Kumar Sanu
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Kumar Sanu | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Background information | |
| Also known as | Kedarnath Bhattacharya |
| Born | September 23, 1957 Kolkata, India |
| Genre(s) | Playback singing |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Years active | 1984–present |
Kumar Sanu (alias Kedarnath Bhattacharya (Bengali: কেদারনাথ ভট্টাচার্য), born September 23, 1957 in Kolkata) is a leading playback singer of Bollywood.
Contents |
[edit] Early life
Kumar Sanu's father Pashupati Bhattacharjee was an accomplished classical vocalist and composer. He trained Sanu as a singer and tabla player. After getting a degree in commerce from Calcutta University, Sanu began performing publicly in 1979, singing at shows and restaurants around Calcutta. He modeled his singing style after famous Bollywood singer Kishore Kumar. Sanu tried to make a career in Bollywood, but did not achieve success for a long time. He made his living in the early 1980s partly by recording a series of Kishore Kumar covers for a pop label. His son, Jaan Sanu has also made inroads into singing by going into a semi final of a singing contest held in India.
[edit] Early career
In 1987, music director and singer Jagjit Singh offered Sanu the chance to sing in the Hindi film Aandhiyan. Sanu then relocated to Mumbai, where Kalyanji-Anandji gave him chance to sing in the film Jaadugar. Kalyanji-Anandji suggested that he change his name from Kedar Bhattacharya to Kumar Sanu because of the prevalent caste/region-based favoritism in Bollywood and to give him wider appeal outside of a strictly Bengali audience
[edit] 1990s
Sanu's breakthrough came in 1990, in form of the film Aashiqui. The music directors Nadeem-Shravan got Sanu to sing all but one of the songs. Sanu gained overnight success. The hit songs from Aashiqui included Sanson ki zaroorat hai jaise, Tu meri zindagi hain, Nazar ke saamne, Jaane jigar jaaneman, Ab Tere Bin Jee Lenge Hum and Dheere, dheere se meri zindagi mein aana. He won the first of his record five consecutive Filmfare awards as Best Male Playback Singer. His next Filmfare Awards came for songs in the movies Saajan (1991), Deewana (1992), Baazigar (1993), and 1942: A Love Story (1994).
Sanu became a favorite with Nadeem-Shravan. He rendered many hit songs in movies like Sadak (Tumhe apna bana ne ki kasam khayi hai), Deewana (title song), Baazigar (title song, Kali kali ankhen), Saajan (Mera dil bhi kitna pagal hai), Pardes (Meri Mehbooba, Do dil mil rahe hain), and others.
In late 1990s, Sanu singing career went into decline. He then branched out into acting, appearing in a Bengali film and starting television serials in both Bengali and Hindi. He also did some concerts. His heavily nasal based singing was one of the reasons for this decline. The demand in film industry for playback singing was increasing multi-folds and at the same time, new producers and directors were demanding high quality as well. His competitors from different school and style of singing more closure to the great Mohammed Rafi were gaining in clout and success rates. Kumar Sanu's highly limited range like inability in singing the songs of high pitch and notes started to hurt him. In his style of singing more closure to the great legendary Kishore Kumar many more clones came in and further reduced his success ratio.
But it is a fact that during the early 1990s and mid 1990s he had exceptional successful ride with huge hits almost every week.
In the 90's he playback for successful actors likeAkshay Kumar, Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Aamir Khan, Sanjay Dutt, Sunny Deol and Anil Kapoor.
However it is alleged that his career got a boost after he was seen in a party arranged for underworld don Dawood Ibrahim. He was seen with music director Anu Malik, actor Anil Kapoor and others. He sang few songs on that party. A TV news channel aired those footage. This was an era in Indian film industry especially Bollywood when financing from underworld was allegedly rampant. It is believed underworld dons were running the industry and even deciding the starcast, Music composers, singers directors. Leading Indian English language national daily Indian Express ran a report[1] on this.
His most recent hit songs include Humraaz, Yeh Dil Aapka Huwa (Pakistan), Karz, Dil Ka Rishta, Indian Babu, Ishq Vishk, Andaaz, Qayamat, Hungama and Footpath. He has also turned his trade at making music for Indian films and also recently as a producer for a new Bollywood film, Utthaan.
[edit] Awards
[edit] Filmfare Awards
- 1990: Aab Tere Bin Jeelenge - Aashiqui
- 1991: Mera Dil Bhi Kitna Pagal Hai - Saajan
- 1992: Sochenge Tumhe Pyaar - Deewana
- 1993: Yeh Kaali Kaali Aankhen - Baazigar
- 1994: Ek Ladki Ko Dekha - 1942: A Love Story
[edit] Other awards
- 2000: Aankhon Ki Gustakhiyan - Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam
