Saturday 7 May, 2011

Jagjit Singh: One More King in the Ghazals World



Born on 8th February 1941, Jagjit Singh is  the name which every Indian knows not only for Ghazals but for classical songs. He is also a music director and a composer. He has sung songs in various Indian languages like Punjabi, Hindi, Gujarati, Urdu, Sindhi, etc. Also he had won a Padma Bhushan award in 2003.

Jagjit Singh was born in Sri Ganganagar, Rajasthan. His family call him by the name Jeet. He was brought up as Sikh by religion. He completed his Graduation in Arts at DAV college, Jalandhar. Later he did Post Graduation in History from Kurukshetra University in Haryana. From his childhood only he has a attachment to music. His teacher Pandit Chaganlal Sharma taught him music for 2 years. Later as having a intense interest Jagjit Singh devoted his 6 years for learning Indian Classical Music like Thumri, Khayal, Dhrupad under the guidance of Ustad Jamaal Khan.

He arrived in Mumbai in 1965 and as all others struggle for making his presence in music industry. First he started with singing for advertisements and at events like marriages and parties. His first singing was in the Gujarati movie "Dharati Na Chhoru" produced by Mr. Suresh Amin. Later in 1976 his album was released the "The Unforgetables" on HMV LP Records. This album was much popular due to the fresh voice of Jagjit Singh and as this one was a blend of Classical and Semi Classical Music with the Ghazal. The album also put a new sales record in India.

You may have seen pairs of music singers composers. But Jagjit Singh pair was non other than his wife Chitra Singh who is also a singer. In 1967 Jagjit Singh met Chitra and after 2 years of courtship they got married in 1969. Later they sung together and their most hit duo albums were Ecstasies, A Sound Affair and Passions. Chitra sing was a great companion for Jagjit Singh in his melodious voice. They had a successful path in singing together. "Someone Somewhere" was the last album sung by both of them after their son was expired in a tragic road accident. After that Chitra went silent quitting as a singer.

Jagjit Singh later continued his passion towards singing with albums like Hope, In Search, Insight, Mirage, Visions, Kahkashan, Love Is Blind, Chira, etc. He later also sing with Lata Mangeshkar for the album "Sajda" which became a classical Ghazal album. Later Jagjit Singh take a step forward and came in the Bollywood music industry. In 1980s he sang as playback singer for bollywood movies like Arth, Saath Saath, and Premgeet  which were the hit ones at that time. Jagjit Singh also composed all the songs for Premgeet movie. Later in 90s he sung for the hit movies like Dushman, Sarfarosh, Tum Bin, Tarkeeb, etc.

All the major hit albums of Jagjit Singh are listed below. If you want to get a soothing effect to your ears you can hear them.

Ghazal albums

  • The Unforgettables (1976)
  • Birha Da Sultan(Shiv Kumar Batalvi) Jagjit & Chitra (1978
  • A Milestone (1980)
  • Main aur Meri Tanhaayee (1981)
  • The Latest (1982)
  • Ae mere Dil (1983)
  • Live at Royal Albert Hall (1983)
  • Ecstasies (1984)
  • A Sound Affair (1985)
  • Echoes (1985–86)
  • Beyond Time (1987)
  • Passion / Black Magic (1988)
  • Emotions
  • Man Jite Jagjit (1990)
  • Memorable Ghazals of Jagjit and Chitra (1990)
  • Someone Somewhere (1990)
  • HOPE (1991)
  • Sajda (Two Volumes with Lata Ji) (1991)
  • Kahkashan (Two Volumes) (1991–92), TV Serial Directed by Jalal Agaa
  • Visions (Two Volumes) (1992)
  • In Search (1992)
  • Rare Gems (1992)
  • Face to face (1993)
  • Your Choice (1993)
  • Chiraag (1993)
  • Desires (1994)
  • Insight (1994)
  • Cry for Cry (1995)
  • Mirage
  • Unique (1996)
  • Come Alive in a Concert (1998 (CD))
  • Live at the Wembley
  • Love is Blind (1998)
  • Silsilay (1998) (Lyrics by Javed Akhtar)
  • Marasim (1999) (Lyrics by Gulzar)
  • jaam utha(1999)
  • Saher (2000)
  • Samvedna 2002 (Atal Behari Vajpayee's poetry))
  • Soz (2002) (Lyrics by Javed Akhtar)
  • Forget Me Not (2002)
  • Muntazir (2004)
  • Jeevan Kya Hai (2005)
  • Tum To Nahin Ho (Lyrics by Bashir Badr) (2005)
  • Life Story (2006)
  • Best of Jagjit & Chitra Singh (includes Mere Darwaaze Se Ab Chand Ko Ruksat Kar do by Ali Sardar Jaffrey)
  • Koi Baat Chale (Lyrics by Gulzar)
  • Jazbaat(2008)
  • Inteha (2009)(Promoted on Banoo Main Teri Dulhann)


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