I asked him, 'Why playback?' He retorted, 'Why hero!' I think we both laughed, though our hearts were heavy with no sight of a breakthrough." Journalist Sathya Saran quoted him in his book, Baat Niklegi Toh Phir The Life and Music of Jagjit Singh.ģ. Mukesh, Rafi were all at the top, even Kishore Kumar who had been singing for years had yet to find himself on par with them. I hoped to be a hero, he wanted to sing playback in the movies. Talking about their struggling days, filmmaker Subhash Ghai had said, "We came with different dreams. However, he pulled out of the team when he realized that music was his real calling.Īlso read: Madhuri Dixit shares glimpse of husband Shriram Nene’s pre-birthday bashĢ. During his college days, he was a brilliant hockey player and was part of his college team. Actually named Jagmohan at birth, Jagjit Singh's devout Sikh father rechristened him Jagjit on the advice of his Namdhari guru.ġ. Here, we take a look at some little-known facts about the singer who is said to have brought ghazals to the drawing rooms of middle-class people, with his choice of words and lyrics. On October 10, 2011, he died leaving thousands of fans grieving.
His wife Chitra Singh quit professional singing after that and even Jagjit took several years before he could come back to his first love, music.Ĭontrary to the image of ghazals and ghazal-singers, Jagjit sang some Punjabi tappe (folk style from Punjab), pretty fast numbers and often joked in between his ghazals during his music concerts. In 1990, he lost their only son Vivek, who was only 18-year-old in a car accident. Unfortunately, when he was at peak of his career, Jagjit faced the worst setback of his life. He liked my voice but told me it would take time and that I would have to live in Bombay.” Jagjit Singh and his wife Chitra Singh at the release function of the compilation of Gulzar’s Urdu poetry. Jaikishen gave me a voice test at Famous Studio. I also met Jaidev and Manmohan Krishna, who ran a radio programme of ghazals. He received me very warmly and introduced me to the famous music directors of the time, like Madan Mohan and Shankar-Jaikishen. Speaking about his entry in Bombay (now Mumbai) and showbiz, Jagjit had said, “Om Prakash used to stay in Chembur and I contacted him there. His songs like Hontho Se Chhoo Lo Tum, Tum Ko Dekha and Meri Zindagi Kisi Aur Ki Mere Naam Ka Koi Aur Hai, are evergreen favourites. In his entire journey in showbiz, Jagjit has more than 40 private albums to his credit and has lent his voice for innumerable Bollywood films, impressing and enchanting an entire generation of music lovers. He chose a philosophical, melancholy and haunting poem for the occasion. He first did a public performance when he was in standard nine, at a Kavi Sammelan. The third one in his family of eleven siblings, Jagjit was born as Jagmohan Singh in Sriganganagar (Rajasthan) to a government employee.
Jagjit went on to deliver a raft of successful film and TV soundtracks over the following decades. Widely lauded scores for the movies Saath Saath and Arth in 1982 turned the couple into Bollywood royalty.His breakthrough came with “Baat Niklegi To” from his 1979 debut album with wife Chitra Singh-a legendary partnership in life and song that saw them release some of the greatest hits of the ’70s and ’80s.As a struggling artist in the ’60s, Singh wrote and sang advertising jingles. Despite extended classical training and professional experience at All India Radio (AIR), success didn’t come easy.In the hands of revered late “Ghazal King” Jagjit Singh, a fading art form took on a new life-and his deeply evocative poetry and innovative arrangements have touched countless hearts across generations.