Bollywood Home » Singers » Udit Narayan Udit Narayan is possibly one of the most popular singers in Bollywood. He is a versatile playback singer who has sung in commercial Hindi, Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam, Tamil and Nepali-language movies. He was born in Bharadah in Saptari, Nepal. In the early 1970's he began his career by singing for Radio Nepal in Bhojpuri, Bengali, Nepal Bhasa, English, Maithili, and Nepali folk songs.

Later he shifted to Mumbai in 1978 on a music scholarship. He trained in Indian classical music in Mumbai at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan for six years. His first break in music came in 1980 when music director and composer Rajesh Roshan requested him to perform for the Hindi movie Unees Bees. His actual success came in 1988 with the Bollywood blockbuster movie Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak. This success earned him the Filmfare Award.



With this success he became as one of the successful playback singers in the Indian movie industry and today Udit Narayan is considered a popular name among the host of Bollywood singers. He also became popular in Nepal where he sang in popular Nepali movies. He lends his voice in mostly Aamir Khan movies like Jo Jeeta Wohi Shikander, Dil and others. Udit Narayan also acted in a few Nepali movies like Pirati and Kusume Rumal.

From 1992 to 1995 he was nominated for Filmfare Awards. A turning point came with the movie Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge. The song "Mehndi Lagake Rakhna" in the movie won him the Filmfare award for best male playback singer. In 1996 he won for the song "Pardesi Pardesi" in Raja Hindustani.

For the next 10 years he was the reigning king of Bollywood playback singing. He won numerous awards and was a favorite among well known musicians like A. R. Rahman, Vishal Bhardwaj, Anu Malik, Jatin Lalit, Kalyanji-Anandji, Bappi Lahiri, Rajesh Roshan, Laxmikant-Pyarelal, Nadeem-Shravan and Shankar Mahadevan.

He is also a favorite among well known directors like Yash Chopra, Karan Johar and Sanjay Leela Bhansali. He has sung for Bollywood megastar Shahrukh Khan in movies like Mohabbatein, Swades, Darr, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, Veer Zaara and Dil To Pagal Hai.

Some awards which Udit Narayan has won are -

National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer -

Mitwa in Lagaan- 2002
Chhote Chhote Sapne in Zindagi Khoobsurat Hai - 2003
Ye Taara Wo Taara in Swades - 2005

IIFA Best Male Playback Award -

Chand Chupa Badal Mein in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam - 2000

This talented singer is often compared with legendary singers like Kishore Kumar and Mohammed Rafi.

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