Pankaj Udhas was born on 17 May 1951 in Jetpur, Gujarat, and died on 26 February 2024 at Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai, aged 72. He was one of the best-known ghazal singers of his generation. He received the Padma Shri in 2006 and was honoured with the Padma Bhushan posthumously. His brothers, Manhar Udhas and Nirmal Udhas, were also singers; Manhar Udhas had some success in Hindi film playback and Nirmal is a ghazal singer.
His first album, Aahat, came out in 1980 and brought him to a wider audience. Through the 1980s he released a steady run of ghazal albums, and his soft, unhurried baritone suited the form.
His widest fame came from a film appearance. In Mahesh Bhatt’s Naam (1986) he sang “Chitthi Aayi Hai” on screen, a song about a migrant’s longing for home that is still associated with Indians living abroad. In 1994 he sang “Na Kajre Ki Dhar” with Sadhana Sargam for Mohra, but the concert stage and the album remained the centre of his career.
He co-founded Khazana – A Festival of Ghazals, a charity concert series whose proceeds go to the Parents Association Thalassemic Unit Trust and the Cancer Patients Aid Association. His Padma citation dates the founding to 2002, though some reports say 2001. The festival has since run for more than 20 editions and includes a talent hunt for emerging ghazal singers.
Tributes after his death called him one of the last great voices of the mainstream ghazal. His albums and the Khazana festival are his main legacy.
Featured image: Pankaj Udhas at the launch of Star Union Dai-ichi Life Insurance in Mumbai, 9 February 2009 (cropped). Photo by Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, licensed under GODL-India, via Wikimedia Commons.
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