Hemlata (born 16 August 1954) is an Indian classically trained

playback singer A playback singer, as they are usually known in South Asian cinema, or ghost singer in Western cinema, is a singer whose performance is pre-recorded for use in films. Playback singers record songs for soundtracks, and the performers lip-sync the ...

in Bollywood. She is best known for her songs in the late 1970s, especially

Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se ''Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se'' is a 1978 Indian Hindi-language drama film, starring Ranjeeta and Sachin and directed by Hiren Nag. It was produced and distributed by Rajshri Productions and showcased music by Ravindra Jain. The film takes in ...

song. She was nominated for

Filmfare Best Female Playback Award The Filmfare Best Female Playback Award is given by ''Filmfare'' as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise a female playback singer who has delivered an outstanding performance in a film song. Although the award cerem ...

five times in the period of 1977–81 and won once for

Chitchor ''Chitchor'' () is a 1976 Indian Hindi-language romantic musical film, written and directed by Basu Chatterjee. The film is a Rajshri Productions film produced by Tarachand Barjatya. It is based on a Bengali story, ''Chittachakor'' by Subod ...

in 1977 for her classical rendition of "Tu Jo Mere Sur Mein" which was duet with K.J. Yesudas, composed by

Ravindra Jain Ravindra Jain (28 February 1944 – 9 October 2015) was an Indian music composer, lyricist and playback singer. He started his career in the early 1970s by composing for several hit movies. His notable works include '' Chor Machaye Shor'' (19 ...

Early life and background

Hemlata was born in

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

as Lata Bhatt into an

Marwari Marwari may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the Marwar region of Rajasthan, India, largely in the Thar Desert ** Marwari people, an Indian ethnic group originating in the Marwar region ** Marwari language, the language of the Marwari ...

Brahmin family and spent her childhood in

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

. She was married to Yogesh Bali, the younger brother of Indian film actress

Yogeeta Bali Yogeeta Bali (born 13 August 1952) is a former Indian Bollywood actress. She was active from the early 1970s to the late 1980s. Biography Yogeeta Bali was born on 13 August 1952, to actors Syed Irshad Hussain and Hardarshan Kaur. A cousin of ...

. Her husband died in 1988 after a prolonged illness. She lives with her son Aditya.

Career

Leading career

In association with

, she had worked on many other songs. Among them is "''Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se''". According to the Binaca Geet Mala (a radio show that used to compile records of album sales), it became the number one song in the year 1978. Hemlata was also nominated for

Filmfare award The Filmfare Awards are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Indian cinema.Al The Filmfare ceremony is one of the most famous film events in India. The awards were introduced by Filmfare magazine of The Time ...

for the best female playback singer for this song. It has received millions of views on YouTube. Hemlata sang on Jain's cassette album ''Sahaj Dhara'' (1991) dedicated to Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, and sang songs from this album in two concerts in Brussels, Belgium in July 1992. In the 1990s,

Doordarshan Doordarshan (), abbreviated as DD, is India's State-owned enterprise, state-owned public broadcasting, public television broadcaster. Established by the Government of India on 15 September 1959, it is owned by the Ministry of Information and B ...

had invited her to perform "Tista Nadi Si Tu Chanchala"

Performing career and albums

She has lent her voice for Ramanand Sagar's epics T.V. Serial Ramayan (She also appeared herself in one episode to perform traditional Meera Bhajan Payoji Maine Ram Ratan Dhan Payoji), as well as Uttar Ramayan (Luv Kush) and Shri Krishna throughout the series. She also rendered the Italian song "

'O sole mio "" () is a well-known Neapolitan song written in 1898. Its Neapolitan-language lyrics were written by Giovanni Capurro and the music was composed by Eduardo di Capua (1865–1917) and Alfredo Mazzucchi (1878–1972).. The title translates ...

" in concert in Italy during Easter 1992. Regarding these three albums, only

Sarhadein ''Sarhadein'' is an Indian television series which aired on Zee TV . The story narrates the similarities between the people living in two countries. Besides, it won a numerous awards at the time it was on-air, such as the Indian television actor ...

was released by Tips. She was the only one

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

singer, who has been selected by the world community of

Sikhs Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Sikh'' ...

and the government of

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

as well as the Holy

Akal Takht The Akal Takht (; ), also spelt as Akal Takhat and historically known as Akal Bunga, is the most prominent of the Takht (Sikhism), five takhts (Seat (legal entity), seats of authority) of the Sikhs. Located within the Golden Temple, Darbar Sah ...

to perform

Gurmat Sangeet Sikh music, also known as Gurbani Sangeet (; meaning ''music of'' ''the speech of wisdom'')'','' and as Gurmat Sangeet (; meaning ''music of the counsel or tenets of the Guru'')'','' or even as Shabad Kirtan (), is the classical music style that i ...

live composed in original Ragas for the celebration of 300 years of Sikh Khalsa Panth at Shri Anandpur Sahib Akal Takht on 13 April 1999. ''Kini Tera Ant Na Paya'' was the only one album of Sikh Sangeet which was especially in her voice and inaugurated by the honourable Chief Minister of

Shri

Prakash Singh Badal Parkash Singh Badal (8 December 1927 – 25 April 2023) was an Indian politician and Sikh rights advocate who served as the 8th Chief Minister of Punjab from 1970 to 1971, from 1977 to 1980, from 1997 to 2002, and from 2007 to 2017, the longes ...

and attended and blessed by honourable Prime Minister of India Shri

Atal Bihari Vajpayee Atal Bihari Vajpayee (25 December 1924 – 16 August 2018) was an Indian poet, writer and statesman who served as the prime minister of India, first for a term of 13 days in 1996, then for a period of 13 months from 1998 ...

. In November 2010, she was in news for filing FIR against the mother in law of

Sonali Bendre Sonali Bendre Behl (born 1 January 1975), known professionally as Sonali Bendre, is an Indian actress predominantly known for her work in Hindi and Telugu films. Considered as one of the leading actresses of the 1990s and early 2000s, Bendre s ...

for cheating Hemlata in a case of selling a bungalow in Lokhandwala, for Rs.25 million.

Awards and nominations

, - , rowspan="2", 1977 , "Tu Jo Mere Sur Mein" (''

'') , rowspan="5",

Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer The Filmfare Best Female Playback Award is given by ''Filmfare'' as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise a female playback singer who has delivered an outstanding performance in a film song. Although the award cerem ...

, , - , "Sun Ke Teri Pukar" (''

Fakira ''Fakira'' is a 1976 Indian Hindi-language crime action film produced by N.N. Sippy and directed by C.P. Dixit. The film stars Shashi Kapoor, Shabana Azmi, Asrani, Aruna Irani, Danny Denzongpa, Asit Sen, Ramesh Deo and Madan Puri. The mus ...

'') , , - , 1979 , "Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se" (''

'') , , - , 1980 , "Megha O Re Megha" ('' Sunayana'') , , - , 1981 , "Tu Is Tarah Se Meri Zindagi Mein Shaamil Hai" ('' Aap To Aise Na The'') ,

Filmography

2000s

1990s

1980s

1970s

1960s

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hemlata Living people Bollywood playback singers Indian women playback singers 1954 births Singers from Hyderabad, India Rajasthani people Film musicians from Andhra Pradesh Singers from Rajasthan Women musicians from Rajasthan 20th-century Indian singers 20th-century Indian women singers 21st-century Indian women singers 21st-century Indian singers Nepali-language singers from India Filmfare Awards winners