K. J. Yesdas

Kattassery Joseph Yesudas (born January 10, 1940) is an Indian Carnatic musician and filmi playback singer.

Yesudas sings Indian classical, devotional and cinematic songs . He has recorded more than 60,000 songs[not in citation given] in many languages including Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi, Kannada, Telugu, Bengali, Gujarati, Oriya, Marathi, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Tulu, Malay, Russian, Arabic, Latin and English during a career spanning more than five decades. He has performed in most Indian languages except Assamese, Konkani and Kashmiri. He also composed a number of Malayalam film songs in the 1970s and 1980s. Yesudas is fondly called Gana Gandharvan (The Celestial Singer).

Yesudas has won the National Award for the Best Male Playback Singer seven times (the most by any Indian singer), 5 Filmfare Awards and the State Award for the Best Playback Singer 43 times, which consists of awards by the state governments of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and West Bengal.

 He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1975 and the Padma Bhushan in 2002 by the Government of India for his contributions towards the arts. In 2011 Yesudas was honoured with the CNN-IBN outstanding achievement award having recorded over 20,000 songs in a five-decade career. In 2006, he sang 16 film songs in four South Indian languages on the same day at AVM Studio, Chennai.

Contents

    1 Early life and background
    2 Playback singing career
        2.1 Debut and early career: 1960s
        2.2 Bollywood entry: 1970s
    3 Prominence over the world
    4 Personal life
        4.1 Role models
        4.2 Spiritualism
    5 Music company
    6 Notable facts
    7 Awards and honours
    8 Controversies
        8.1 Controversial remarks on women and jeans
    9 Filmography
        9.1 As actor
    10 Discography
    11 See also
    12 References
    13 External links

Early life and background

K. J. Yesudas was born in Fort Kochi, in the erstwhile Kingdom of Cochin, in a Roman Catholic Latin Rite family to late Augustine Joseph and late Alicekutty. His father, who was a well-known Malayalam classical musician and stage actor, was his first guru. He started his academic music training at R.L.V. Music Academy, Thrippunithura. Later he studied at Swathi Thirunal College of Music, Thiruvananthapuram under the tutelage of the carnatic music maestro late Sh. K.R.Kumaraswamy Iyer and the late Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer but could not complete his studies due to financial constraints. For a brief period, he was with Sri Vechur Harihara Subramania Iyer, after which he took advanced training from Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar. In 2011 he completed his 50 years as a playback singer.

Completed the Ganabooshanam course at R.L.V. Music Academy, Thripunithura, Cochin Studied at Sree Swathithirunal Music Academy, Trivandrum under the tutelage of the carnatic music maestro late Sh. K.R.Kumaraswamy Iyer Trained under K. R. Kumaraswamy Iyer (former principal of the Music College, Kochi), Thripunithura Shri K.C Kalyanasundaram Master, Kunjuvelan Aasan (a disciple of Nadaswara Vidwan Rajaratnam Pillai), Augustine Joseph (his father), V. Dakshinamoorthy, Ramankutti Bagavathar, Sivaraman Nayar, Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer and Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar.

Playback singing career

Debut and early career: 1960s

The first song sung by Yesudas is Jaathi Bhedam Matha Dwesham (music: M B Sreenivasan) on 14 November 1961, which he usually sings on all the special occasions in front of the audience. But the first film song was 'Attention Penne Attention', which he sang with Santha P. Nair, a veteran singer of that time. Yesudas began his career in playback singing in the Malayalam movie Kaalpadukal (1962) and Tamil, Telugu and Kannada movies in the early 1960s.

He got the first break in his music career with the hit Malayalam film named Bharya ( music by G. Devarajan and lyrics by Vayalar Ramavarma). In 1967, he sang hit songs in the composition of M.S.Baburaj for the film Udhyogastha directed by P.Venu. He sang in Tamil for Bommai first (music: S. Balachander), but the first released movie was Konjum Kumari (music: Veda).

The trio of Salil, Yesudas and Prem Nazir (the evergreen hero of Malayalam Cinema) took the Malayalam Cinema Industry of the 1970s by storm. It was generally agreed that Yesudas's voice was the most suited one for Prem Nazir.

In 1970 he was nominated to head the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Academy and was the youngest person ever to occupy the post.

Dr K J Yesudas in 1991 (More than 60,000 -still singing).Statistics say he has sung in all 22 Indian languages except Assamese and Kashmiri. He has also sung in other languages like Sanskrit, Malaysian, Russian, Arabic, Latin and English. 7 national awards for best singer - All India Record.43 state awards from all over India (23-kerala,8-Tamil Nadu,6-Andhra Pradesh,5-Karnataka,1-West Bengal) - All India Record.

On 9 December 1971, Yesudas missed a flight which later crashed on the way to Madurai. A Hawker Siddeley HS 748 near Chinnamanur was descending into Madurai in reduced visibility. It flew into high terrain about 50 mi (80 km) from the airport, killing the four crew members and 17 passengers.

Bollywood entry: 1970s

By the 1970s Yesudas entered Bollywood. The first Hindi song he sang was for the movie Jai Jawan Jai Kissan (1971), but the first released movie was Chhoti Si Baat. He has sung Hindi songs for many leading actors in Hindi cinema including Amitabh Bachchan, Amol Palekar and Jeetendra. He has sung many evergreen Hindi film songs for music directors including Ravindra Jain, Bappi Lahiri, Khayyam, Rajkamal and Salil Chowdhury.

Yesudas's most popular Hindi songs are in the 1976 movie Chitchor, with music given by Ravindra Jain. The greatest tribute to Yesudas was paid by Ravindra Jain, in an interview wherein the blind music director confessed that if ever he happened to regain vision, the first person he would like to see would be Yesudas.

Prominence over the world

Yesudas has performed in many major cities around the world. In 1965, he was invited by the Soviet Union government to perform at music concerts in various cities in the USSR and also sang a Russian song over Radio Kazakhstan. Yesudas became one of the senate members in the International Parliament for Safety and Peace.

On 14 November 1999, Yesudas was presented with an honorary award by UNESCO for "Outstanding Achievements in Music and Peace" at the "Music for Peace" event in Paris.a concert held to mark the dawn of the new millennium and whose attendees included artistes such as Lionel Richie, Ray Charles, Montserrat Caballé, and Zubin Mehta.

In 1971, during the Indo-Pakistani War, Yesudas travelled all around Kerala with his musical troupe to raise funds for the Indian prime minister's National Defense Fund.

In 2001 he sang for album Ahimsa in Sanskrit, Latin and English and in a mix of styles including new-age and Carnatic. In his music concerts in the Middle East he sings Arabic songs in the Carnatic style. He frequently serves as a cultural ambassador for India through his performances abroad, promoting Indian music.

In 2009 Yesudas began a cross-country musical campaign against terrorism in Thiruvananthapuram, with the motto 'Music For Peace'. Kavita Karkare, wife of Hemant Karkare, handed over the torch to Yesudas to mark the launch of the 'Shanthi Sangeetha Yatra'.

Personal life

Yesudas is married to Prabha. They have three sons, Vinod, Vijay and Vishal. Their second son Vijay Yesudas is a musician who won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer in 2007 and 2013. The family is currently settled in Chennai and Trivandrum. He also owns estates in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA and Flower Mound, Texas, USA for personal and business reasons.

Role models

Sree Narayana Guru’s great message, One religion and One God for all humanity", influenced young Yesudas in his dealings with his fellow men. He had his own heroes among the musicians too. Mohammed Rafi, Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar and Balamurali Krishna are the ones he admires the most.

