Evergreen Lata Hits

The voice of Lata Mangeshkar represents supreme and pristine quality of Indian music. She is undoubtedly the greatest playback singer in the Hindi film industry. She has sung all forms of music like ghazals, songs, bhajans and even folk songs. In her lifetime, she has recorded no less than 50,000 songs. Lata Mangeshkar has also rendered her voice in other regional languages like Tamil, Bengali, and Malayalam etc. It is said that she has sung in more than twenty regional languages and over a thousand Hindi movies.

Lata Mangeshkar has recorded duets with all the top most singers. From legends of yesteryear like Manna Dey, Mohammed Rafi, Mukesh, Hemant Kumar, Mahendra Kapoor and Kishore Kumar to stars of current crop like Kumar Shanu, Udit Narayan, Sonu Nigam, Kunal Ganjawala etc, Lata has sung with all of them with same comfort and excellence.

It is no less than impossible to think of listing all the hit songs of Lata Mangeshkar. She came into prominence with Aayega Aanewaala from the movie Mahal (1949). She has given thousand of hits in every era since 40s to first decade of the new millennium. Her initial hits were songs like,

• Mohabbat aisi dhadkan hai,
• Yeh zindagi usiki hai,
• Jaag dard ishq jaag,
• O aasman waale
• Aplam chaplam,
• Radha na bole na bole,
• Kitna haseen hai mausam,
• Dheere se aaja ri akhiyan mein,
• Shola jo bhadke,
• Bholi soorat dil ke khote,
• Dil dhadke nazar sharmaaye,
• Mere dil ki ghadi kare etc

She followed her initial hits with songs like

• Gore gore o baanke chore,
• Mehfil mein jal uthi shama,
• Dil ki duniya basake sanwariya,
• Mere man ka baawra panchi,
• Balma anadi man bhaaye
• Jiya bekaraar hai,
• Rasik Balma,
• Gumnaam hai koi,
• Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya,
• Ajeeb Dastaan Hai Yeh.

 

Chitra Singh

All the Hindi ghazals lovers must have heard of famous Ghazal singer Chitra Singh. Married to Ghazal maestro Jagjit Singh, Chitra singh is a renowned Indian Urdu/Hindi ghazals singer. Together they have given wonderful duets and are considered as legends in modern ghazals singing. Born in a Bengali family, Chitra Singh never had any formal music training. Her family had music culture and she first learned the ropes by listening to others. Chitra Singh started her career in Mumbai by singing advertisement jingles for various products.

The meeting of these two famous singers took place during 1960s in Mumbai only when both Jagjit and Chitra singh were trying to make career in singing. They both sung jingles together. However, their struggle paid off when they launched top album, “The Unforgettables”. This album literally revolutionized Indian ghazals world. They sung in public and album became a huge hit. Interestingly, this album also changed the way ghazals were used to be sung. During those days, ghazals were performed in Mehfils.

Since then, it became an unforgettable journey for both of them. They released various ghazals albums and devotional albums as well. They even composed songs for Hindi, Punjabi and Bengali albums. Their Bengali and Punjabi albums were huge hits. Chitra singh stopped singing after the unfortunate demise of her young son. Some of her famous songs include “Yeh Tera Ghar, Yeh Mera Ghar”, “Tum Aao To Sahi”, “Woh Nahin Milta Mujhe”, “Saare Badan Ka Khoon”, and “Mitti Da Bawa”.

Some of her Albums include,

A Milestone (1976), The Unforgettables (1978), Gold Disc (1979), Ae mere dil (1980), Live in concert with Jagjit Chitra Singh, Live at Wembley, Desires, Chirag, The Latest (1982), Ecstasies (1984), A Sound Affair (1985) etc.

 

Shreya Ghoshal

Born on March 12, 1984 in Rawatbhata, Rajasthan, Shreya Ghoshal has made rapid strides in Hindi playback singing. She has made a name for herself in last few years. Know for her melodious voice and classical talent, Shreya has sung for almost every top banner of the Hindi film industry. She is also active in regional films as well and has managed to make millions of fans. The regional languages she has lent her voice to include, Marathi, Telugu, Bengali, Kannada, Malayalam, Punjabi and Tamil.

Shreya showed glimpses of her talent from an early age only. She was musically inclined since the tender age of four. She received her earlier training in Hindustani classical music from Maheshchandra Sharma. Later on she won the children’s special episode of the Sa Re Ga Ma contest on Zee TV and that victory made her family move its base to Mumbai. She trained with famous composer Kalyanji who was highly impressed with her talent.

Her first major came with the hit movie Devdas where she was given the voice of Paro. That movie was her key to stardom and since then she has never looked back. That movie won her the Filmfare Award for best singer as well as the R D Burman award, given to upcoming talents in music. In her career, Shreya Ghoshal has sung for all the top music composers including Anu Malik, Himesh Reshammiya, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Pritam, Vishal-Shekhar, Hamsalekha, Mano Murthy, Gurukiran, Ilayaraja and maestro A. R. Rahman. She has also acted as a judge in the singing show Amul Star Voice Of India Chhote Ustaad.

