Ghazal singer Pankaj Udhas passes away at 72
Entertainment
His career is a testament to the pervasive appeal of ghazal
(Web Desk) - Acclaimed playback singer and ghazal maestro Pankaj Udhas (72) passed away after a prolonged illness, a close associate said on Monday.
Udhas was suffering from cancer and was undergoing treatment at a private hospital for some time.
The Gujarat-born singer was awarded the Padma Shri in 2006, and is known for rendering many hit songs in Bollywood in Hindi and other languages.
His career is a testament to the pervasive appeal of ghazal. For Pankaj Udhas, among the foremost who brought the perceived elitist genre of music into the popular sphere, hailed well beyond its prime catchment area, but mastered the form with dedication and performed it with panache.
Pankaj Udhas, who passed away on Monday aged 72, is usually – and erroneously – seen as a purveyor of the ghazal’s “maikhana” tradition.
This is chiefly due to his famous renditions of “Mujhko yaaron muaaf karna, main nashe mein hoon”, “Thodi thodi piya karo”,”Sharab cheez hi aisi”, “Ek taraf us ka ghai ek taraf maikada”, “Sabko maloom hai main sharabi nahi” and several other vintage melodies, but there was more range to his velvet-rounded voice.
Recall the ebullient “Chandi jaisa rang hain tera”, the pensive “Kabhi saaya hai kabhi dhoop” or “Aap jinke kareeb hote hai”, the lightly mournful “Deewaron se milkar rona acha lagta hai”, “Niklo na benaqaab”, and “Aaiye baarishon ka mausam hain”.
And there is the especially heart-tugging “Chitthi aai hai” from Mahesh Bhatt’s “Naam” (1986) where he appeared onscreen himself – and made himself one of the most identifiable ghazal singers.
Born in Gujarat’s Jetpur (Rajkot) in May 1951 in a landed family as the youngest of three brothers, Pankaj Udhas was no stranger to music.
Not only had his eldest brother Manhar Udhas become a moderately successful Hindi film playback singer, the second, Nirmal Udhas, was also a well-known ghazal singer, and in fact, was the first of them to start singing in the family.
In fact, their father Keshubhai Udhas, a government servant, had once met renowned veena player Abdul Karim Khan, who taught him to play the dilruba.
Pankaj Udhas initially wanted to play the tabla, but then plumped for learning Hindustani classical vocal from Ustaad Ghulam Qadir Khan, and then moved to Mumbai to train under Gwalior Gharana’s Navrang Nagpurkar. Subsequently, he did his B.Sc from the Wilson College in Mumbai.
Like many others, he had his sights set on Bollywood, but confessed later to having a “love-hate relationship” with the industry. He sang the first song for the film “Kamna” (1971), composed by Usha Khanna and written by Naqsh Lyallpur. While the film flopped, the song became very popular.