Spiritualism

Yesudas has been visiting Kollur Mookambika temple, Kollur, Karnataka on his birthday to sing keerthans of Saraswati devi, the Goddess of knowledge, music and the arts. The music festival started on his 60th birthday. The nine-day music festival begins every January at Kollur Mookambika Temple. On Sunday, 10 January 2010, he celebrated his 70th birthday (Sapthathi) at Kollur Sri Mookambika Temple with 'Sangeetharchana' (classical devotional songs), along with 70 singers before goddess Mookambika. The Sangeetharchana included "Pancharatna Gayana" of Thyagaraja's poems. He also took part in the Vidyarambha function. All India Radio broadcast the special Sangeetharchana all over Kerala. Yesudas also has many songs devoted to Lord Ayyappa including the hit song "Harivarasanam".

Yesudas believes that all religions teach the same lesson - the lesson of love. He actively participates in programmes against religious violence. He once said that he was fortunate to start his singing career singing a sloka which denotes communal harmony and unity. In 2002, during Marad massacare, he visited the place along with the veteran poetess Sugathakumari, and conducted classes against violence. He even practiced that in his own life by fixing marriages of his sons with Hindu women.

Music company

In 1980 Yesudas established the Tharangani Studio at Trivandrum. In 1992 the office and studio were moved to Chennai, Tamil Nadu and the company was incorporated in the US in 1998. Tharangni Studio and Tharangni Records became a recording center in Kerala which, for the first time, brought out audio cassettes of Malayalam film songs in stereo. The record company also had a voice mixing studio in Studio27, Chennai. The studio continues to produce and present events of Yesudas both for film and Indian classical music concerts throughout the world.

Notable facts

Yesudas has the rare feat of performing the classical concert for 36 times in the 36-year-old Soorya Music festival organised by Soorya Krishnamoorthy. This is one among his concerts which is highly followed by serious musical lovers and often rated as the most popular among his concerts in India.

After winning the Kerala State Award for Best Playback singer on numerous occasions, he asked that he be ruled out of contention so as to give his peers and newcomers a chance of winning the award. Despite his request, he was still given this award several times in the following years.

 Harivarasanam, a devotional song musical version composed by G. Devarajan, recited before closing the temple at Sabarimala was sung by Yesudas. Though there have been many different renditions of this song by many different renowned singers, Sabarimala officially uses Yesudas' voice for Harivarasanam every day.

Swaralaya Yesudas award is a prestigious award for music artists in recognition of their outstanding performance. The award is instituted jointly by Swaralaya, an organisation that promotes music and Kairali Channel, based in Trivandrum, Kerala. Awards have been given annually since 2000. Yesudas presents the awards at a Gandharva Sandhya every January.

Awards and honours

Main article: List of titles, honours and major awards received by Yesudas

Yesudas has recorded over 50,000 songs[not in citation given] and has won scores of accolades including the coveted Padma Shri (1975), Padma Bhushan (2002) and seven National Awards for Best Playback Singer. He is the only singer who has been accorded the title Asthana Gayakan (official singer) of Kerala State.

• National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer a record seven times by the Government of India
• Kerala State Film Awards a record 26 times for the best playback singer by the Government of Kerala
• Andhra Pradesh State Film Awards four times for the best playback singer by the Government of Andhra Pradesh
• Karnataka State Film Awards three times for the best playback singer by the Government of Karnataka
• Tamil Nadu State Film Awards five times for the best playback singer by the Government of Tamil Nadu
• West Bengal State Film Awards one time for the best playback singer by the Government of West Bengal
• Sangeetha Kalasikhamani, 2002 by The Indian Fine arts Society, Chennai

Controversies

Controversial remarks on women and jeans

On 2 October 2014, Yesudas sparked a row while speaking at a public function on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanthi. His statement, "Women shouldn't wear jeans and display themselves before people. What is meant to be covered should be covered. Wearing jeans and roaming around attracts unnecessary attention. We must respect cultural doctrines. Women's beauty is in their soberness, they should not become like men," evoked protests from Women's Rights and Political organizations, for being sexist and derogatory to women. There has been an increasing pressure on him to withdraw the statement and apologize, which was marked by #yesudas trending on Twitter in India for infamous reasons.

Filmography

As actor

Year	Film	Stars	Director	Role
1965	Anarkali[36]	Prem Nazir	Kunchacko	Tansen
1965	Kavyamela	Prem Nazir	M. Krishnan Nair	as himself
1966	Kayamkulam Kochunni	Sathyan	P. Bhaskaran	as Khader
1973	Achaani	Prem Nazir	P. Bhaskaran	as singer
1977	Nirakudam	Kamalhassan	A. Bhimsingh	as singer
1977	Harshabashppam	M.G.Soman	K J Yeshu Das	as singer
1981	Pathira Sooryan	Prem Nazir	P K Pillai	as saint
2002	Nandanam	Prithviraj	Ranjith	as himself
2005	Boyy Friend	Manikuttan	Vinayan	as himself

Discography

Main article: K. J. Yesudas discography

See also

•     List of K. J. Yesudas concerts
•     Swaralaya Yesudas Award
•     List of Carnatic singers

External links

• OFFICIAL WEBSITE

Hema Sardesai

Hema Sardesai, also known as simply Hema, is an Indian playback singer, best known for her Hindi songs.
During her career, Sardesai has sung playback songs for over 60 Bollywood films, has released several successful Indipop albums, and has performed numerous live stage shows in almost all the states of India and world tours in different countries around the globe.


Sardesai is the only Indian Singer to win the Grand Prix at the 16th International Pop Song Festival in Germany, and the only female singer other than Lata Mangeshkar to perform at the celebrations for the 50th year of India's Independence day.

Contents

• 1 Career
• 2 Reviews
• 3 Famous songs
• 4 Awards and honors
• 5 International Achievements
• 6 Discography
• 7 External Link

Career

Born in Mumbai, India, Hema Sardesai hails from Goa. She began singing from a very young age and made her stage debut as an eight-year-old at the Navratri Festival. As a child, teachers and friends used to call her Happy Go Lucky Girl and even today she is frequently called so by her colleagues in the Indian music industry.

She started her playback singing career in 1989 and made her debut in the film Goonj, singing for actress Juhi Chawla. Since then she has sung songs for over 60 Hindi films for many popular actresses like Manisha Koirala, Urmila Matondkar, Karisma Kapoor, Raveena Tandon, Tabbu, Kajol, Preity Zinta, Sushmita Sen and Kareena Kapoor, collaborating with some of India's most prominent music directors and composers, including Anand-Milind, Anu Malik, A. R. Rahman, Rajesh Roshan, Nadeem-Shravan, Vishal Bhardwaj and Pritam.

Her first milestone achievement was her winning the Grand Prix at the 16th International Pop Song Festival '89 held in Germany. This gave her an opportunity to express her stage talent and, since then, she has successfully performed on TV and live stage shows in almost all the states of India and numerous world tours to places such as the United States, UK, Germany, Belgium, Spain, the Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji Islands, West Indies, Thailand, Nepal, Indonesia and so on.

On 15 August 1997, Hema performed at the celebrations for the 50th year of India's Independence. She sang one of her own compositions, "Mere Vatan Hindustan" at Vijay Chowk in New Delhi witnessed by an audience of nearly 3 million people. The song was specially composed for the occasion.

Her 1999 album Piya Se Milke Aaye Nain won Hema an award for "The best selling album of the season.

