Holding the record 7 Filmfare awards and 35 nominations at present, Alka Yagnik entered the music world with her dazzling Ek Do Teen in the 1988 movie Tezaab. Her golden voice and songs continue to reverberate in our hearts all the time.

D.O.B: March 20, 1966

Marital Status: Unmarried

Place of Birth: Kolkata, West Bengal

Family: Mother Subha Yagnik is a trained singer in Indian classical music.

TV Shows

She judged various Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenges shows and Star Voice of India.

Recognitions

20 of her tracks feature in BBC’s Top 40 Bollywood Soundracks of all time.

Her song Choli Ke Peechhe was voted as Hottest Song of the Century by Sanona.comâ„¢, a Bollywood Pay-Per-View movie-streaming portal

Awards

Filmfare Awards Ek Do Teen Film: Tezaab (1989), Choli Ke Peeche (with Ila Arun) Film: Khalnayak (1994), Meri Mehbooba Film: Pardes (1998), Taal Se Taal Film: Taal (2000), Dil Ne Yeh Kaha Hai Dil Se Film: Dhadkan (2001), O Re Chhori Film: Lagaan (2002), Hum Tum Film: Hum Tum (2005)

National Film Awards Ghoongat Ki Aad Se Film: Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke (1993), Kuch Kuch Hota Hai Film: Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998)

Zee Cine Awards Kuch Kuch Hota Hai Film: Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998), Kaho Naa…Pyaar Hai Film Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai (2001), Tumhi Dekho Naa Film: Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2007).

IIFA Awards Taal Se Taal Film: Taal (2000), Kaho Naa…Pyaar Hai Film Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai (2001)

Early Life

Backed by her mother Subha Yagnik, a trained classical music singer, Alka started singing bhajans for Akashvani (All India Radio) Calcutta at an early age of six. By the age of ten, her mother took her to Mumbai as a child singer. She was advised to wait until her voice matured. Later, she got an introduction to Raj Kapoor, who in turn sent her with a letter to Laxmikant. Laximikant gave her two alternatives: immediately start as a dubbing artist or start later as a singer. She chose the latter. Her first song was Thirkat Ang for the film Paayal Ki Jhaankar in 1980. Her next song was Mere Aangne for the 1981 movie Lawaaris. Her popularity and fame came to the fore when she sang Ek Do Teen for the 1988 film Tezaab, for which she also won her first Filmfare Award.

Collaborations with Music Directors

With Laxmikant- Pyarelal, her songs were for many big bollywood blockbusters like Hum, Khuda Gawah, Agneepath and other hit films like Tezaab, Khalnayak among others. She worked with Nadeem- Shravan to sing in movies such as Saajan (1991), Phool Aur Kaante (1991), Deewana (1992) Dilwale (1994), Raja (1995), Raja Hindustani (1996), Kasoor (2001), Andaaz (2003) and remained one of this duo’s lead female playback singers.

Under Music Directors Jatin –Lalit she sang for films like Khiladi (1992), Yes Boss (1997), Sarfarosh (1999), Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (2001), and Hum Tum, while with Anu Malik her songs featured in movies like Baazigar(1993), Soldier(1998), Refugee (2001), Ishq Vishk (2003), LOC Kargil (2003) and Umrao Jaan (2006) among others.

In her association with AR Rahman, she sang many critically acclaimed songs for films like Taal (1999), Lagaan (2001), Zubeida (2001), The Legend of Bhagat Singh (2002), Yuvvraj (2008), Slumdog Millionaire (2008) and Ada (2010).

Her popular scores with Rajesh Roshan include Karan Arjun (1995), Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai (2000), Aap Mujhe Achche Lagne Lage (2002), Koi Mil Gaya (2003), and Krissh (2006). She also worked with Anand –Milind on several films like Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988), Coolie (1995), Loafer (1996), Hero No. 1 (1997), Sanam (1997), Mrityudand (1997) and Jaanwar (1999).

With music directors Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, she sang for films like Dil Chahta Hai (2001), Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003), Lakhsya (2004) and Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006) among others.

She was also instrumental in giving Himesh Reshammiya his break in the 1998 film Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya in the song Odh Li Chunariya and then moving on to sing together for various movies like Hello Brother (1999), Humraaz (2002), Chura Liyaa Hai Tumne (2003), Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya?(2005), 36 China Town (2006), Milenge Milenge (2010) etc.

Alka has worked with a gamut of composers and music directors like Kalyanji-Anandji, Rahul Dev Burman, Sajid-Wajid, Bappi Lahiri, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Sandesh Shandilya and so on, creating a name for herself that stood the test of her three decades long career in playback singing. Her duets with Udit Narayan, Kumar Sanu, Abhijeet Bhattacharya, Sonu Nigam, Vinod Rathod and Shaan are also very popular.

She recorded her songs in albums like Tum Aaye and Shairana. In the album Shairana, she worked with award winning lyricist Javed Akhtar and noted singer Hariharan. She also recorded a number of devotional songs, as also the Hanuman Chalisa.

TRIVIA

Having an ability to sing in many languages like Urdu, Gujarati, Avadhi, Asamese, Bengali, Bhojpuri, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Oriya, Nepali, Rajasthani, Telugu, Tamil and English, Alka Yagnik already has a career spanning three decades.

Here are some interesting snippets about her life:

She shares the honor of the highest number of Filmfare Awards won (7) by a single female playback singer with Asha Bhosle and She holds the record for maximum number of Filmfare award nominations - 35

Her song Taal Se Taal Mila was voted as the best song of the century in a poll conducted by DesiMartini, Hindustan Times and Fever 104

Her song Chamma Chamma features in the song “Hindi Sad Diamonds” from the movie Moulin Rouge.

Alka Yagnik shares the best female playback singer award with Ila Arun for the song ‘Choli Ke Peeche’ from the movie Khalnayak. This is the only instance in the history of any Indian award, when the best female playback singer award was shared between 2 singers.

Alka Yagnik got all the nominations for Filmfare Awards for Best Playback singer, Female in 1993.