Pankaj Udhas (17 May 1951 – 26 February 2024) was an Indian ghazal singer and playback artist who performed primarily in Hindi and Urdu. He was widely regarded as one of the leading exponents of the ghazal in popular Indian music from the 1980s onward, alongside contemporaries such as Jagjit Singh and Talat Aziz. He received the Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian honour, in 2006.
| Full name | Pankaj Udhas |
|---|---|
| Born | 17 May 1951, Jetpur, Saurashtra, Gujarat, India |
| Died | 26 February 2024, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India |
| Profession | Ghazal singer, playback singer |
| Languages | Hindi, Urdu, Gujarati |
| Genres | Ghazal, filmi music |
| Notable debut album | Aahat (1980) |
| Breakthrough film song | "Chitthi Aayi Hai" from Naam (1986) |
| Civilian honour | Padma Shri (2006) |
| Spouse | Farida Udhas |
| Family | Brothers Manhar Udhas and Nirmal Udhas, both singers |
Pankaj Udhas was born into a Gujarati family in Jetpur, in the Saurashtra region of Gujarat. He was the youngest of three brothers; his elder siblings Manhar Udhas and Nirmal Udhas were also professional singers, with Manhar working extensively as a Hindi film playback singer. The family had a tradition of musical interest, and Pankaj's first stage appearance is said to have been as a child during the 1962 Sino-Indian War, when he sang the patriotic song "Ae Mere Watan Ke Logon".
He was initially trained at the Sangeet Natak Academy in Rajkot, where he learned to play the tabla, and later studied vocal classical music under Master Navrang. After moving to Mumbai, he pursued a B.Sc. degree at St. Xavier's College and continued formal training in Hindustani classical music. He learned Urdu in order to render ghazals with greater fidelity to their poetic tradition.
Udhas's first film playback assignment was the song "Mun Re Tu Kahe Na Dheer Dhare" in the film Kamna (1972), although the film itself had limited success. In the late 1970s he travelled to Canada and the United States for ghazal performances, which helped establish a base of overseas listeners and led to his first record contract.
His debut ghazal album, Aahat, was released in 1980 and was followed by a long sequence of studio albums that made him a household name in the ghazal genre. Subsequent releases included Mukarar (1981), Tarrannum (1982), Mehfil (1983), Nayaab, Aafreen, Shagufta, Khazana, Hasrat, Rubaai, Ghoonghat, Mahek, Yaad, Khayaal, Stolen Moments, In Search of Meer, and several volumes titled Khazana, among others. Across his career he released several dozen solo ghazal albums.
His most enduring film success came with the song "Chitthi Aayi Hai", composed by Laxmikant–Pyarekant for Mahesh Bhatt's film Naam (1986). The song, picturised on Udhas himself, became a defining anthem of nostalgia for the Indian diaspora and is often cited among the most popular Hindi film songs of the 1980s. He sang for numerous films thereafter, including Saajan (1991), Phir Teri Kahani Yaad Aayee (1993), Mohra (1994), Naam, Ghayal, Yeh Dillagi and others, often appearing on screen during his songs.
Udhas was an active concert performer in India, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and the Gulf states. He was associated with the annual Khazana ghazal festival in Mumbai, which was conceived as a charity event in support of cancer patients and the thalassaemia cause, and which he hosted for many years.
Pankaj Udhas married Farida Udhas, and the couple had two daughters, Nayaab and Reva. He lived in Mumbai for most of his adult life. His brother Manhar Udhas continued to be active as a playback singer, while Nirmal Udhas remained a ghazal artist; the three occasionally performed together.
Pankaj Udhas was instrumental in bringing the ghazal, traditionally a refined classical-poetic form, to a mass audience in India during the 1980s. His clear diction, melodic accessibility and choice of comparatively contemporary Urdu poetry made the genre approachable to listeners who were not specialists in Urdu literature. By coupling album-driven ghazal singing with film playback, particularly through "Chitthi Aayi Hai", he helped position the ghazal as a popular rather than purely classical form, and acted as a cultural touchstone for first-generation non-resident Indians.