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No image-managed guise, conceit, pretence or airs. Just a whole lot of talent and a musical repertoire carefully shaped over the years – that’s Udit Narayan, the humblest yet the most gifted singer in the Hindi music industry.

Like all success stories go, Udit Narayan has a past of sheer toil and hard work preceding him. Born in a small Nepal-India border town to a farmer father and singer mother, he triggered different hopes and expectations in his parents. While his father willed him to study and choose a steady vocation, his mother believed that singing was what he was cut out for.

Udit’s own aspirations were obviously music-inclined, and soon after passing out of school, he joined the Kathmandu radio station as a folk singer and sang in the Mythali language as well as in Nepalese. But all along, the urge to belong out there in tinsel town was strong.

After about 10 years as a singer with Kathmandu radio, in 1978, he received a scholarship in music from the Indian embassy. And that’s what triggered his real journey of perseverance and toil. He moved to Bombay and trained in classical music at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan for close to eight years.

And all along, he approached music directors in the hope of finding the right prospects. His first break came when music director Rajesh Roshan offered him a small assignment in the film Unnees Bees, where he was to sing with the legendary Mohammed Rafi, his childhood icon. Udit also sang for R D Burman in the film Bade Dilwala, but the the assignments being rather small, his work went unnoticed.

Remains the question of his first-big-break. It came when the now established, then struggling Anand-Milind recommended Udit Narayan’s name to filmmaker Mansoor Khan who was on the look out for a fresh voice to suit debutant Aamir Khan in the film Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak. Udit seemed like the ideal choice and was signed up. The film went on to become a blockbuster and with it the Udit Narayan had arrived. And like they say, there has been no looking back.

He continues to record for the most sought after of music directors and with his original and versatile voice delivers a remarkable hit eight out of ten times. With scores of hits, awards and a very rewarding career behind him, Udit can now sit back and watch the progress of his budding singer-son, Aditya Narayan.

Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s Mission Kashmir, due to hit screens later this month features two mellow duets, Chupke se sun and Socho ke jheelon ka, in the voices of Udit Narayan and Alka Yagnik. A rollicking Udit is back in 2001 with such hits as Chori Chori Chupke Chupke, Kasoor and One 2 Ka 4. With strings of chartbusters up his sleeve, it remains to be seen whether the singer weaves his magic this time round as well.

This blog was published on Monday, January 30th, 2006 at 6:48 am and Last modified on Saturday, January 28th, 2006 at 8:53 pm and is filed under Meri Awaaz Suno. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.