During her years in the Indian film industry, Sardesai was widely praised for her song performances. Her performances for songs such as Awaara Bhavaren (Sapnay, 1997), Sona Sona Ye Na Hona (Soldier, 1998), Sar Sar Hawa Hai (Daman, 2001), Kitne Kisse Hain (Astitva, 2001), Hai Re Hai Re (Khushi, 2003), Sun Suniyo (Musafir, 2004), the title track of the film Asambhav (2005) among many other, were much appreciated and applauded by critics and audiences.

Hema is the only singer who sang playback duets with four superstars: Amitabh Bachchan (Baghban), Naseeruddin Shah (Asambhav), Govinda (Hum Do Hamara Do) and Shahrukh Khan (Josh).

Hema sang several hit songs in Chris Perry's Konkani album Cu Cu Ru Cu. In 2005, she released a Konkani album, Goa Zaai.

Reviews

The Times of India wrote about her once "Hema Sardesai hit an all time high with 'Aawara Bhavaren'. A few albums which did exceedingly well on the charts followed. Hema has always been someone who needs to have her share of fun. She wants to concentrate on being the Indian girl who can get both critical and commercial acclaim. After all with a debut like 'Hindustani Gudiya' you would have expected that.

The Asian Age proclaimed that she is "A playback singer with a difference." Another critic from Record wrote, "One of the most versatile performers and singers in our industry, Hema Sardesai has over the last few years made a mark for herself in the heart of every music lover. She is versatile because she not only sings for films and Indipop, but also renders Indian Classical and Western Pop songs beautifully, besides Folk and Fusion. Her live stints in India and abroad have proved her vocal strength.

Famous songs

This is a list of Hema's Top Hit Playback Songs Sung by Hema, according to her website:

• Ishq Chandi Hai - Biwi No.1
• Jungle Hai Aadhi Raat Hai - Biwi No.1
• Jaanam Samjha Karo - Jaanam Samjha Karo
• Apun Bola - Josh
• Sona Sona Ye Na Hona - Soldier
• Tere Pyaar Mein - Zor
• Mein Kudi Anjaani Ho - Zor
• Awaara Bhavaren - Sapnay
• Hulle Hulle - Aar Ya Paar
• Hai Re Hai Re - Khushi
• Kehna Hai Tumse Kehna - Mann
• Naach meri Jaan - Mujhe Meri Biwi Se Bachaao
• Na Heera Na Moti - Kunwara
• Eli Re Eli - Yaadein
• Tere Sang Ek Simple Si Coffee - Zameen
• Kal Thi Mohabbat - Tere Pyar Mein
• O Maria - Josh
• Chali Chali Phir Chali Chali - Baghban
• Khalli Valli - Market
• Qayamat Qayamat - Qayamat
• Asambhav - Asambhav
• Chori Chori - Garam Masala
• Badal Pe Paon Hai - Chak De! India
• Kallzam Amchim - The Victim (2012 film)

Awards and honors

• 1989 - 16th International Pop Song Festival, Grand Prix in Germany
• 1999 - The best selling album of the season for the album Piya Se Milke Aaye Nain
• 2006 - All India Woman's Conference, Gomant Tejaswini Award for her outstanding achievements in the music field

 

INTERNATIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS

	A Milestone achievement was her winning the GRAND PRIX at the 16th INTERNATIONAL POP SONG FESTIVAL '89 held in Germany, where Hema represented India. She was also awarded the 'AUDIENCE DARLING PRIZE' here, and was called the "'Indian Nightingale "' by the German Media.
	Hema Represented India yet again for the International UNICEF concert held in Belgrade, Yugoslavia.
	Hema wrote and rendered songs for the English version of 'Maine Pyar Kiya', which broke records in sales in West Indies, Guyana etc. Hema was then interviewed by a New York Television channel in the USA on her achieving STAR status in those countries.
	In the western music area, Hema has worked with the likes of Tony Mercedes, ex-producer of LAFACE records USA, who has worked with and produced and released albums of the Internationally famous artistes like TONY BRAXTON, TLC etc. Tony Mercedes has spent a huge sum of US Dollars towards recording songs with Hema in Atlanta USA, a project awaiting completion.
	Hema has worked with and recorded songs with the Internationally well-known BETTY WRIGHT, at her studio in Miami, Florida, in the USA
	Hema has recorded a duet song with one member of the Internationally famous vanilla Ice team, in Lexington, Georgia, in the USA
	She has successfully performed on T.V and live stage shows all over India and the world over. The Countries are U.S.A., UK, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Holland, Yugoslavia, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji Islands, West Indies, S. America, U.A.E., Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Thailand, Nepal, Indonesia, Kuwait, etc.
	At the ZEE Music Award nite, Hema's performance with the International Chart buster Singer, of ''Saturday Night'' song fame WHIGFIELD from Sweden, was acclaimed the highlight of the evening.

 Discography

•  Hindustani Gudiya
• Piya Se Milke Aaye Nain
• Sajnaa
• Jhoom

 External Link

• OFFICIAL WEBSITE

Bombay Vikings

Bombay Vikings' are a pop group that combine Indian filmi and classical music, formed in 1994 in Stockholm, Sweden. The band was started by Neeraj Shridhar, Oscar Söderberg, and Mats Nordenborg, and became popular with remixes of old Bollywood hits such as "Kya Soorat Hai", "Woh Chali" and "Chod Do Anchal".


The group was popular both in India and Pakistan, as well as overseas among the Indian music community, due to its unusual combination of classic Bollywood style and European experimentation. It was the first group to sing in Hinglish, a mix of Hindi and English, a brainchild of its front-man, Neeraj Shridhar.

Contents

• 1 History
  • 1.1 Formation
  • 1.2 Kya Soorat Hai (1999)
  • 1.3 Woh Chali (2000)
  • 1.4 Hawa Mein Udata Jaaye and Best of
  • 1.5 Chhodh Do Aanchal Zamana Kya Kahega and Fusion Remixes (2004)
  • 1.6 Zara Nazron Se Kehdo (2006)
• 2 Discography
• 3 External links

 

History

Formation

Bombay Vikings were formed in 1994 in Stockholm, Sweden. The three experienced musicians met when Mats introduced Neeraj Shridhar and Oscar Soderberg to each other. The band was born primarily due to a common interest of Indian melodies from sources such as Hindi films and classical music. Neeraj became the lead vocalist and back-up guitar, and also composed pop rock, jazz, hip-hop, soul, and reggae songs. Mats played the saxophone; as a jazz specialist, he used this knowledge while composing for the new band. Mats and Johan Folke, keyboard specialists, used their years of exposure to the different genres of music on the synthesizer. They were soon joined by Morgan on the drums, Par on the bass, and Staffan as the lead guitarist. Bombay Vikings began performing live shows in Sweden and Norway. When all the musicians got together and began jamming, they didn't know they would be coming out with a new form of music, but they wanted to do something creative for India.
 

The leader of Bombay Vikings, Neeraj Shridhar, is from Jalandhar in Punjab, India. He moved to Sweden when he was 13, where he developed his interest for music. He enjoyed listening to western and Indian classical songs. He formed Bombay Vikings in 1994 and performed at many places in Europe. The band mainly performed English songs with Neeraj adding an Indian influence. After a few years, most of the band members disbanded, but Neeraj chose to keep the name of the band and form another band with the remaining members.

Kya Soorat Hai (1999)

Neeraj produced his first album, Kya Soorat Hai, in 1999, after stopping the project for almost four years. Most of the Indian music companies didn't think the album would be popular among the Indians due to its strong English and Western influence and demanded changes. Finally, Sony BMG agreed to produce the album in India without any changes. The album consisted of eight tracks, all of which were remakes of old Indian songs. Every song was recorded primarily in English, with two to three songs containing a few lines of Hindi. In spite of this, the album was a huge success in India and opened the doors for westernisation of music. The songs "Kya Soorat Hai", "Mona Re" and "Night Is So Perfect" were popular among teenagers. The video of the song "Kya Soorat Hai" starred South-Indian star Prabhu Deva's brother Raju Sundaram, and was a hit due to its hip-hop sound as well as its comical style. The song "Mona Re" was also made into a video.

