Pankaj Udhas: He sang in Kannada too

Pankaj Udhas, who passed away on February 26, was “accused” (by self-styled purists) and “credited” (by unbiased listeners) for taking the ghazal, considered an elite form of poetry, to the masses.

In his own words to me, “You cannot appreciate or come to love something you cannot understand, as everyone is not well-versed in Urdu. So I took it up as a mission to simplify and popularise the ghazal with simple words and music and a sound that suited the times.”

With hundreds of ghazals, geet, nazm and film songs, Pankaj made a distinct niche for himself, and ‘Chitthi aayi hai’ from ‘Naam’ (1986), got him instant global fame and recognition. Though hailing from Gujarat, he also sang in multiple languages including Marathi, Punjabi, Marwari and Bengali.

He also sang two Kannada songs, composed by Hamsalekha, in the film, ‘Sparsha’. The solo was ‘Chandakintha chanda’ and the duet was ‘Bareyada mounada kavithe’ with Kavita Krishnamurthy Subramaniam. She talks to Showtime of her memories with the maestro.