As the nation mourns his demise, here's a look at life and times of the iconic singer
It's the end of an era as iconic singer Pankaj Udhas dies. The singer who ruled the charts in the 1980s and 1990s breathed his last on Monday. He was suffering from a prolonged illness. As the nation mourns his demise, here's a look at life and times of the iconic singer.
Born in Gujarat, Pankaj Udhas was exposed to music from an early stage. The youngest of the three brothers, Pankaj has exposed to the string instrument dilruba thanks to his father Keshubhai Udhas- a givernment servant who had knack for music.
Pankaj's elder brothers- Mnhar Udhas and Nirmal Udhas - were also well-known singers but none attained the stardom that Pankaj did in his lifetime.
Udhas initially enrolled himself to learn the tabla but later began learning Hindustani vocal classical music from Ghulam Qadir Khan Sahab. Udhas then moved to Mumbai with his family in later years, where he graduated from the prestigious St Xavier's College. He also trained under the tutelage of Navrang Nagpurkar, a singer from the Gwalior Gharana.
He started accompanying his singer-brother Manhar Udhas for various concerts. Pankaj started singing at concerts where Manhar took the centre stage. His first stage performance was during the Sino-Indian War, when he sang 'Aye Mere Watan Ke Logo' and was given Rs. 51 by a member of the audience as a reward.
Udhas first sang in a film called Kamna- a solo song composed by Usha Khanna and written by Naqsh Lyallpuri. While the film was a flop, his rendition was very much appreciated. Subsequently, Udhas developed an interest in ghazals and learned Urdu to try to pursue a career as a ghazal singer.