Woh Chali (2000)

Soon after the success of their first album, Bombay Vikings recorded another successful album, Woh Chali, in 2000. The album contained four remakes of old songs and five original songs, in which Neeraj Shridhar, who wanted to be known as a modern music composer, attempted to silence the critics who said he simply "copy and pasted." All of the songs on this album were hits, especially "Woh Chali", "Jambola", "Angel Eyes", and "Jump Up". "Angel Eyes" was also an international success.

Singer Lata Mangeshkar was impressed with the remake of her song "Main Chali" and invited Neeraj to perform at her birthday function.

Three songs of the album were made into videos: "Woh Chali", "Jambola" and "Angel Eyes".

Hawa Mein Udata Jaaye and Best of

In 2002, Bombay Vikings released another album, Hawa Mein Udati Jaaye'. This album again revived old songs in a modern way, making the youth admire the beauty of the old songs. This time, Neeraj worked with guest singers Linnea Spores and Falguni Pathak to produce songs. The videos of the songs "Hawa Mein Udati Jaaye" and "Tera Mera Pyaar Sanam" became hits. In the same year, the album The Best Of Bombay Vikings was released, with a playback song of the film "Rules: "Pyaar Ka Superhit Formula, in which Neeraj sang "Kabhi Phool Dena" for music director Sandesh Shandilya.

Chhodh Do Aanchal Zamana Kya Kahega and Fusion Remixes (2004)

In 2004, Bombay Vikings came up with Chhodh Do Aanchal Zamana Kya Kahega. The title track had the main lines sung again by Linea and was a hit along with its video, which was played on every music channel in India for almost a year. The youthful songs "Ik Badal" and "Aa Raha Hoon Main" were "milestones", and the video of the song "Aa Raha Hoon Main" was a commercial hit. In the same year, Neeraj produced a single titled "Hum To Anything Karega', a remake of the song "Hum To Mohabbat Karega'. This song with Neeraj's previous few hits, and the songs of other artists such as Falguni Pathak, were released in the album Fusion Remixes.

Zara Nazron Se Kehdo (2006)

The success of the band continued when they released their most recent album, Zara Nazron Se Kehdo. This song and its video, which starred Bollywood actress Celina Jaitly, was a hit. The song "Mere Dil Ne" was made into a video. After this album, Neeraj chose to take a short break which has become an extended break. Bombay Vikings has announced a forthcoming album entitled "U n I" but a release date has yet to be announced. Neeraj started working as a Bollywood playback singer in 2006, and has sung for many Bollywood films.

Discography

• Kya Soorat Hai (1999)
• Woh Chali (2001)
• Hawa Mein Udati Jaaye (2002)
• The Best of Bombay Vikings (2002)
• Hum To Anything Karega: Fusion Remixes (2004)
• Chhodh Do Aanchal (2004)
• Zara Nazron Se Kehdo (2006)
• U n I (2011)

External Link

OFFICIAL WEBSITE

Alyssia Vibha Sharma

Alyssia Vibha Sharma is an Indian popstar who released her first album in the 1990s. She made her foray into Indian pop domain with her debut album Mehandi (2000), HMV SaReGaMa Records, which was extremely well received by the music lovers and was one of the top 3 best selling private albums of that year. The title song "Mehandi Lagaoongi Main" became a superhit.

Contents

• 1 Early life and background
• 2 Career
• 3 Filmography
• 4 Albums
• 5 References

Early life and background

Alyssia Vibha Sharma was born and brought up in London and hails from a Hindu Punjabi-Kashmiri Pandit background, she always had a great liking for Indian music. But she never thought of taking up music seriously until she won a singing competition in which more than 3000 South-East Asians from all over Europe had participated.

As a result she took to learning Indian classical music under the tutelage of Parshottam Kapila in London, and later on, when she came to India she continued her training under the guidance of Pandit Ajay Pohankar, Geeta Prem (sister to singer Jagjit Singh), amongst other Gurus.

Aside from her music accomplishments Alyssia has also attained a BSc (Hons) from a University in London as well as post graduate certification qualifications.

Career

Vibha Sharma started her career in Bollywood when she got her first break with Anu Malik, who, once having heard her in London, offered her to sing for two songs in Ishq (1997). Bulandi, Hadh Kar Di Apne, Dil Dhoondhta Hai were other feathers in her cap and she also sung Vaishnva Jana To for Kamal Hassan's controversial film Hey Ram.

She did some more playback singing before launching her first private album with Anand Raj Anand titled 'Mehndi'. This was one of the few private albums that gained a high level of sales around the millennium era and was one of the top 3 best selling private albums in India, which was a great feat for the singer. She also sang a Tamil song for Kartik Raja, son of Illyaraja, Inde Siripinai, which was criticized for wrong pronunciation but despite this, the song was at No.1 in the South Indian music charts for several weeks and later Kartik Raja was quoted to say "I have received a lot of positive feedback from music lovers asking me to work with Vibha Sharma more often".

She is known in the UK as Alyssia Sharma, working with renowned Punjabi DJ's and producers Panjabi Hit Squad releasing an album self-titled 'Alyssia' which was one of the top 5 best-selling albums of the year. Three songs off the album reigned at the No.1 spot on all the primary Asian music charts within UK and Europe. Alyssia was also nominated in the category of 'Best Female Singer' for the UK AMA awards for Deewana.

Alyssia has been performing all over UK and Europe since the release of Deewana. Some of her more prestigious appearances have included the Viva La Glam show sponsored by MAC Make Up company in Toronto, Canada and Apple Store Bollywood Themed Carnival, Regent Street, London. Sharma released videos for two tracks on her album, Deewana and Tera Pyar Soneya Veh. She featured on Ms.Scandalous' latest album and video, which released in 2008, AAG and released a video of a live rendition of Rab Rakha in 2012.

Alyssia.V.Sharma recorded for Panjabi Hit Squad's album in 2012 and is currently working on her own album simultaneously.

Filmography

Year	Film	Title	Music Director
1997	Ishq	Ishq Hua... Kaise Hua, Kaise Kahun	Anu Malik
1998	Naam Iruvar Namakku Iruvar (Tamil)	Intha Siru Pennai, Aathi Adi Aathi	Karthik Raja
2000	Bulandi		Viju Shah
2000	Hadh Kar Di Aapne	Mujhe Kuchh Tumse Hai Kehna	Anand Raj Anand
2000	Hey Ram	Vaishnav Jana To	Ilaiyaraaja

Albums

• Mehndi
• Alyssia
• World Famous Compilation Album

References

Sansara (BAND)

Sansara comprising of three extremely talented girls, Sophie Chaudhary, Shinata Patel and Monica Nath are `desi' all-girl band, all the way from London. Sansara (Band) (Sophie Chaudhary, Shinata Patel and Monica Nath) were British Asian, They thought that there are so many solo artists, but few girl groups in India, it would be nice to have a blend of East and West.

Sansara came out because of Sophie's long standing friendship with music director Biddu who worked on films such as Disco Deewane & Made in India. Evetually Sophie done backing on a lot of Indipop albums such as Made In India (Alisha) and Johnny Joker (Shweta Shetty) As soon as she finished university she decided to form a three girl band.

