Usha Uthup is an Indian pop, jazz and playback singer. She is known as a pioneer of Indian music pop culture. She was known as the “Didi of Kolkata”.
Wiki/Biography
Usha Uthup was born “Usha Vaidyanath Someshwar Sami Iyer” (maiden name) in Bombay (now Mumbai) on Friday, November 7, 1947 (age 76; as of 2023). Her zodiac sign is Scorpio. She was educated at St. Agnes High School, Mumbai.
appearance
Height (approximately): 5′4″
Weight (approximately): 82kg
Eye color: black
Hair color: black
family, caste and husband
She belongs to a Tamil Brahmin family. Her father Vaidyanath Someshwar Sami is the Deputy Commissioner of Police in Mumbai. She has three sisters, namely Uma Pocha (doctor), Maya Sami (singer), Indira Srinivasan (tourism executive ), and a brother named Shyam Iyer.
Usha Uthup and her sisters
She is married to Ramu Iyer. After Ramu’s sudden death, she married for the second time to Jani Chacko Uthup (businessman), who died of cardiac arrest on July 8, 2024; he was 78 years old.
Usha Uthup and her Jani Chacko Uthup
She has a daughter Anjali Uthup (radio jockey) and a son Sunny Uthup (event manager).
Usha Uthup and her family
Profession
as a singer
She started her singing career on Radio Ceylon’s “Ovaltine Music Hour”. During the show, she sang “Mockingbird Hill.” She has since made several appearances in various shows throughout her teenage years. At the age of 20, she started singing at Safire Theater Complex, a small nightclub called Nine Gems on Mount Road in Chennai. She even performed at nightclubs such as Trincas and Talk of the Town (now called Not Just Jazz by the Bay). While she was performing at the Oberoi Hotel, a film crew from the Navketan unit and Shashi Kapoor noticed her and gave her a chance to sing playback for the film.
Usha Utup sings
She then made her film debut as a singer in the British film Bombay Talkies (1970). She sang two songs in the movie – “Good Times and Bad Times (English)” and “Hari Om Tat Sat”.
She later sang for the Bollywood film “Devi (1970)”. She made her debut as a singer with the song “Love is Just Below the Corner” for the film Chattakkari (1974). Usha made her debut as a Tamil singer with the song “Love Is Beautiful” from the film Melnattu Marumagal (1975). Her debut as a Telegu singer was with the album “Keechurallu (1991)”. She recorded her first album with Indian composer Louise Banks, for which she was paid Rs. 3500.
as an actor
She made her acting debut in 1975 with the Tamil film Melnattu Marumagal.
She made her debut as a Malayalam actor in 2006 with the film “Pothan Vava”.
She also made a special appearance in Bombay to Goa in 1972. She made her Kannada film debut in 2012 with the film Parie.
dispute
In 1983, Usha filed a defamation suit against the then West Bengal Public Works Minister Jatin Chakroborty after he made several remarks against the singer. Jatin had previously filed a petition to ban Usha from state institutions to protect the tradition and culture of West Bengal from Usha, who he believed had polluted West Bengal through cheap, disco and perverted culture. . Two months later, the High Court ruled in Usha’s favour, declaring that she had all the rights to perform and imposing no restrictions on her.
Awards
- Padma Shri 2011
Usha Utupu receives Padma Shri
- In 2011, she won the Filmfare Award for Best Female Singer for her song “Darling” from the movie “7 Khoon Maaf”
- Mirchi Music Awards 2017 – Lifetime Achievement Award
- Padmasambhava 2024
President Draupadi Murmu briefed Usha Utupu on Padma Shri’s achievements in the field of art
Favorites
- Food: Bhel Puri, Pani Puri, Rasam, Sambhar, Kali Dal
fact
- Her traditional South Indian upbringing influenced her signature look. Kanjeevaram Saree with coin sized bindi.
Usha Uthup’s signature look
- She knows more than five languages. She considers English as her first language, Hindi as her second language, Marathi, French and Tamil as her third, fourth and fifth languages respectively.
- She sings in more than 16 Indian languages and 6 foreign languages.
- When Usha was in school, she was kicked out of music class because her voice was hoarse. Later, her music teacher discovered her interest in music and provided her with clappers and triangles to play on.
- She never received professional music training, but she grew up in a musical atmosphere. Her parents used to listen to Western classical and Carnatic music on the radio, including singers like Kishori Amonkar and Bade Ghulam Ali Khan. She used to join them and enjoyed listening to Radio Ceylon.
- The daughter of her next door neighbor SMA Pathan (Deputy Commissioner of Police) influenced Usha to learn Hindi and study Indian classical music.
- She first met her husband Jani Chacko Uthup at the Trincas nightclub in Kolkata.
- Initially, she was supposed to sing “Dum Maaro Dum” from Hare Rama Hare Krishna (1971) with Asha Bhosle, but could not do so. According to Usha, she and Asha rehearsed the song together, but on the day of recording, Usha was not called. She eventually called RD Burman to confirm her schedule, and Burman responded that only Asha could sing the song. However, she later had the opportunity to sing the English portion of the song.
- In 1968, she recorded the popular songs “Jambalaya”, “Greenback Dollar” (The Kingston Trio) and “Scotch and Soda” (The Kingston Trio) in English on an EP called Love Story.
- While she was recording songs for the EP, she also spent time in London and frequently visited Vernon Corea’s BBC offices in The Langham, London.
- She was also interviewed by a popular radio program called London Voices East, which aired on BBC Radio London.
- In the late 1960s, the then Kenyan Prime Minister Jomo Kenyatta awarded Usha an honorary citizen of Kenya.
- She also sang two volumes of Karadi Rhymes, Indian nursery rhymes written for Indian children by Karadi Tales.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umc1O5tVZbY
- She has also served as a judge on reality singing shows such as Bharat Ki Shaan: Singer – Season 2 (2012), Star Singer, The Voice, etc.
- She also composed and recorded the song “Peace Prayer” based on a poem by former Indian President Abdul Kalam
- She has been involved in several government and non-government projects to aid various social causes such as women empowerment, human trafficking, child abuse, health issues, etc.
- She loves watching IPL. She supports Kolkata Knight Riders.
Usha Uthup supports Kolkata Knight Riders
- She was associated with Mother Teresa for more than 47 years. Usha first met Teresa during a visit to an old homeopath named Amy. The singer often stopped to visit Teresa on her way to the studio. Mother Teresa would also invite her to sing at three of her ashrams (Prem Daan, Shishu Mandir and Mother House). Usha also performed many benefit concerts for the Missionaries of Charity, especially in Calcutta, and still does.
Usha Utup and Mother Teresa
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education