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Alka Yagnik- Indian Singer
Alka Yagnik is an Indian singer who is ranked among the best-known Hindi playback singers of all-time. She is a seven-time winner of the Filmfare Best Female Playback Award. Alka has done playback singing for over 600 Indian films, and has sung approximately 16,000 songs to date.
Alka was born on September
12, 1965 in
Kolkata, West Bengal, India in a Gujarathi family. Her mother Shubha Yagnik,was a classical singer
herself. Alka too had a flair for music, and would need
a radio to help her sleep from the age of five or so.
Shubha was determined her daughter succeed as a singer.
Alka thus underwent rigorous music training from a very
early age under a series of teachers. At the age of
eight, Alka was already an All India Radio artiste in
Calcutta. She won a Sugam Sangeet competition in
Calcutta at the age of 11.
She came to Mumbai at the age of 10, along with her
mother to try her luck as a child singer. Eminent music
directors Kalyanji Anandji were impressed by
her beautiful voice. However, they advised her to wait
till her voice matured to become a full-fledged singer.
Alka also received the same advice from renowned music
composer Laxmikant Pyarelal and decided to wait for
three more years.
Alka Yagnik began her Bollywood music career in 1979, with a few lines in Rajashri's "Payal Ki Jhankar." Even though her first full-fledged song was "Hum Tum Rahenge" for Rajesh Roshan in Hamari Bahu Alka (1982), her first appearance proved to be the mega hit "Mere Angne Mein." in the movie Laawaris . In an industry where big and already established names were ruling, it was not easy for anyone to even get noticed. But real talent never goes waste, and she finally got her big break nine years after entry through "Ek Do Theen, Char...," in the movie Tezaab (1988). Alka Yagnik's voice is the sound of many young-generation heroines of the present day. She has done playback-singing for many famous actresses such as Rakhee Gulzar, Hema Malini, Farida Jalal, Rekha, Kajol, and Preity Zinta. Besides Hindi-language songs, she has also sung in Bengali, Marathi, Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, and Punjabi. Alka shares the title with Asha Bhosle for the most number of Filmfare Awards won (7) by a single female playback singer. Alka has also been the judge of various Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge shows, and Star Voice of India, both singing competition shows, in which children or adults of various age groups compete with one another to win the award for best vocals. In addition to this, her song "Chamma Chamma" from China Gate was featured in the song "Hindi Sad Diamonds" from the soundtrack of the film Moulin Rouge!. Married happily to a successful US based business man Neeraj Kapoor , Alka enjoys her family life and holidays are reserved for the closed ones. She has a daughter More.... |
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