Top 5 Greatest Indian Male Singers
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K.J. Yesudas was born on 10 January 1940 in Fort Kochi, Kingdom of Cochin, British India. He is a music artist and actor, known for Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja (2009), Moondram Pirai (1982) and Kaththi (2014). He has been married to Prabha since 1970.- Music Artist
- Music Department
- Actor
Mohammed Rafi, whose voice brought to life hundreds of melodies, was born in a village Kotla Sultan Singh near Amritsar long before India attained its independence. But music training beckoned him to Lahore where he cut his musical teeth under the hawk-like eye of Ustad Ghulam Ali Khan. He made his singing debut in the Punjabi film Gul baloch by rendering a duet with Zeenat Begum, 'Soniye Ni Heeriye Ni' composed by Shyamsunder.
Wadia Movietone was a prominent film company and it was Homi Wadia who saw the talent in Mohammed Rafi and insisted that he sing for his forthcoming film Sharbati Ankhen under the Music directorship of Feroz Nizami. The voice of Mohammed Rafi encompassed a tremendous range, which is unparalleled. The peculiar trait that separates a playback singer from a classical vocalist is not the range or ability as a singer but the voice quality. With Mohammed Rafi it was the ultimate combination that helped him reign supreme in the field of playback singing. His voice quality combined with his unsurpassed range made him stand apart from his contemporaries.
His voice suited any genre of music be it a moving ghazal like Aap Ke Pehloo Main Aakar Ro Diye, a plaintive bhajan like O Duniya Ke Rakhawale, or a wild and whacky Shanker-Jaikishan composition like Chahe Koi Mujhe Jungle Kahe. Mohammed Rafi added his delectable nuances to the melody and made it immortal. His voice had this unique feature of screen adaptability and when it merged with his intelligence as a singer it helped him to tailor his voice across an array of faces that remain entrenched in our memory books. Comedian Johnny Walker had a voice that was queerly rounded. Mohammed Rafi's take on him was phenomenal in songs like Sar Jo Tera Chakraye under S D Burman in Pyasa and Aye Dil Hai Mushkil Jeena Yaha from CID. Mohammed Rafi managed to sound exactly like Johnny Walker would if he sang the song himself. Rafi summoned Johnny Walker a day or two prior to the song picturization and then contributed his bit to add to the character Johnny Walker played on screen.
Honestly speaking it would not be in any way an overstatement to say that heroes like Biswajit (Pukarta chala hoon main), Bharat Bhushan (Zindagi Bhar Nahin Bhoolegi Woh Barsaat Ki Raat), Joy Mukherjee (Bade Miyan Deewane) are remembered more for the songs that were picturised on them with Rafi lending his golden voice to their average acting abilities.
Mohammed Rafi was known for his altruistic behavior, which was exhibited on several occasions. He has been known to charge just a token amount as his fees for singing songs of Music Directors who could not afford his regular charges. Many a times Mohammed Rafi has sung songs without charging a single penny to the Music Directors. A case in point is the film Aap ke Deewane with which actor Rakesh Roshan began his phase as a Producer-Director. Rafi sang the title song of the film but did not charge any money because he felt that he liked the song a lot and after all it was only a line, which he had to render. Very few singers were known to be so good at heart. This innate goodness in him came to the fore when he sang most of his songs.
In his glorious career Mohammed Rafi won the coveted Filmfare Award of best playback singer no less than six times. He was also decorated with the Padmashri by the Government of India. With the advent of Kishore Kumar as a major singing sensation Rafi sahab's career received a slight jolt in the late 60s and the early 70s but he bounced back with verve in films like Sargam, Karz, Hum Kisise Kam Nahin, Poonam and his last song under the baton of Laxmikant-Pyarelal for the film Aas Paas. He succumbed to the dreaded heart-attack on the 31st of July 1980 -ironically the man was a teetotaler and a non- smoker. He was in his mid fifties.
His funeral procession was one of the largest that the city of Mumbai has ever witnessed. The world of Music lost one of its brightest luminaries on 31st July 1980 but his melodious voice still stops music lovers in their tracks. Notable Films: Aar Paar, Baiju Bawra, Barsat Ki Raat, Dosti, Ek Musafir Ek Haseena, Hum Dono, Pyasa, Shaheed, Teesri Manzil- Music Artist
- Music Department
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S.P. Balasubrahmanyam was born on 4 June 1946 in Konetampet, Pallipattu, Chittoor District, Andhra Pradesh [now Tiruvallur District, Tamil Nadu], India. He was a music artist and actor, known for Maine Pyar Kiya (1989), Enthiran (2010) and Andaz Apna Apna (1994). He was married to Savitri S.. He died on 25 September 2020 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.- Music Artist
- Music Department
- Composer
Shankar Mahadevan was born on 3 March 1967 in Chembur, Bombay, Maharashtra, India. He is a music artist and composer, known for Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003), My Name Is Khan (2010) and Dil Chahta Hai (2001).- Music Department
- Composer
- Actor
Krishnakumar Kunnath or K.K. (as he is popularly known as) was born on August 23, 1968. This Delhi-based singer came to Mumbai in 1994 in search for his career and finally, he got a call to sing a one-minute jingle for singer Leslie Lewis for UTV which kick started his career. He started singing and the age of two and was a part of his college rock band. He has sung over 3500 jingles including Monte Carlo, TVS Scooty, Amul, Britannia and Pepsi's Yeh Dil Maange More in a span of four years. His dream to sing for a Bollywood movie materialized when Vishal Bharadwaj asked him to sing "Chod Aaye Hum" in Sampooran Singh Gulzar's Maachis (1996). But what catapulted him into the big league was the wildly popular "Tadap Tadap" in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999). He has recorded songs in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Bengali, Assamese and Gujarati languages films.
On 31st May 2022, KK passed away at the age of 53 in Kolkata after suffering from a heart attack.