Udit Narayan

Udit Narayan
Udit Narayan in 2017
Born
Udit Narayan Jha

(1955-12-01) 1 December 1955 (age 68)
Baisi, Supaul district, Bihar, India
NationalityIndian
Alma materRatna Rajya Laxmi Campus, Tribhuvan University
OccupationPlayback singer
Years active1980–present
Spouses
  • Ranjana Jha (m. 1984; sep.)[1]
  • Deepa Gahatraj
    ​
    (m. 1985)​
    [1]
ChildrenAditya Narayan[2]
RelativesShweta Agarwal (daughter-in-law)
Awards
Honours
Musical career
Genres
InstrumentVocals
Labels

Udit Narayan Jha (born 1 December 1955) is an Indian playback singer[3] whose songs have been featured mainly in Hindi films. He has also sung in various other languages including Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, Bengali, Sindhi, Odia, Bhojpuri, Nepali, Malayalam, Assamese, Bagheli and Maithili.[4] He has won four National Film Awards[5] and five Filmfare Awards with twenty nominations among many others. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri in 2009[6] and the Padma Bhushan in 2016 for his contribution towards arts and culture.[7] As many as 21 of his tracks feature in BBC's "Top 40 Bollywood Soundtracks of all time".[8]

He got to sing with Mohammed Rafi in his Hindi playback debut in Unees-Bees in 1980 and also with Kishore Kumar in the 1980s. He finally made his mark in the 1988 film Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak starring Aamir Khan and Juhi Chawla, his song "Papa Kehte Hain" was his notable performance which earned him his first Filmfare Award in the 1980s and he established himself in Bollywood Playback Singing. The soundtrack became one of the highest selling albums in the 1980s. The soundtrack was a breakthrough for the careers of Anand–Milind,[9] as well as T-Series, one of India's leading record labels.[10] after which he was one of the favourites of music directors. In the 1990s he sung for a thousands of songs including Hindi and Nepali languages.

Recognising his contribution, the King of Nepal Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev honoured him with the Order of Gorkha Dakshina Bahu in 2001 after his contribution to Indian cinema and music, and Chitragupta Cineyatra Samman 2015 for his contribution towards Bhojpuri cinema.[11] He is the only male singer in the history of the Filmfare Awards to have won in over three decades (the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s).[12]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference firstwifecaseref1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference uditson was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "List of Odia songs by Udit Narayan". Gaana.
  4. ^ "Udit Narayan - Chunri Lyrics | Lyrics.com". www.lyrics.com. Retrieved 25 March 2024.
  5. ^ "Udit Narayan National award". Filmibeat.com. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  6. ^ "Seven years after Padma Shree, Udit Narayan honoured with Padma Bhushan". Radioandmusic.com. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  7. ^ "Padma Awards" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  8. ^ "Top 40 Soundtracks of All Time". BBC Asian Network. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  9. ^ "India Today". India Today. 18. Living Media: 52. 1993. Anand–Milind did six films before hitting the jackpot with Qayamat se Qayamat Tak in 1988.
  10. ^ Booth, Gregory D. (2008). Behind the Curtain: Making Music in Mumbai's Film Studios. Oxford University Press. p. 80. ISBN 9780199716654.
  11. ^ "Udit Narayan to receive India's Padma Bhushan". Kathmandu Post. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
  12. ^ "Udit Narayan: Latest News, Videos and Udit Narayan Photos". The Times of India. Retrieved 26 October 2018.