“Chitthi aayi hai aayi hai, chitthi aayi hai, Chitthi hai, watan se chitthi aayi hai” we are sure the lyrics must be familiar to most of our readers, and if not then let us tell you these are the lyrics written by a famous Indian Ghazal singer Pankaj Udhas. He has been a very popular name in the Indian music industry who rose to fame after he sang the song, “Chitthi aayi hai” in the film “Naam”. However the music industry lost a gem as Pankaj Udhas passed away on 26th February 2024. This article is a way of paying tribute to the famous Ghazal singer. In this article we shall try to bring to our readers all the information available about Pankaj Udhas.
Everything about the famous ghazal singer Pankaj Udhas
Early life and Education :
Pankaj Udhas the youngest among three brothers was the son of Keshu Bhai Udhas and Jeetu Ben Udhas. Both of his brothers are famous ghazal singers and his father used to play the instrument Dilruba which increased Pankaj’s interest in the field of music.
Pankaj received his education from ‘Sir BPTI Bhavnagar and St xaviers College Mumbai.’ Seeing his increasing interest in music his father got him enrolled in the music academy of Rajkot where he earlier used to learn tabla, however, later he was learning Hindustani vocal classical music from Ghulam Qadir Khan sahab.
Career :
Pankaj got in contact with music because his elder brother Manhar was a theatre actor. His first stage performance was the song “Aye Mere Watan Ke Logon” during the Indo China war. Later in 1972 udhas lent his voice for the first time in an unsuccessful movie called Kamna. At the same time he developed keen interest in ghazals and just to pursue his career as a Ghazal singer he also learnt Urdu. His first Ghazal album was called “Aahat” which was released in 1980. By 2009 he had received enough success and released almost 40 albums. He has made appearances in several other Bollywood films such as Sajan, Yeh Dillagi etc.
Awards :
Being a famous Ghazal singer in India Udhas has received several awards some of which are as belows :
1.) Padmashree award in 2006 for completing silver jubilee in the career of ghazal singing.
2.) His ghazal album Hazrat was entitled with the prestigious kalakar award in Kolkata as the best ghazal album of 2005.
3.) In 2002 the Sahyog foundation of Mumbai awarded him for his excellence in the field of music.
4.) In 2003 the Dadabhai Naoroji International Society awarded him Dadabhai Naoroji Millennium Award for his contribution in the ghazal and music industry.
5.) In 2002 he was also awarded by the Indo American Chamber of Commerce.
Shri Pankaj Udhas Charan has received many other awards in national and international levels for his outstanding contribution in the field of Bollywood music and ghazals. His songs and ghazals continue to touch the heart of many people even today.
Albums :
Sum of the famous albums of Pankaj Udhas include Aahat, Tarannum, Shagufta, Memory, Rubai, Bholabasha and many more.
*It is to be noticed that he did not only produce albums in Hindi but in several different languages such as English, Bengali, Punjabi and Gujarati.*
Final Words :
In this article we have tried to bring together all the information about Pankaj Udhas Charan who was born on 17th may 1951 and died on 26 February 2024 due to cancer. He has been a prominent personality in the music industry and his death has been a huge loss for all of us. His songs and ghazals still continue to be favourites of many of the people. If they are also your or your friends’ and family’s favourite then do share this article with them to let them know all about him.