World Music Day 2018: 7 Most Underrated Bollywood Singers Who Didn’t Get Their Due
These five Bollywood singers didn't get the right amount of credit despite being immensely talented.
Bollywood and music are two things that cannot be separated. Song, dance and music sequences play an integral part in every Hindi film, irrespective of the genre. It is the singers whose voice brings to life a song on the screen. Imagine what if a melodious and appropriate voice isn’t be behind the actors on whom a song is picturised? The whole experience of music will be different. Bollywood has seen some great singers like Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar, Udit Narayan, Kumar Sanu, Alka Yagnik, Shaan, Sonu Nigam, Shreya Ghoshal and Arjit Singh across generations. But these are just names who gained popularity. There remains a set of singers who despite being very talented didn’t attain much stardom. Some of their songs did become hits, but the singers were soon forgotten. On World Music Day, June 21, we decided to rewind our memory and collate a list of singers who have given their voice to some gems of Bollywood but didn’t receive enough recognition.
Here is a list of seven Bollywood singers who we think are underrated for the talent they possess –
Jaspinder Narula
Jaspinder Narula's voice has a unique flavour of Punjab. She has sung some lovely compositions like Judaai judaai, Tare hain barati, Pyar to hona hi tha, Tera rang balle balle, but never got enough recognition for her energy-packed performances in Hindi cinema.
One of Jaspinder Narula's most popular song is Pyaar Toh Hona Hi Tha's title track. You can listen to it here -
Anuradha Paudwal
Anuradha Paudwal has play backed for popular Bollywood songs like Tu mera hero ha, Dil hai ke manta nahin, Dhak dhak karne laga and Bahut pyar karte hain. She has also lent her voice to many religious songs like bhakti songs and bhajans.
Here's her song dhak dhak karne laga, from the film Beta, featuring Anil Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit -
Kavita Seth
Kavita Seth is another name in Bollywood who is immensely talented, but less recognized. She has also sung ghazals and sufi songs. Songs like Gunja sa hai koi iktara, Tum hi ho bandhu, Mora piya and Jeete hain chal are some famous Bollywood numbers that she has playbacked for.
She won a Filmfare award for recreating the song Gunja sa hai koi iktara from Wake Up Sid. You can enjoy it here -
Aditi Paul
A contestant in Indian Idol 1, Aditi Paul got her big Bollywood break with Sanjay Leela Bhansali's film Goliyon Ki Rasleela Ram-Leela. She has also recorded songs in Tamil and Bengali. Paul also lent her voice to the blockbuster film Bahubali for the song Veereon ka veer aa.
Paul's voice perfectly blended with Deepika Padukone-Ranveer Singh's sizzling chemistry in the song Ang laga de. Watch it here:
Sadhna Sargam
Despite having a career of over three decades, Sadhna Sargam didn't really gain enough recognition as a Bollywood singer. She also sings meditation songs for spiritual foundations. Sargam has recorded song in various Indian languages including Hindi, Tamil, Meitei, Marathi, Odia, Telugu, Bengali, Kannada, Malayalam and Gujarati. The Maharashtra government also honoured her with the Lata Mangeshkar Award. Some of her popular Bollywood numbers are Main teri hu janam, Aao na, Saat samundar paar and Har kisi ko nahi milta.
Most recently, she sung in Dard karaara in Ayushmann Khurana and Bhumi Pednekar starrer film Dum Laga Ke Haisha. You can listen to it here:
Amitabh Bhattacharya
Amitabh Bhattacharya is one man who dons many hats. He is more popular as a lyricist and has also won several awards for his lyrics. But Bhattacharya also has a soothing voice and has sung some popular Bollywood songs in films like Lootera, 2 States, Happy Ending and Chennai Express.
His song Ankahee from Lootera is one of the most underrated yet soulful work of his. You can listen to it here:
Lucky Ali
Most recently, we got to hear Lucky Ali’s melodious voice in the song Safarnama from Tamasha (2015). Ali was a popular name in the 90s, though he never really go enough credit for creating the kind of music he did. Be it songs from his albums like O sanam, Aa bhi ja, Gori teri aankhen or his Bollywood numbers like Ek pal ka jeena, Na tum jaano na hum and Hairat the soulfulness of Ali’s voice gives life to the words he sings.
You can listen to O Sanam, one of Lucky Ali's most popular songs from his first album Sunoh, here:
These are some Bollywood singers who sung many good songs but couldn't enjoy the kind of popularity some other singers do. Though, with their amazing performances they have carved a niche for themselves and the songs they have lent their voices to will always be a reminder of their talent. If we missed your favourite singer, who is also underrated, you can let us know in the comments. Happy World Music Day!
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 21, 2018 11:34 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).