Kumar Sanu is an Indian playback singer. He is popularly known as the “King of Melody”.
Wiki/Biography
Kumar Sanu was born in Kolkata on September 23, 1957 (age 61 in 2018) as “Kedarnath Bhattacharya”.
Kumar Sanu childhood photos
He received his bachelor’s degree in commerce from Calcutta University. He received training in Indian classical music and tabla from his father.
appearance
Height (approximately): 5′11″
Eye color: brown
Hair color: black
family, caste and wife
Kumar Sanu was born into a Bengali family. His father, Pashupati Bhattacharya, was a singer and composer.
Kumar Sanu and his father Pashupati Bhattacharya
Kumar Sanu and his mother
His father received musical training from Jiban Upadhyay and Bishodeb Chattopadhyay. His brother’s name is Tapan Bhattacharya and he has a sister named Jayshree Mukherjee. Kumar Sanu married Rita Bhattacharya in the late 1980s.
Rita Bhattacharya
He had a brief romance with actress Kunika Lal.
Kumar Sanu found himself attracted to the then heroine ‘Meenakshi Seshadri’. Later, Meenakshi’s secretary confirmed that Meenakshi and Kumar are in a relationship.
Meenakshi Seshadri
He divorced Rita Bhattacharya in 1994 when she found out about his affair with Meenakshi. He and Rita had three sons, one of whom was Jaan Kumar Sanu (Jico). Jain is also a singer.
Jaan Kumar Sanu
Kumar Sanu married Saloni Sanu and they have a daughter, Annabel K.
Kumar Sanu and Saloni Sanu
He also adopted a girl; her name is Shannon K, an American singer.
Kumar Sanu with his daughters Shannon K and Annabel K
Profession
Kumar Sanu started his career as a playback singer in the Bengali film Tin Konya (1986), playing the role of Sanu Bhattacharya.
sikonia
He made his Bollywood debut as a singer in 1989 with the song “Jashna Hai Mohabbat Ka” from the movie “Hero Hiralal”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAfx2eazwdM
He made his breakthrough in Bollywood with the film Aashiqui, in which he sung almost all the songs. Kumar Sanu has worked with almost every singer in Bollywood, from legendary singers Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle to Anuradha Paudwal, Alka Yagnik and Shreya Ghoshal.
dispute
- Kumar Sanu won the Filmfare Award for Best Playback Male Singer for 5 consecutive years (1990-1994). When he won the award for the fifth time, he said:
I’ll be happy if someone wins next time. “
However, his remarks caused huge controversy. It’s thought he didn’t want to receive movie fare. As a result, it is believed that he did not win the award next year for the song “Tujhe Dekha To Yeh Jaana Sanam”. Despite this, the song was a chart-topper at the time.
- Despite being married to Rita Bhattacharya, he is still in a relationship with actress Meenakshi Seshadri. The two had been dating secretly until Kumar’s secretary was interviewed and their relationship was revealed. Kumar denied his relationship with the actress but eventually came to terms with it, which led to an ugly spat between him and his wife Rita. Eventually, they divorced in 1994. Rita was granted custody of her three sons, but Kumar gained rights to the children by agreeing to pay her a fixed monthly stipend.
Awards, Honors and Titles
- Received an honorary doctorate from American University in 2001
- Kumar Sanu was honored on Mach 31 Day 2001 by Michael R. Turner, Mayor of Dayton, Ohio, USA
- Padma Shri in 2009
Kumar Sanu meets Padma Shri
- Dr. Ambedkar Award 2012
- Maharashtra Ratna Award 2014 by the Government of Maharashtra
- The Government of West Bengal conferred the Lifetime Achievement Award to Mahanayak Samman in 2014
- Sangeet Samman was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Government of West Bengal in 2015
- Celebrations held by the India-UK All-Party Parliamentary Group at the Houses of Parliament in 2018
Kumar Sanu celebrations at UK Houses of Parliament
Film Audience Award
- He has won 5 Filmfare Awards for Best Male Singer; the first was for the song “Ab Tere Bin” in the 1990 movie “Aashiqui”.
