Pankaj Udhas obit: 'Chitthi Aayi Hai' ghazal singer whose soulful renditions made him a household name

A young 20-something Pankaj realised that he was up against “huge competition”. Unable to find his foothold in the Hindi film industry, though his elder brother, singer Manhar Udhas had carved a name for himself, he even went off to Canada for a while.

However, he returned to India after he decided to focus on singing ghazals. Till 1979, Pankaj continued to struggle to get noticed. It was only after he released his first album, Aahat, in 1980, and later Mukarrar and Nayaab, that he became famous. He reflected once in an interview, “I think my style of singing matured, and my popularity really began to rise.”

Bollywood knocked at his doors this time. He got a chance to sing a song, Mitwa re Mitwa, for the film Jawab, which was popular. But that was nothing compared to what was to follow.

Around that time, the veteran actor Rajendra Kumar was making a film, Naam (1986), a saga about two brothers with his son Kumar Gaurav (who never made it as an actor) and Sanjay Dutt. The story revolved around one brother Sanjay Dutt who goes to Hong Kong for a job but ends up in trouble and is forced to become a smuggler in a foreign land. Rajendra Kumar wanted a singer for their song written by Anand Bakshi and composed by Laxmikant-Pyarelal. The number “Chitthi Aayee Hai” was even picturized on Pankaj, who looked decidedly uneasy and awkward. Pankaj had initially found the idea of appearing before the camera daunting but gave in when Rajendra Kumar told him he did not have to act but just sing.

Chitthi aayee hai

Chitthi Aayee hai, or a letter from the homeland, hit the right chords in the hearts of Indians. They loved it, as the melancholic song spoke of the ache and loneliness of the families of immigrants who get left behind. It is a plaintive cry for loved ones who live on foreign shores, who they feel have broken the "connection of blood" and left them behind with "tears in their eyes". Pankaj gave it all he had and sang it with a lot of heartfelt emotion in his melodic voice. He has admitted that it was the most patriotic song he had sung.

Though, Pankaj’s albums like Nayaab and Aafreen, which sold more copies than his film music and went on to become big hits, the singer always accepted the fact that his popularity reached its peak with Chitthi Aayee Hai.

“I think my appearance in that song took it to another level. Chitthi Aayee Hai took me across the world,” he has said often. When Rajendra Kumar first played this song to his friend the legendary director Raj Kapoor, the latter was moved to tears. While Naam director Mahesh Bhatt said that Pankaj's voice managed to convey the longing and nostalgia for one's homeland in this iconic number.

In 1990, he sang the melodious duet Mahiya Teri Kasam with Lata Mangeshkar for the movie Ghayal and this song too hit the top of the charts.

In 1994, Pankaj sang the notable song, Na Kajre Ki Dhar, from the film Mohra along with Sadhana Sargam, which also became very popular.

Another memorable ghazal of his is 'Chandi Jaisa Rang Hai Tera' for a flop film, 'Ek hi Maqsad'. He continued working as a playback singer and though he got many offers he stuck to his genre of ghazals. So, his film repertoire is not extensive and he is known for his songs in Ghayal (1990), Saajan (1991), Yeh Dillagi (1994), Phir Teri Kahani Yaad Aayee (1993) and Mohra (1994).

Earlier days

Born in May 1951, Pankaj hailed from Charkhadi, a little town near Rajkot, in Gujarat, and belonged to a family of zamindars. The story goes that he was drawn to music and coaxed his elder brother Manhar Udhas’s Urdu teacher to teach him the language. And that’s how the he was introduced to the ghazal and such poets as Mir Taqi Mir, Omar Khayyam and Mirza Ghalib.

Seeing his interest in music, his father sent him to Sangeet Academy in Rajkot, which used to teach music. Initially, he enrolled himself in a tabla course fascinated by the instrument. But later on, he started learning Hindustani vocal classical music from Ghulam Qadir Khan Sahab in Rajkot and Master Navrang Nagpurkar, a very famous singer from the Gwalior Gharana.

Soulful Ghazals

Pankaj's’s soulful ghazals captivated and enthralled audiences for over four decades. His ghazals talk of intoxication, love and wine. 'Sharab' (wine) most believe is the main strand in most of his ghazals, a view that he passionately refuted time and again. He felt he was being misinterpreted and pointed out that of the thousands of ghazals that he had sung, only about 25 are on the subject of sharab.

“But unfortunately, those were the ones the music companies chose for the compilations. It was a bad marketing ploy. When I recorded them, I never thought this would happen," he had confessed.

His biggest successful album was Afreen, which was awarded the Triple Platinum status. There was also "Mukarar", "Shamkhana", "Mehek"and "Paimana" (to name a few) with had some soul-stirring ghazals, which also showcased his calming and soothing voice.

Pankaj Udhas was widely recognised for popularising a distinctive singing style that involves setting Urdu poetry to music. He played a crucial role, alongside fellow musicians such as Jagjit Singh and Talat Aziz, in introducing this art form to a widespread audience throughout the country.

For singer Anup Jalota, it was the trio of Pankaj (Udhas), Talat (Aziz), and him that did many concerts together and made ghazals famous. Jalota said on the demise of his good friend, "He took ghazal to every household and made a place for himself in people's hearts. It was a great contribution and can never be forgotten."

A huge fan of Lata Mangeshkar and Mehdi Hasan, he also admired Jagjit Singh for bringing his own revolution to the ghazal form.

In Pankaj's view, ghazals, however, basically did not change with time. To him, ghazals is the kind of musical genre where you can take a certain amount of liberty with everything, but you can’t go over the top. It remains very much within a set of traditional boundaries, and the presentation, the singing style will all remain within this domain, he felt. And, that is how he ruled over it and sang his way into the hearts of millions.