About
Manhar Udhas is a veteran Indian singer, the eldest of the Udhas brothers, known both as a ghazal singer and as a prolific Hindi and Gujarati playback voice. Over a career spanning more than five decades he has recorded for hundreds of films and released over thirty albums.
Born in 1943 in Saurashtra and trained in mechanical engineering, Manhar Udhas moved to Mumbai in the late 1960s and built a long career as a playback singer, recording for over three hundred films in Gujarati, Hindi, Punjabi, Bengali and other languages, and as a ghazal singer with more than thirty albums, the latest including Alankar (2015) and Aakarshan (2018). With his brothers Pankaj and Nirmal he was part of the early performing group the Fabulous Three Brothers.
The artistry
Manhar Udhas is admired for a warm, controlled voice often compared to that of the great Mukesh, at home in the ghazal as well as in film and Gujarati song. His singing pairs clear diction with emotional restraint, whether in a soulful ghazal or a Bollywood melody.
[Atlas Perspective] Manhar Udhas is a veteran voice with a vast body of ghazal, Gujarati and film work. For cultural festivals, community and nostalgic-programme events, especially Gujarati-facing, he is a dependable choice.
Manhar Udhas represents a generation of singers who moved fluidly between film playback and the ghazal and regional song, and, as part of the Udhas family, contributed to the popularity of the Gujarati and ghazal traditions across five decades.