Kumar Sanu wins Filmfare Award
favorite thing
- Food: Fish, Chole Bhature
fact
- His family were great devotees of Lord Shiva. Therefore, his family gave him the name “Kedarnath” (another name of Lord Shiva).
- He has been interested in music since childhood. He would play the tabla and sing, and his friends would make bongos out of milk cans. He called it the “Gareebon Ka Orchestra” (poor man’s orchestra).
- His brother and sister were members of the orchestra, and Kumar later joined them as a rhythm player.
- Like him, his father was also an excellent singer. He often listens to his father singing at night. Talking about how he became interested in music, he said that he was never interested in music at first. He added,
He had a school and every year during Saraswati Puja all the children would sing. At the end of the event we would insist that my father sing, which had a huge impact on me. Every night when my father sang at home, he would sing into a small microphone and the entire mohalla would hear his singing. “
- He began performing publicly in 1979, singing at shows and restaurants. His first job was at the Vineet Hotel in Kolkata. His first salary was Rs. Reminiscing about those days, he said a samosas used to cost Rs. 180 where he works.
- He borrowed Rs. In 1986, he received $1,100 from his brother and came to Mumbai with the dream of becoming a singer. In Mumbai, he lived in Vashi with a few friends.
- While in Mumbai, he auditioned at the Aradhana Hotel in Chembur. He sang in front of a large audience and the first song he sang was “Mere Naina Saawan Bhaado” and he received a tip of Rs. 9000. His second song, he got a tip of Rs. 5oo0. Immediately thereafter, he was selected for the position. Kumar worked there for a year.
- Later, he started earning a living by recording a series of Kishore Kumar songs for popular labels in Mumbai.
- While he was recording Kishore Kumar’s song, he accidentally met Jagjit Singh, who was recording his Ghazals in the same studio. Jagjit Singh insisted on meeting Kumar and asked him to sing a song. He sang Kishore Kumar’s “Mere Samne Wali Khidki Mein”. He gave him a song written on paper and asked him to learn it. Kumar learned the song in just 5 minutes and recorded it in just 15-20 minutes. Jagjit Singh hugged him and gave him rupees. 1500.
Kumar Sanu and Jagjit Singh
- Jagjit Singh gave him his first record titled “Karke Sagaai, Ab Karne Chale Ladaai” which was made for a film titled “Aandhiyan”. Unfortunately, the song was never released. Later, Jagjit Singh took him to Kayanji-Ananji where he got his first breakthrough.
- On Kayanji-Ananji’s advice, he changed his name to “Kumar Sanu”. They suggested the name because they believed the fact that he was Bengali would have a detrimental effect on his career. His name “Kumar” comes from Kishore Kumar’s “Kumar” and “Sanu” is his nickname.
- Initially, his name “Sanu” was written as “Shanu”. Later he revised it.
- He holds the Guinness World Record for recording 28 songs in one day.
- He sang the song “Do Dil Mil Rahe Hai” in about 20 minutes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKB1LUojBVA
- He has never worked with AR Rahman. The reason is that he never liked the way he recorded at night.
- When asked which actor best suited his voice, he replied: “Shah Rukh Khan”.
- He likes football. His favorite team is Brazil. He even named his son “Jico” after the Brazilian football player “Jico”.
- In 2004, he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) but later resigned. In 2014, he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party again.
- He opened a school called “Kumar Sanu Vidya Niketan” in New Delhi for poor children.
- In 2006, Kumar produced a film titled “Utthaan”.
- He made special appearances in the films Hum Aapke Dil Mein Rehte Hain (1999) and Dum Laga Ke Haisha (2015).
- In 2023, Kumar appeared as one of the judges in the singing reality show “Indian Idol” aired on Sony Entertainment Television (SET). In an interview, he talked about his role in the play and mentioned that the content of the play is completely original and there is no script.
Kumar Sanu serves as a judge on ‘Indian Idol’ (2023)
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education