Shreya has won no less than three national awards and four Filmfare awards. May she keep mesmerizing us with her wonderful voice.

 

Sunidhi Chauhan

Sunidhi Chauhan was born on August 14, 1983. A successful playback singer, she has earned huge accolades over the years. Sunidhi is hugely talented and has sung more than 2000 songs. Her talent was first discovered when she was a child. She started to sing at an early age of four and a televised singing contest named ‘Meri Awaz Suno’ got her national recognition. She debuted with Hindi film Shastra but what got her fame and appreciation was Ram Gopal Verma’s film, Mast, in which she sang the hit song, Ruki Ruki Si Zindagi. Since then, it has been a truly remarkable journey for Sunidhi. She has worked with almost all the top musicians and her songs have often proved to be chartbusters. She has been nominated for no less than twelve Filmfare Awards out of which she has won it thrice. Other awards won by her are, Star Screen Awards, IIFA Awards and Zee Cine Award.

Sunidhi Chauhan is a very versatile singer as can be witnessed from her songs belonging to diverse genres. She can sing in any genre. She is proficient in genres as diverse as rock, pop, classical, folk and semi-classical. Last year was especially good for her as she gave numerous hits like Chhaliya, Rock Mahi, Lucky Boy, Desi Girl (Dostana), Dance Pe Chance (Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi), and Race Saanson Ki (Race). Top notch music composers like A. R. Rahman, Anu Malik, Jatin Lalit, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Pritam Chakraborty, Nadeem-Shravan, Vishal-Shekhar, Himesh Reshammiya etc have worked with her and have given wonderful hits. Some of her popular songs are, Ruki Ruki, Mehboob Mere, Dhoom Machale, Kaisi Paheli, Deedar De, Beedi, Soniye, Aashiqui Main, Aaja Nachle, Sajnaji Vari Vari, Dance Pe Chance etc to name a few.

 

Kunal Ganjawala

In recent years, many new talented singers have emerged on the anvil.  Some of them have kept conquering new heights and have left no stone unturned in imporving their class. One such singer is Kunal Ganjawala who has grown by leaps and bounds in Hindi music industry. He has also earned accolades in Marathi and Kannada film industry. His first major hit was ‘Bheegey Hont’ from the film Murder and that was also his big bang arrival in bollywood. That song won him 2005 Zee Cine Award for Best Playback Singer (male). Apart from that he has sung in several other films including Saawariya whose songs earned critic approval.

Apart from that he has been a participant on several music shows on TVs in different capacities. First he participated in Sa Re Ga Ma, an Indian singing talent competition on Zee TV and then acted as a judge on Amul Star Voice of India with Shreya Ghosal and Pritam as co-judges. Kunal’s talent lies in his diverse singing capabilities. He is not only a good singer but also a wonderful performer.

Born and brought up in Mumbai, he started to show his singing talent in school. He performed in college festivals and that’s how began his journey. He is ammried to a fellow singer Gayatri Iyer and they have sung together some times. His talent has truly been explored in other languages like Kannada, Marathi, Punjabi and Telugu. His famous songs include, ‘Humdum suniyo re’, ‘Kaal Dhamaal’, ‘Dil Na Diya’, ‘Bheegey Hont’, ‘Yaar Ko Maine’, ‘Kyaa Kool Hai Hum’, ‘channa-ve-ghar aa jaa ve’, ‘Chodo na Mujhe’, ‘Dil Keh Raha Hai’ and ‘Salaam-E-Ishq’ etc.

 

Shaan

Shaan is a popular name in Indian music industry. His songs have proved to be huge hits and he commands a great fan following. Shaan’s real name is Shantanu Mukherjee and he was born on September 30, 1972 at a place called Khandwa. Shaan belonged to a family of musicians as father late Manas Mukherjee was a music director and his sister Sagarika was quite popular in Indipop genre. He is also an accomplished vocalist and bass player. Shaan first began his career as ad jingles singer. Soon after, he moved to the next level of singing remixes and cover versions.

His first remix album named Q-funk was a major milestone for him. But his real moment of fame with the song ‘Tanha Dil’ in year 2000. Song proved to be a major hit and it brought him popularity and recognition. He also made his entry in Hindi film industry. His second album called ‘Aksar’ was also successful. The interesting part of the album was presence of international artists like Mel C, Blue and Samira Said.  Shaan also made a foray into TV shows and gained huge popularity. He was a host for popular show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa from 2000–2006 and also for Sa Re Ga Ma Pa L’il Champs. Currently, Shaan is the host for another popular reality show called Star Voice of India.

He has sung in various movies and gave us huge hits. His hit songs include, Musu Musu, Chand Sifarish, Jab se tere naina, Take me to your heart, Dus bahane, Nikkama, Socha Nahi Tha, Koi kahe kehta rahe and many others. Shaan has won several awards including Filmfare Best Male Playback Award, Zee Cine Award Best Playback Singer, MTV Asia Music Awards etc.

