Udit Narayan Jha
(उदित नारायण झा), popularly known as Udit Narayan is a playback singer in the Hindi, Tamil and Nepali cinema. He was born in a village called Bharadah in Saptari, Nepal.
CareerUdit Narayan began his career by singing Maithili, Bhojpuri and Nepali folk songs for Radio Nepal in the early 1970s. In 1978, he moved to Mumbai on a music scholarship. In Mumbai, he trained in Indian classical music for six years at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.
He got his first break in 1980, when noted music director (composer) Rajesh Roshan asked him to do a song for the Hindi movie Unees Bees, in which he got opportunity to sing with his inspiration, Mohammed Rafi. But the actual success story of his career began in 1988 with the superhit Bollywood movie Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, fetching him a Filmfare Award, the Bollywood equivalent of the Oscar. The film also happened to bring actor Aamir Khan, actress Juhi Chawla and singer Alka Yagnik to stardom. After the success of Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, he became one of the leading playback singers in the Indian film industry, lending his voice mostly in Aamir Khan movies like Dil, Jo Jeeta Wohi Shikander, etc. At the same time, he became a well-known celebrity in Nepal and sang in most popular Nepali movies. He even acted in some Nepali movies like Kusume Rumal and Pirati but didn't get that much success.
Throughout the mid-1990s, he was overshadowed by Kumar Sanu, another superstar Indian singer. He got nominated for Filmfare Awards every year from 1992 to 1995, only to go home empty-handed. While Kumar Sanu won the Filmfare Awards for favorite male playback singer for five consecutive years from 1990 to 1994. The turning point of his career came with the movie Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge. Even though Kumar Sanu had sung the superhit song "Tujhe Dekha To" in the same movie, it was Udit's song "Mehndi Lagake Rakhna" which won all the accolades including the Filmfare award for best male playback singer. So, finally he got his second filmfare award after 8 years. And the following year (1996) he got nominated for three songs out of five and won his third award for the song "Pardesi Pardesi" from Raja Hindustani.
He reigned the throne of Bollywood playback singing for the next 10 years and won other major awards. He was the number one pick of all the hit musicians like Anu Malik, Jatin Lalit, A. R. Rahman, Nadeem-Shravan, Rajesh Roshan, Shankar Mahadevan, etc., and all the hit directors like Yash Chopra, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Karan Johar, etc. His collaboration was mostly popular with king Khan Shahrukh Khan, for whom he has sung major hits for superhit movies movies like Darr, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Dil To Pagal Hai, Mohabbatein, Swades, Veer Zaara, etc.
Udit Narayan is considered as one of the greatest singers of his generation along with Kumar Sanu and Sonu Nigam, whose singing abilities are often compared with legendary singers like Mohammed Rafi and Kishore Kumar. He is famous for his original voice and not following any of the old singers' clans. Renowned singers like Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Anup Jalota, Pankaj Udhas, etc., have mentioned Udit Narayan to be the best in his generation for his quality in voice and originality.
He has also sung several songs in Kannada, Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Gujarati, Oriya, Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam, where he has become popular on account of his distinctive accent. At the same time, his discernible Nepali accent and distinct pronunciation has many critics who find it difficult to decipher words in his songs.
He also sings in many Nepali films, which are ultra-low-budget take-offs on the Bollywood style, in particular for composer Shambhujeet Baskota. In 2004, he released his first private Nepali album "Upahaar", in which he also sang duet songs with his wife Deepa Jha. It became a superhit and one of the best selling albums of all time. He even ended up winning awards in two major categories - Record of the year and Album of the year during Hits FM Awards 2004, the most popular music awards in Nepal for the same album "Upahaar".
His voice suits the actors Shahrukh Khan, Aamir Khan and Salman Khan perfectly and throughout the years he has sung hit songs for these actors. Udit last lent his voice to Shahrukh Khan in "Don - The Chase Begins Again (2006)" for the song "Khaike Paan Banaraswala" which was a superhit.
Sonu Nigam is replaced by Udit Narayan as a judge for the third season of the Pop Idol series - Indian Idol.
Personal life
Udit Narayan is married and has one son. His wife Deepa Narayan, whom he married in 1985, is an accomplished Nepali singer, and the two have recorded an album together titled Dil Deewana.
On April 21, Ranjana Jha, a resident of Supual district in Bihar, created a flutter by claiming to be the singer's first wife, a charge that Narayan consistently denied. She staged a sit-in at Udit's suite in a posh hotel during his visit and the singer had to be whisked away by the police to the airport.
On the basis of the "photographs and statements" of people who claimed to have attended the "marriage" in 1984, the women's commission had prima facie found Ranjana's claim to be true and sought the singer's version on the claim and also a clarification about his relations with Deepa.
Later, Narayan accepted Jha as his wife in a written statement to the commission. 'I recognise and accept Ranjana Jha as my wife and promise to look after her and to provide her maintenance,' he told the commission.
Prior to his assurance, Narayan had denied Ranjana's claim and repeatedly told the media that he did not know 'any Ranjana', and had never married her. He alleged it was a conspiracy to defame him. But Public and media were not ready to be convinced with his statements. Many photos of his marriage with Ranjana have been published by newspapers.
His son Aditya Narayan (from Deepa Narayan) has also established himself as the voice of child artists in Hindi movies and acted as child artist in hit movies like Pardes, Rangeela, and Jab Pyar Kisise Hota Hai. His role as a son of actor Salman Khan in the movie Jab Pyar Kisise Hota Hai was widely acclaimed. However, Aditya Narayan has grown up and had taken a break from Bollywood since 2001, on account of his changing voice. He's now back on the scene and is currently hosting Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2007.
Some Hit songs by Udit Narayan
Awards and nominationsNational Film Award (Silver Lotus Award) for Best Male Playback Singer:
Filmfare Awards for Best Male Playback Singer (Won)
Filmfare Awards for Best Male Playback Singer (Nominated)
- 1993 Phoolon Sa Chehra Tera Anari
- 1994 Tu Cheez Badi Hai Mohra]
Star Screen Award Best Male Playback:
Zee Cine Awards Best Playback Male Singer
IIFA Award for Best Male Playback
Other awards:
- Hits FM Music Awards 2004(Nepal)- Record of the Year for the song "Kahile Timro" and Album of the Year for the album "Upahaar"
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Last update: 05/05/22 01:42:42
Location: AFRICA: Algeria
Biography