Sophie had met Shinata, one of the girls through family friends and met Monica about six months later at a singing contest. The decision to have three girls in the band was because all three of them bought an important element to the band.

They were all together early '99. In April they did some demo's and by May they had a contract with Universal Music India, by June they started to record the album. Biddu did all the music, since the other girls didn't speak Hindi, Sophie wrote all the lyrics, in October all-girl band went to India to shoot the video and in December, the album was released; Yeh Dil Sun Raha Hai.

The music for their 1 st album ‘Yeh Dil Sun Raha Hai' has been released in December 1999 is burning up the charts. The title video is here, there and everywhere. Played over and over again, channel after channel everyday. At the time the excitement was immense, however they missed out all the feedback since they were in the UK, whereas the album was released in India.

At Gatsby 2000, the band captivated the audience with another remix of `Disco Deewane', other remixes of popular Egyptian peppered `Habibi' and the Spanish-Arabic flavoured `Alabina'. Of course, they also `sang' the title track, `Yeh Dil Sun Raha Hai'. Given the standards of live Indi-pop performances, that has more of lip-sync, the obvious question the media posed to the girls was: ``Are you going to sing or `lip-sync'?''. ``Well, a little bit of both,'' the girls retorted with smiles. ``We would love to sing but for the tough routines. But then, we'll sing for you. And we won't take more than a minute,'' they said. `Habibi', they crooned.

They meant to shoot a second video in February, however with Shinata and Monica still studying, things had become increasingly difficult, rehearsals were constantly cancelled, They were offered many shows, but they couldn't take them on because of the lack of availability. Once the delays started in regards to the video, it became disheartening for the record company, for Biddu and for Sophie as well.  Sophie Says : "You only become a success in Pop if you do live shows and promotions, and we weren't doing any, that is also the only way to make money, and thus we weren't making any". And in May earlier , Shinata's parents decided she would only be available during college holidays, that was the decisive factor and made things extremely difficult. Considering Sansara was always three, never two the band just could not continue anymore. It was simple, the commitment just wasn't there from the rest of the girls.

When They got together they had so many aspirations, they really wanted to make a difference to the pop scene, maybe even cross over into mainstream. The secret is focus on commitment, both of which were unfortunately lacking from certain members of the group. Sophie says :" I am not annoyed, I am more upset, for over a year we were really close, we danced, sang, fought, laughed and even cried together, it's a shame, but one has to go on. I've been doing a lot of shows all over the UK, and in Los Angeles. I have also been concentrating on my Zee TV shows, and now I'm working on my solo material with Biddu. My future plans are to have no plans, I just have my own personal ambitions which I hope to achieve in the world of singing primarily, in showbiz, opportunities crop up all the time, so you need to be open minded, who knows what my destiny has in store for me. All I can do is work sincerely, with humility. I leave the rest up to the Big Boss!".

Sansara came about because of Sophie's long standing friendship with music director Biddu. All of which makes Sansara and their debut album "Yeh Dil Sun Raha Hai" a delight for the visual and audio senses. One hopes this all girl band stays on unlike Models which disintegrated after a couple of hits.

Discography

Yeh Dil Sun Raha Hai

Track List

• Alabina Sansara
• Habibi (Remix) Sansara
• Habibi Mujhko Pukare Sansara
• Jiyo Is Tarah Sansara
• Kab Hogi Meri Shaadi Sansara
• Kyu Sansara
• Pyar Mein Deewani Sansara
• Yeh Dil Sun Raha Hai Sansara

External Link 

Rajeshwari Sachdev

Rajeshwari Sachdev is a Hindi film actress and singer(hulle hullare fame), who is most known for her role in Shyam Benegal's film Sardari Begum (1996), for which she won the 1997 National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Sachdev co-hosted the Zee TV musical show, Titan Antakshari from 1994 to 2001. In 2005, she along with her husband Varun Badola, took part a reality TV, Dance competition show, Nach Baliye.

Contents

• 1 Early life and education
• 2 Career
  • 2.1 Filmography
  • 2.2 Discography
• 3 External links 

Early life and education

Rajeshwari was born on 14 April 1975 in Mumbai to a Punjabi father and a mother from Southern India. After completing her graduation from Guru Nanak Khalsa College (King's Circle) in Mumbai, she started her career on stage doing plays with Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA).She married Varun Badola on 25 November 2004.

Career

She made her film debut with Marathi film 'Aayatya Gharat Gharoba' (1991) directed by Sachin. Her second film was Shyam Benegal's Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda (1992). She then became a regular in his films, and was cast in Mammo (1994), Sardari Begum (1996), Samar (1999), Hari-Bhari (2000), Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero (2005) and Welcome to Sajjanpur (2008). She also appeared in the Hollywood film Little Buddha (1993) and later in Tales of Kamasutra: The Perfumed Garden (1998). She also worked in Samvidhaan (TV Series) show, directed by Shyam Benegal.

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1991	Aayatya Gharat Gharoba	Kaanan	Marathi film
1993	Little Buddha	Yasodhara	English film
1993	Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda	Jamuna
1994	Mammo	Riyaz's mother
1994	Triyacharitra
1996	Sardari Begum	Sakina
1997	Tunnu Ki Tina	Tina
1998	Porkkalam		Tamil film
1998	Qila	Lajo
2000	Samar
2000	Tales of The Kama Sutra : The Perfumed Garden	Lochani/Loni
2000	Hari-Bhari	Salma
2001	Meri Pyaari Bahania Banegi Dulhania
2001	Rahul	Sheela
2003	The Perfect Husband
2004	Mitter Pyare Nu Haal Mureedan Da Kehna	Preet	Punjabi film
2005	Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero	Capt. Lakshmi Sahgal
2008	Welcome to Sajjanpur	Shobharani
2008	Bombay to Bangkok	Dr. Rati
2009	7 Days in Slow Motion	Mrs. Suri	Indian English film
2010	Malik Ek	Saraswati
2013	Issaq	Paro
2015	Balika Vadhu	Mangla Devi

 Discography 

Year	Album
1999	Hulle Hullare
2000	Mukhda Piya Ka
2006	Ummang

External links

Manasi Scott

Manasi Scott is an Indian singer, song writer, and an actress. Manasi is best known for her live performances and for composing the album of Sanjay Gupta's "Acid Factory".

Contents

• 1 Early life
• 2 Career
• 3 Notable Discography
• 4 Notable Filmography
• 5 Notable Television
• 6 External links

Early life

Manasi is known as a multi talented personality. She made national level recognition as a singer while she was studying in eighth standard. After obtaining a degree on mass communications from the prestigious St. Xavier College, she also done a course on TV and Film production. She kick started her professional singing career with the popular Pune rock band Dark Water Fixation which also paved way to get her first break in Tamil composer Vidyasagar's “Snehithiye". The song was "Othaiyadi Pathaile" and the film directed by Priyadarshan turned out to a box office hit. Manasi also played an important supporting role in the film and her character's name was Nancy. Snehithiye is a movie noted for having only female characters in the leads. Manasi also acted in the Malayalam film Raakilipattu, it is the Malayalam version of Tamil film Snegithiye. In Raakilipattu she acted with his original name Manasi as Jyothika's friend. Manasi is also a national basketball player.

Career

Even before releasing her debut album, Manasi already became a national sensation with her terrific live performances. Even though she had her debut album "Nachlae" in 2005, her first major break happened in 2009 with the Sanjay Gupta film "Acid Factory". Manasi has composed and sung a song 'Khatti Meethi' for the film. She has also done a music video for the same number. The video was voted as No.2 video of 2009 by MSN users. Her other major works as "Peter Gaya Kaam Se ", "Pappu Can’t Dance"," The Fox"," Loot", "Tom Dick and Harry Rocks Again", "Love Story 2050" etc.