 

Ravi Shankar

Ravi Shankar is undoubtedly India’s most famous musical export to the west. Born on April 7, 1920, he has made a significant contribution in making Indian classical music popular in the western world. He is a legend in classical music and second to none when it comes to playing Sitar. One of the early movers, he dared to dream big and even collaborated with top music groups of west. The hidden gems of Indian music were unearthed by west thanks to the persistent efforts of Pandit Ravi Shankar. He is a winner of Padma Vibhushan, Magsaysay Award and two Grammy Awards.

 Pandit Ravi Shankar was born in holy city of Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. His elder brother was a renowned classical dancer and even went on to perform in Paris. This happened way back in 1930. Ravi Shankar’s inclination to join dance soon gave way to classical music and he started to learn sitar from no other than Allaudin Khan. His initial foray into classical music saw him joining IPTA and composing music for several ballets. He first stepped outside India in 1954 to perform in old ally Soviet Union. Apart from that, Ravi Shankar performed at famous places like Edinburgh Festival and Royal Festival Hall. His moment of truth came when he collaborated with legendary group, The Beatles. The fusion music created by him and George Harrison made Indian classical music very popular in west. Ravi Shankar has also won India’s highest civilian award ‘Bharat Ratna’ in 1999. He is a true legend in by every yardstick.

 

AR Rahman

If there is one music personality that has given new voice and direction to Indian music then it is no other than A R Rahman. A winner of Oscar awards, he has truly made India proud. Mr. Rahman did what no other Indian musicians could achieve. Now, his is a name to reckon with on international music arena. Born on 6 January 1967, A R Rahman completely changed the landscape of Indian music. He not only changed the style but also brought never heard before freshness in film music. He is in the industry for just over one decade and he has managed to sell no less than one hundred million records world-wide and more than two hundred million cassettes. If that is not sign of popularity and charisma then what else could be?

He was born as A.S.Dileep Kumar in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He later on converted to Islam and got rechristened as Allah Rakha Rahman, or better known as AR Rahman. His is a kind of music that encompasses every genre and instrument. A truly versatile personality, Mr. Rahman uses styles as eclectic as reggae, folk, soft rock, classical, jazz and several other styles. No wonder, people call him Mozart of Madras.

A R rahman first shot into limelight with music of Roja. We all know how soulful soundtracks of Roja are! Since then, there was no looking back. He kept climbing ladders of success and kept surpassing his own excellence. He has given us wonderful Hindi Movie songs like Dil Se, Bombay, Rang De Basanti, Taal, Rangeela, Jodha Akbar, Lagaan and Dilli 6 among others.

 

Talat Mahmood

Indian music industry has produced many great singers. One of the legends of the golden era was Talat Mahmood. Born on Feb 24, 1924 in Lucknow, he belonged to a middle class family. Like several other great artists, he showed inclination for music at an early age. He would enjoy listening to all night music and shero-shayari occasions. Talat Mahmood was also inclined towards listening to great classical singers of the era. He took his first official plunge in the world of music when he joined Music College.

 Talat Mahmood was primarily a ghazal singer. H started by singing ghazals of Jigar, Daag, Mir at a relatively young age of 16. He had a very unique voice and that fetched him his first big offer from HMV. That turned out to be the beginning of the great jouney by one of the greatest ghazal singers of India. His fist big hit was ” tasveer teri dil mera behla na sakegi ” in the year 1941. There was no looking back after the huge success of this album. Talat Mahmood sang numerous songs in Hindi, Urdu and Bengali. Apart from that he also acted in 3 movies.

 Talat Mahmod was also credited to make filmy ghazal popular. He in fact, redefined the way ghazals were perceived by the people. Soon he became the favorite singer of great music composers like Anil Biswas. He was a master of intonation and diction. His vice had an unparalleled sweetness, emotional nuances and pathos. A proud owner of a different voice, Talat Mahmood was known as King of Ghazals. He gave numerous hits apart from acting in few hit movies.

 

Hemant Kumar – Making of A Legend

As they say, true talent can not be suppressed for long. Sooner or later success is bound to come your way. Famous music composer Salil Chowdhury recognized talent of Hemant Kumar and teamed up with him and churned out one hit after another in Bengali film industry. They gave rise to a new form of music that was known as Kvya-geeti. This form had ballad at its core but they refrained from limiting this form to romantic songs. Soon Hemant Kumar started getting multiple offers from bollywood and that was the beginning of his fruitful association with Hindi film industry.

 

He sang numerous wonderful songs in movies like Anarkali, Baat Ek Raat Ki, Jaal, Anupama, Nagin, Khamoshi and Bees Saal Baad etc. All his songs proved to be major hits. He also formed a glorious association with famous actor Dev Anand and together they gave several melodious hits. He showed another side of his huge talent when he started composing music as well. Equally adept at composing and singing, he received his first Filmfare award for Best Music Director in 1955 for movie Nagin.

 

He gave several hits in Bengali music as well. He is said to be one of the best exponents of rabindrasangeet. He gave innumerable hits in both Hindi as well as Bengali film industry. He composed music for more than 50 Hindi movies and 150 Bengali movies. A truly talented singer, he sang more than 2000 songs. Hemant Kumar also experimented with film direction. His contribution to the film music will always be remembered and cherished.