Legendary Ghazal and playback singer Pankaj Udhas passes away

Ghazal and playback singer Pankaj Udhas passed away after a prolonged illness on Monday. He was 72.

His daughter Nayab Udhas took to Instagram on Monday to make the announcement. In a post, she stated, “With a very heavy heart, we are saddened to inform of the sad demise of Padmashri Pankaj Udhas on 26th February 2024 due to prolonged illness.”

Udhas was born in Gujarat’s Jetpur. The youngest of three brothers, his elder brother Manhar Das is also a playback singer in Hindi films, while the second one Nirmal Udhas is also into Ghazal singing. Udhas’s father Keshubhai Udhas, was a government servant and had met the renowned veena player, Abdul Karim Khan, who taught him to play a stringed instrument called the Dilruba. When Udhas was a child, his father would play the instrument. Seeing his and his brother's interest in music, his father enrolled them at the Sangeet Academy in Gujarat’s Rajkot from where their family hailed. Udhas initially enrolled himself to learn the tabla but later began learning Hindustani vocal classical music from Ghulam Qadir Khan Sahab. He then moved to Mumbai to train under the tutelage of Navrang Nagpurkar, a singer from the Gwalior Gharana.

Udhas started his career with a Ghazal album titled Aahat (1980) followed by Mukarar in 1981, Tarrannum in 1982, Mehfil in 1983, Pankaj Udhas Live at Royal Albert Hall in 1984, Nayaab in 1985 and Aafreen in 1986. He got his first film album as a solo singer with Mahesh Bhatt’s Naam (1986), for which he sang the song ‘Chitthi Aayi Hai’ and rose to instant fame. He is also known for film songs like ‘Chandi Jaisa Rang Hai’ (from the 1988 Om Puri starrer Ek Hi Maqsad), ‘Gaa Mere Sang Pyar Ka Geet Naya   ‘, from 1988’s Gunahon Ka Faisla which he sang with Lata Mangeshkar, ‘Aaj Phir Tumpe’ (with Anuradha Paudwal) from Dayavan (1988), ‘Maahiya Teri Kasam’ from Sunny Deol’s Ghayal (1990), among others.

The singer also made some on-screen appearances in films such as He continued working as a playback singer, making some on-screen appearances in films such as Saajan, Yeh Dillagi (1994), Naam and Phir Teri Kahaani Yaad Aayee (1993). Udhas was also the recipient of India's fourth-highest civilian award, the Padma Shri.