KJ Yesudas is, hands down, one of the best singers this country has ever seen. His contribution to Indian music, both cinematic and live, is something that is nothing less than legendary. While he may not be as active in playback singing these days, a few years back, there was hardly a movie soundtrack in Malayalam Cinema that wouldn't feature at least a song from the maestro. Many of Malayalam cinema's best songs are made even more beautiful by Yesudas' absolutely beautiful voice. KJ Yesudas Birthday Special: 10 Tough Songs Sung by the Legendary Gaana Gandharvan That We Can Never Get Tired Listening To!

In a career spanning about six decades, Yesudas has sung about 80,000 songs. While most of them are in Malayalam,  Yesudas has also sung for many other Indian languages except for Punjabi, Assamese, Konkani, and Kashmiri.

When it comes to Bollywood, Yesudas was quite active in Hindi cinema in the '70s and '80s, and have sung very popular songs. His tracks from Chitchor, Sunayana, Sadma, Alaap, still mesmerise the lovers of good music. In the later decades, Yesudas only made rare ventures into Hindi playback singing like "O Bhanwre" in Daud and the indie track "Chamak Cham Cham" et al. In this special feature, we will look at some of the best songs that the great singer has sung in Bollywood.

Gori Tera Gaon Bada Pyara 

Movie: Chitchor

Rajshri film Chitchor has some lovely songs, composed by the late Ravindra Jain, with Yesudas singing all of them. This one, though, remains a perennial standout.

Surmayee Ankhiyon Mein

Movie: Sadma

This beautiful song, composed by Ilaiyaraaja and picturised on Kamal Haasan and the late Sridevi, will move you whether you hear the Hindi version or the Tamil one.

Kahan Se Aaye Badra

Movie: Chashme Buddoor

The semi-classical song, composed by Raj Kamal and co-sung by Haimanti Sukla, is an absolute standout in this Sai Paranjpe classic comedy.

Koi Gata Main So Jata

Movie: Alaap

This wonderful ditty, composed by Jaidev, makes us wish Yesudas would have done more playback singing for Amitabh Bachchan.

Teri Tasveer Ko Seene Se

Movie: Sawan Ko Aane Do

A brilliant soundtrack in a forgotten movie, Sawan Ko Aane Do, whose music was composed by Raj Kamal, has some melodious tracks like "Sawan Ko Aane Do", "Tujhe Dekh Kar", and  "Tere Bin Soona" sung by Yesudas, but this one will leave you goosebumps by the end.

Zid Ka Karo

Movie: Lahu Ke Do Rang

Who ever would think that this beautiful melody would have composed by the Disco King of Bollywood, Bappi Lahiri? There is also a Lata Mangeshkar version that finds a place in the movie.

Ni Sa Ga Ma

Movie: Anand Mahal

This 1977 film never saw the light of the, but the soundtrack of the film, composed by Salil Chaudhary, continues to entrance the listeners. The most beautiful of the lot is "Ni Sa Ga Ma", where the minimal use of instruments enhances Yesudas' mellifluous voice.

Shadjane Paya

Movie: Tansen

Another unreleased film, whose soundtrack was composed by Ravindra Jain, features one of the most difficult songs to sing in playback arena, but Yesudas pulls off the feat with some immaculate class.

Mero Man Anat Kahan

Movie: Chintamani Surdas

This beautiful song was reportedly part of the aforementioned shelved Tansen movie, before it was put as part of this film's soundtrack. The song was picturised on Anup Jalota. Anup Jalota Birthday Special: From Devotional Films to Paatal Lok, When Bhajan Samrat Displayed His Acting Skills.

Mana Ho Tum

Movie: Toote Khilone

Another melodious soundtrack from Bappi Lahiri was heard in this 1978 film, starring Shekhar Kapur and Shabana Azmi, with this Yesudas song standing out tall among the other tracks.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 10, 2022 11:02 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).