Along with her singing career, Manasi has also acted in a couple of popular film which includes " Jhootha Hi Sahi", "Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu" etc. She was also the anchor of many leading shows which include Perfect 10 on Sony Pix, Glamorous on Zoom and E Buzz on AXN. She was the major judge in Cornetto Anchor Hunt on Zing/ETC.

Manasi Scott is the first Indian singer to have graced the coveted cover of The Week. She is also the first Indian singer to be a brand ambassador, model and host for brands such as Sunsilk, L’oreal and Reebok.

Notable Discography

• Snehithiye
• Okkadu Chalu
• Goppinti Alludu
• Acid Factory
• Peter Gaya Kaam Se
• Pappu Can't Dance Saala
• The Fox
• Loot
  
• Tom Dick and Harry Rocks Again
• Love Story 2050
• Aadhi Bhagavan
• Thillalangadi
• Raakilipattu

Notable Filmography

• Snehithiye
• Raakilipattu
• Acid Factory
• Jhootha Hi Sahi
• Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu

Notable Television

• Perfect 10 on Sony Pix - Anchor
• Glamorous on Zoom - Anchor
• E Buzzon AXN - Anchor
• Cornetto Anchor Hunt on Zing/ETC - Judge

External links

 Official website

Ganesh Hegde

Ganesh Hegde is an Indian singer, performer, video director and Bollywood choreographer.

Contents

• 1 Choreography
• 2 Singing
• 3 Education
• 4 Filmography
  • 4.1 TV
  • 4.2 Choreographer
• 5 Music Director
• 6 Personal life
• 7 External links

Choreography

Ganesh was born in Mumbai to parents are Harish Subbaiah Hegde and Vidya Hegde. Hegde is best known for his work in the Oscar-nominated film Lagaan and for his musical numbers in Company. Ganesh has choreographed many stage shows, namely Temptations 2004, the Bollywood rock concert which toured America with huge stars such as Shah Rukh Khan, Rani Mukherjee, Preity Zinta, Saif Ali Khan and Arjun Rampal.

He has been associated with the Zee Cine Awards since conception and has been choreographing the Filmfare Awards for the past decade.

Hegde's famous choreographed sequences include "It's Magic" from Koi Mil Gaya, "Dum" from Dum, "Main Hoon Don" from Don - The Chase Begins Again and Chammak Challo from Ra.One.

Hegde is responsible for giving birth to the item number and item gal concept in Bollywood with songs like:

• Mast Mahaul Mein Jeene De (Fiza)
• Babuji Zara Dheere Chalo (Dum) - Yana Gupta
• Khallas (Company) - Isha Khoppikar

Hegde started a trend for the music video type execution in movies with Kambakht Ishq (Pyar Tune Kya Kiya) and Khallas (Company)

Singing

In October 2005 Ganesh released his debut album "G" with the backing and promotion of Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan. He is reported as the first Indian pop act to produce, write, direct and star in his debut music video (for his single Main Deewana). He is also credited for launching the career of Indian model and actress Yana Gupta, for whom he crafted the song "Babuji" in the film Dum.

Hegde started out performing with Asha Bhonsle on stage shows and she is reported to have convinced him to release his own album. She has sung a duet with him in G, titled Kabhi Kabhi. Hegde then launched his second Pop album Let's party in August 2011 . It has tracks featuring Hrithik Roshan and Katrina Kaif in the title song Let's Party and Bipasha Basu and Priyanka Chopra in Mind Blowing. The album was launched by Shahrukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Bipasha Basu, Priyanka Chopra and some other celebrities.

Hegde has also sung the rap Kaun Banega Crorepati promo song ' Ek Sawaal Ka Sawaal Hai ', for the third season of the show hosted by Shah Rukh Khan .The song is available on a T Series album titled ' Shah Rukh Khan Kar Le Kar Le Koi Dhamaal'. The video was conceptualized and directed by Hegde.

Education

He is an alumnus of the Umedbhai Patel English school(MALAD) and P.D. Lions College in Mumbai. ...

Filmography

 

TV

• Kabhi Kabhii Pyaar Kabhi Kabhii Yaar - Judge (2008)
• Roobaroo Indian Idol season 3 - special appearance (2007)
• Fame X - Judge (2006)
• Temptations 2004 - interviewer

 

Choreographer

Ganesh have done choreography for films such as

• Selfiyaan (Sharafat Gayi Tel Lene)2014
• Sharabi (Happy New Year) 2014
• Pinacolada (Darr @the Mall)2014
• Nachde Punjabi (Azab Ghazab Love) 2012
• Let's Party (2012)
• Ra.One (2011) (2 songs: Chammak Challo & Criminal)
• SRK Temptations Reloaded (2008)
• Miss Bollywood Shilpa Shetty (October 2007)
• Saawariya (9 November 2007)
• Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag (2007)
• Don - The Chase Begins Again (2006)
• Koi Mil Gaya (2003)
• Khushi (2003)
• Dum (2003)
• Maine Dil Tujhko Diya (2002)
• Aap Mujhe Achche Lagne Lage (2002)
• Company (film)(2002)
• Indian (2001)
• Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India (2001)
• Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya (2001)
• One 2 Ka 4 (2001)
• Grahan (2001)
• Fiza (2000)
• Hera Pheri (2000)
• Bandhan (1998)
• Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya (1998)
• Khamoshi - The Musical (1996)

Music Director

• Ram Gopal Varma Ki AAG (2007)

Personal life

Ganesh Hegde got married on June 5. He tied the knot to his girlfriend of six years, Sunayna Shetty, in a private ceremony in Mumbai. Sunayna is a stylist by profession and is responsible for styling Ganesh for all his public appearances.

The couple had known each other from last 10 years and started dating six years back.
Informing his fans on a social networking site the choreographer wrote, “I am getting married next week and that's the reason why have not been in action here with you guys..it's on June 5 and it's in Mumbai..hope I get all the love and best wishes as this one seems to be tough choreography..he he..love g." Ganesh Hegdes Done as a Dancer or as a assistant under Lollypop ( Sanjay Pardhan ) who Choreographed ghulam movie song aati kya khandala, first bollywood 's international show ( Jhomma Chumma in London ) And many hit songs and Shows or almost done Al Bollywood Celebrity's

External links

• Ganesh Hegde Official website

Akriti Kakkar

Akriti Kakkar (Bengali: আকৃতি কক্কর) (born 8 July 1986) is an Indian singer. Her Saturday Saturday from Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania and Iski Uski from 2 States (film) are popular songs. Akriti is a judge on Zee Bangla's Sa Re Ga Ma Pa: Li'l Champs and will be seen on Colors (TV channel)'s Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa.

