue a career as a ghazal singer. He then spent 10 months in USA and Canada doing ghazal concerts and returned to India with renewed confidence and vigour. His first ghazal album, ‘Aahat’ was released in 1980, and then there was no looking back. He released more than 50 ghazal albums during his singing career.

In the mid-1980s, he once again started getting opportunities for playback singing in Bollywood films. His song “ Chithi Aayi Hai, Watan Se Chithi Aaayi Hai” from the 1987 film Naam was a chartbuster and was the top song of that year. He also enacted this song in the film Naam, where he was shown as a stage artist who was singing this song. In 1990, he sang the duet “Mahiya Teri Kasam” with Lata Mangeshkar in the movie ‘Ghayal’. He also sang in films like Sajan, Yeh Dilligi, Phir Teri Kahani Yaad Aayi, Mohra and many more. His song “ Na Kajre Ki Dhaar, Na Motiyon Ke Haar” with Sadhana Sargam from the movie ‘Mohra’ also became a chartbuster.

But it was his ghazal singing, which made him famous. He transformed the ghazal singing, with catchy music and easy rendition, which made the general public appreciate his singing style because they could easily hum and sing those ghazals.  He also became a pioneer in launching the ‘Khazana’ musical stage program with other singers like Talat Aziz, Anup Jalota & others. For many years Khazana became an annual ritual of musical festival.

He was awarded ‘Padma Shri’ in 2006.  He was also bestowed with awards from many organizations related to musical fields.

In his long career spanning almost four decades, Pankaj Udhas must have sung thousands of songs/ghazals, down below I am listing my favourite film songs and ghazals sung by him with a YouTube link:

1 ‘Dard Ki Baarish Sahi Madham, Jara Ahista Chal’– his first hit and still most popular ghazal.

https://youtu.be/3g9LaFuqE2Q?si=SvIj0QV36SqqA3b0

2 ‘Chithi Aaayi Hai, Watan Se Chithi Aayi Hai’– a song from the film Naam(1987) written by Anand Bakshi and composed by Laxmikant Pyarelal.

https://youtu.be/v0_IRIFYC0k?si=Wa7yra9RW52z7ag2

3 ‘Jiyen To Jiyen Kaise, Bin Aap Ke’- a song from the film Sajan (1991) written by Sameer and composed by Nadeem Shravan.

https://youtu.be/vU0eib8LF0A?si=vVDGuy7cYsl316eJ

4 ‘Hui Mehngi Badi Sharab, Thodi Thodi Piya Karo’– a very popular ghazal.

https://youtu.be/OXWjRUnCth8?si=TVflpnz8gettAK-e

5 ‘ Na Kajre Ki Dhaar, Na Motiyon Ke Haar, Na Koi Kiya Shingar’- a duet song from the film Mohra (1994), sung along with Sadhana Sargam, written by Indeevar and composed by Viju Shah.

https://youtu.be/gcceSjNmQdE?si=2Imh-IbxYRiXrngl

6 ‘ Aaj Phir Tum Pe Pyar Aaya Hai, Behad Aur Beshumar Aaya Hai’– a duet song from the film Dayavan, sung along with Anuradha Paudwal, written by Aziz Qaisi, and composed by Laxmikant Pyarelal.

https://youtu.be/NCL0LKMp9Bg?si=3y9MsTVXByjGjBPb

7 ‘Chandi Jaisa Rang Hai Tera, Sone Jaise Baal, Ek Tuhi Dhanwan Hai Gori Baaki Sab Kangaal’– a very popular ghazal

https://youtu.be/5aJgC8eyCNI?si=FuXBsUqQLAC5PLuQ

8 ‘Ae Gham e Zindagi Kuch To De Mashwara, Ek Taraf Uska Ghar Ek Taraf Maikada’– a hit ghazal

https://youtu.be/R35o1IjAYqQ?si=OHevmPQMzHw9M6L9

9 ‘ Niklo Na Benaqab Zamana Kharab Hai, Aur Us par Yeh Shabab Zamana Kharab Hai’– a hit ghazal

https://youtu.be/1Emx3e8p12M?si=QhghkItK6zYk-7BF

10 ‘ Mohe Aayi Na Jag Se Laaz, Main Itna Zor Se Naachi Aaj Ke Ghunghroo Toot Gaye’—a super hit ghazal

https://youtu.be/phlGi6CyVA8?si=ECOCcDsBYkuatndu

11 ‘Sabko Maloom Hai Main Sharabi Nahin, Phir Bhi Koi Pilaye To Main Kya Karoon’– a hit and popular ghazal.

https://youtu.be/phlGi6CyVA8?si=ECOCcDsBYkuatndu

12 ‘ Sharab Cheez hi Aisi Hai Na Chodi Jaaye, Yeh Mere Yaar Ke Jaisi Hai Na Chodi Jaaye– a popular ghazal

https://youtu.be/jAFDlQVjNVc?si=emANfVQCG7nNLt6E

In the end, there will not be any other ghazal singer like Pankaj Udhas in the years to come, as long as people listen to ghazals he will be remembered.

OM SHANTI

Waiting for your feedback on this blog.

Anil Malik

Mumbai, India

1^st March 2024