Contents

• 1 Track listing
• 2 Playback songs
• 3 TV Shows
• 4 Personal life
• 5 External links

Track listing

Akriti released her solo album non Bollywood playback album - "Akriti" released in April 2010 under Sony Music India. Songs were composed by Shankar Mahadevan & Akriti Kakar The track list for the album is as follows

• Mehrmaa Ve
• Gazab
• Chhoone Do
• Na Re Na Na Re
• Dil Vi Deewana
• Taabiz (Marhale)
• Chal Kaheen Sang 

Playback songs

• Ishkaboner Bibi (2015) - Film: Gangster - Music:Jeet Gannguli - Lyrics: Raja Chanda - Co-Singer: Nakash Aziz
• “Chham se vo aa jaye” (2004) - Film: Dus - Music: Vishal-Shekhar
• “One night stand” - O jaana (2006) - Film: Rocky - Music: Himesh Reshammiya
• “Dil Vich Lagya Weh” (2006) - Film: Chup Chup Ke - Music: Himesh Reshammiya
• “Shakalaka Boom Boom” Title song (2007) - Film: Shakalaka Boom Boom - Music: Himesh Reshammiya
• “Dil Lagaayenge” (2007) - Film: Shakalaka Boom Boom - Music: Himesh Reshammiya
• “Loneliness is Killing Every One” (2007) - Film: Red “The Dark Side” - Music: Himesh Reshammiya
• “Aanan Faanan” (2007) - Film: Namastey London - Music: Himesh Reshammiya
• “You Good You Good Good Boy” (2007) - Film: Good Boy Bad Boy - Music: Himesh Reshammiya
• “Dekhu tujhe to payar aaye” (2007) - Film: Apne - Music: Himesh Reshammiya
• “Johnny Gaddaar” (2007) Title Song - Film: Johnny Gaddaar - Music: Shankar Ehsaan Loy
• “Hadsa” (2007) - Film: Dhol - Music: Pritam
• “Awaaz Do” (2007) - Film: Mummy Ji - Music: Aadesh Srivastava
• “Insha Allah”(2008) - Film: Welcome - Music: Himesh Reshammiya
• “Move your body- Freaky freaky raat” (2008) - Film: Kismat Konnection - Music: Pritam
• “Meri Ek Ada Shola” (2008) - Film: Kidnap - Music: Pritam
• “Bhai Aa Gaya” (2008) - Film: Hari Puttar - Music: Guru Sharma
• “Tha Kar Ke” (2008) - Film: Golmaal Returns - Music: Pritam
• “Marjani” and “Khuda-ya Khair” - Film: Billu Barber - Music: Pritam
• “Mohabbat Aap se” - Film: Aa Dekhein Zara - Music: Pritam
• “Jail House Rock” - Film: We are Family - Music: Shankar Ehsaan Loy
• “Teekhi Teekhi” - Film: Mirch - Music: Monty Sharma
• “I Love Amreeka” - Film: Tere Bin Laden - Music: Shankar Ehsaan Loy
• “Abhi Abhi” - Film: Jism 2 - Music: Arko Pravo Mukherjee
• "Iski Uski" - Film: 2 States - Music: Shankar Ehsaan Loy
• "Saturday Saturday & Daingad Daingad " – Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania (2014)
•  "Bas Tum Ho" – Desi Kattey (2014)
•  "Kolkata Diaries (single) " (2014)
• “Paglu” - Film: Paglu (Bengali movie) - Music: Jeet ganguly
• “Monbebagi” - Film: Paglu (Bengali movie) - Music: Jeet ganguly
• “Prem ki bujhini” - Film: Paglu (Bengali movie) - Music: Jeet ganguly
• “Police chorer preme porece” - Film: Challenge 2 (Bengali movie) - Music: Jeet ganguly
• “Mon” - Film: Chhaya Chhobi (Bangladeshi Movie) - Music: Arfin Rumey
• “Gobhir Joler Fish” - Film: Khoka 420 (Bengali movie) - Music: Savvy
• “Mon Amar” - Film: Na Jene Mon (Bengali movie) - Music: Sanjib Sarkar

She has also sung a song in Marathi for the film - lagna pahave karun ( marathi movie) song name is kasa ha maajha saajna. Besides these Akriti has also sung many songs in other regional languages, the song in Bengali Film Paglu has become the biggest chart buster song in Bengali films. On 12 April 2010, a solo music album "Akriti", composed by Shankar Mahadevan and Akriti, was released on Sony Music.

She also released her first single named #Kolkata Diaries. Composed by the renowned bengali musical maestro, Joy Sarkar. The lyrics of the entire song are in Hindi written by Manoj Yadav who is popular for his songs in Coke studio and movies; but for the main hook lines that are derived from a popular Bengali folk song “Tomay Hrid Majhare Rakhibo, Chede Debo Na” that literally translate into "I am going to keep you in my heart and never let you go!".

TV Shows

• She was a celebrity judge in Zee Bangla sa re ga ma pa lil champs'2013 along with Kumar Shanu and other regional and national celebrities
• Akriti was supposed to enter the dance show Jhalak Dikhlaa Jaa on Colors channel through wild card but sadly met with an accident while rehearsing and doctor advised complete bed-rest and hence she had to quit the show.

Personal life

Akriti has two twin sisters Sukriti and Prakriti Kakkar.

External links

• Official website

Shiamak Davar

Shiamak Davar (born 19 October 1961) is an Indian choreographer, noted as one of the first to bring contemporary jazz and western forms of dances to India. He is known as the Guru of Contemporary dance in India. He is responsible for modernizing India’s dance scene especially in the film and theatre industry, and is respected for his ever evolving and very popular “Shiamak Style” of dance. He was also the Director of Choreography for the Commonwealth Games, Melbourne, and Commonwealth Games, Delhi. He recently choreographed the dance sequences for the movie Mission Impossible 4.

Davar has choreographed several Indian actors and celebrities for film and stage for events like the IIFA Awards and the Filmfare Awards. Bollywood actors Shahid Kapoor, Varun Dhawan and Sushant Singh Rajput were members of the Shiamak Davar Dance Company. Upcoming Indian actors Ruslan Mumtaz, Shubh and child actor Darsheel Safary were also a part of the Shiamak Davar Dance Company.

Davar won the 1997 National Film Award for Best Choreography for his work in the film Dil to Pagal Hai, as well as the Lycra (R) MTV Style Awards 2007 for 'Most Stylish Song in a Film', for the song "Dhoom Again" in the Indian film Dhoom 2. In July 2011, Davar received an honorary doctorate from Middlesex University in recognition of his contribution to entertainment in India and throughout the world.

Davar is Zoroastrian. 

Contents

• 1 Choreography
• 2 Charity
• 3 Recent Work
• 4 External links

 

Choreography

Davar began his career in choreography for Hindi cinema with the film Dil To Pagal Hai, for which he won the President's National Award. Having changed the way dance was perceived in Indian films, Davar went on to choreograph for several Hindi films such as Taal, Kisna, Bunty Aur Babli, Dhoom 2, I See You, Taare Zameen Par, Yuvvraaj, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi and Aladdin. He also trained Sumer Gill in 2014. Shiamak has shared the stage with artists such as Sting, Bryan Adams and Eddie Grant. He acted and choreographed in the movie Little Ziziou... He released a hit pop album, Shabop, for which he composed and sang songs with other Indian artists such as Shankar Mahadevan, Hariharan and Shweta Pandit as well as songs mixed and assorted by DJ Aqeel. Shiamak has also served as the performance and entertainment designer for shows such as the Sahara Sangeet Awards, the Shiamak Davar China Tour, the Seventh Cairo International Song Festival, IIFA Awards, Shiamak: The Spirit of Song and Dance South Africa, I Believe — A Shiamak Davar Spectacular and The Unforgettable World Tour.


Shiamak has directed, designed and performed at global events like the Closing Ceremony of The Commonwealth Games (Melbourne 2006 and Delhi 2010), The World Economic Forum, Davos (2006), entertained world leaders including Bill Clinton who stated Shiamak "The World Must See You", Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and has interacted and / or worked with international stars like Oprah Winfrey, Tom Cruise, Richard Gere, Will Smith, Michael Douglas, Stevie Wonder and legendary American choreographer Debbie Allen for various projects.Shiamak has directed, designed and choreographed entertainment acts for international star Jermaine Jackson, world-renowned music composer A. R. Rahman and almost every Bollywood super star for various projects across the world, including ‘The Unforgettable Tour’ - the biggest Bollywood show to tour America, Canada and the UK performed by superstars Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai and others.Davar also runs his dance school, S.D.I.P.A(Shiamak Davar's institute for the performing arts) now Shiamak Davar International across India, Canada and UK.

Charity

As a philanthropist, he runs the VAF (Victory Arts Foundation) that teaches dance to underprivileged children and children with mental and physical disabilities to help them experience the pleasure of expression through “dance as therapy”. His dedication to his art, unfaltering faith in God and belief in the power of prayer makes him a true role model.

Recent Work

Davar has been associated for choreographing the Bollywood oscars called the IIFA awards for over a decade. At the recent IIFA Florida Tampa Bay 2014, Davar has choreographed Hollywood stars like John Travolta and Kevin Spacey. His choreography for Hrihtik Roshan made Travolta look surprised and his jaw was hanging open.Travolta stated "He’s really brilliant as a dancer. And I’m most impressed by Shiamak Dawar’s team. They’re as good as any of the dancers at the Tonys. That was actually a performance worth watching. Two thumbs up from me".  

External links

Shiamak Davar

Anuradha Paudwal

Anuradha Paudwal is an Indian playback singer in Bollywood. She has sung songs in Hindi, Bengali, Marathi,  Tamil, Telugu, Oriya, and Nepali.

Contents : 1 Biography 2 Controversies 3 Marathi 4 Personal Life 5 Geet & Ghazal Albums 6 Bollywood Songs 7 Awards and recognition 8 External links

Biography :

She studied at Xavier's College in Mumbai. Her singing career started in 1973 with the movie, Abhimaan, (starring Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan) in which she sang a Shloka (a Sanskrit verse). In the same year she also made her Marathi film debut with "Yashoda" (music by Datta Davjekar). In 1974, she brought out a record of Non-film Marathi songs or "bhav geeten" which became very popular.

In 1976, she got her break as a playback singer in Hindi films with Kalicharan (starring Shatrughan Sinha and Reena Roy). Her first solo was in the movie, Aap Beati, (starring Hema Malini and Shashi Kapoor). Laxmikant-Pyarelal were the music-composer duo for that movie. She also occasionally sang songs for composers Rajesh Roshan (Udhar Ka Sindoor), Jaidev (Dooriyan, Laila Majnu), Kalyanji Anandji (Kalaakar, Vidhaata), and Usha Khanna (Souten, Sajan Bina Suhagan).

Anuradha apparently never received any formal training in classical music, stating in an interview, "I have not received any formal training in classical music. I have tried many times, but it has never worked out. I learnt a little here and a little there, but ultimately, I just practiced for many hours listening to Lataji"

Anuradha gained recognition with her popular numbers for the movie, Hero, for composers Laxmikant-Pyarelal. Her collaboration with Laxmikant-Pyarelal produced more success with songs for Meri Jung ("O Mere Kwabon Ke"), Batwara ("Thaare Vaaste Re Dola-Tu Maaro Kaun Lage"), Nagina and many more.Ram Lakhan saw Laxmikant-Pyarelal giving three major hit songs to Anuradha. Their association ended with Tezaab where she sang two good numbers for them - "Kehdo Ki Tum" and "Hum Tumko Dilbar Kyon Maane".

Following this she collaborated with movie producer, Gulshan Kumar, and began a success streak with the movies, Lal Dupatta Malmal Ka, Tezaab, Aashiqui and Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin. She along with Gulshan Kumar were instrumental in getting many unknown playback singers to the fore, including Kumar Sanu, Udit Narayan, Abhijeet, Sonu Nigam. New Music directors, including her husband Arun Paudwal, were introduced to the music world. Nadeem-Shravan, Anu Malik, Anand-Milind, Nikhil Vinay and Amar Utpal all collaborated with T-Series (Gulshan Kumar's music label) and started a new era of melody in Bollywood. Most of her duets have been with Udit Narayan, Kumar Sanu, Mohammed Aziz. She sang some songs with Kishore Kumar, Mohammed Rafi and also with her female co-singers; Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Alka Yagnik, Kavita Krishnamurthy and Sadhana Sargam. Her other notable songs were also for the famous duo Shiv-Hari, for the movie "Sahebaan". She has also sung for R.D. Burman in her initial days and actually convinced him to make songs for Gulshan Kumar's label in his last days and the song "Aja Meri Jaan" set to one of the background score of R.D.Burman from Saagar is still popular. She also sang beautiful duets with her co-singers from south, notably S. P. Balasubrahmanyam and K. J. Yesudas.

Controversies :

Anuradha believed to have dubbed the songs of Alka Yagnik in the film "Dil". This also caused rifts between Anand-Milind and Alka Yagnik, thereby causing them to not collaborate for 2 years. Later in 1998, Anuradha Paudwal dubbed the songs of Alka Yagnik once again for the film Itihaas, this time under the music direction of Dilip Sen-Sameer Sen. Alka Yagnik protested, to which the music company, T-Series was forced to include both versions of the same song, one in the voice of Alka Yagnik and the other in the voice of Anuradha Paudwal. She went to dub Lata Mangeshkar's song in "Radha Ka Sangam" citing that her voice suited the heroine better. Anu Malik, a smaller name then, who had composed the soundtrack, protested against this move.

At her peak, Anuradha announced that henceforth she would sing exclusively for "T-Series", and concentrated on devotional songs and "cover-version" albums. T-Series used her fame to good effect in numerous Bhajan and promotional videos. She was the first playback singer whose face featured on music covers more than the film's actors. She sang for T-series for some time and then went into a sabbatical. After about five years, she restarted her playback career. She sang a few hit songs for her old music directors but the reception for her comeback was mild.

Although Anuradha has significantly cutback in singing for films, she has continued on with her popularity for singing devotional songs and creating devotional albums, which remains her forte. She has collaborated with Pandit Jasraj on his "Geet Govind" & on many devotional albums with Anup Jalota.

Marathi :

Anuradha sang in a number of Marathi movies including the memorable "Disate Majalaa", "Raja Lalakaari", and "Kaalyaa Maatita Maatitaa". Most of these movies had music by the duo of Anil-Arun, Arun being her husband, who collaborated with Anil Mohile to form a pair.

Personal Life :

She was married to the late Arun Paudwal, who worked with music director S. D. Burman as his assistant.

Geet & Ghazal Albums :

• Aashiyan
• Deewangee
• Ahsaas
• Afsana (1997)
• Ishq Hua (2000)
• Choodiyaan (2002)
• isaq(1996)
• raat(1997)
• mere mehboob(1995)
• tere khushboo me base khat(1996)
• asar(1990)
• rishta(1996)
• sikhar(1996)

Bollywood Songs :

Main article: List of Songs by Anuradha Paudwal

This is an alphabetical list of known Hindi songs performed by Anuradha Paudwal from 1973 til date. Over 1500 songs are listed here. She has also sung in several other different languages which is not included here.

Contents:

Top, 0–9, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z 

Awards and recognition :

• 1986: Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer for "Mere Mann Bajaa Mridang" from Utsav.
• 1990: National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer for "He Ek Reshami" from Kalat Nakalat
• 1991: Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer for "Nazar Ke Saamne" from Aashiqui.
• 1992: Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer for "Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahi" from Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin.
• 1993: Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer for "Dhak Dhak Karne Laga" from Beta.
• 2010: Lata Mangeshkar Award
• 2011: Mother Teresa Award for Lifetime Achievement.

External links :

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