Purushottam Upadhyay (15 August 1934 – 11 December 2024) was an Indian musician, singer and composer who primarily worked in Gujarati and

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

languages. He was well known in Gujarati semi-classical music and composed music for over 20 films and 30 plays. He was awarded the

Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

in 2017.

Life and career

Upadhyay was born on 15 August 1934 in Uttarsanda (now in

Kheda district Kheda District, known as Kaira District during British rule, is one of the thirty-three districts of Gujarat state in western India. It is part of the region known as Charotar, consisting of Kheda and Anand districts. Kheda was an administrativ ...

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

, India), had an interest in music from his childhood. His singing passion developed alongside his interest in listening music. He won numerous awards for performances during his school days. Without informing his family, he left his hometown to pursue a career in music in

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

(now Mumbai) but returned due to lack of opportunities. He started working in

Gujarati theatre Gujarati theatre refers to theatre performed in the Gujarati language, including its Gujarati language#Dialects, dialects. Gujarati theatre is produced mainly in Gujarat and Maharashtra, in cities like Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Baroda, Surat and els ...

companies and acted in supporting roles. He came to attention of theatre actor Ashraf Khan when he sang a song originally performed by

Noor Jehan Noor Jehan (21 September 192623 December 2000) was a Pakistani playback singer and actress who worked in both British India and later in Pakistan's cinema of Pakistan, cinema. Her career lasted over six decades, during which she recorded 10,00 ...

. He returned to Bombay. With the recommendation of Ashraf Khan, he secured a singing contract with

All India Radio All India Radio (AIR), also known as Akashvani (), is India's state-owned public broadcasting, public radio broadcaster. Founded in 1936, it operates under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broa ...

, Bombay. He also started gaining minor opportunities in the music industry. He developed personal connections with several artists, including

Amirbai Karnataki Amirbai Karnataki ( – 3 March 1965) was a famous actress/singer and playback singer of the early Hindi cinema and was famous as ''Kannada Kokila''. Mahatma Gandhi was an ardent fan of her song '' Vaishnav Jan To''. Early life Amirbai Karn ...

Alla Rakha Alla Rakha Qureshi (29 April 1919 – 3 February 2000) was an Indian tabla player who specialised in Hindustani classical music. Widely revered as one of history's most iconic players of the tabla, he was a frequent accompanist of sitar player ...

Dilip Dholakia Dilip Dholakia (15 October 1921 – 2 January 2011), often credited as D. Dilip or Diliprai in Hindi films, was an Indian music composer and singer. Born and educated in Junagadh, he was introduced to music in early life due to his family. Starti ...

, and

Avinash Vyas Avinash Vyas was an Indian music composer, lyricist and singer of Gujarati films who composed music for over 190 Gujarati films. He was a winner of Gujarat State Film award for the best lyricist and best music 25 times. He was honoured by the ...

. Under guidance of Vyas, he organized music programs at

Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan is an Indian educational trust. It was founded on 7 November 1938 by K.M Munshi, with the support of Mahatma Gandhi. The trust programmes through its 119 centres in India, 7 centres abroad and 367 constituent institut ...

and also taught at music classes there in Vyas's absence. He also studied classical music from Navrang Nagpurkar. Upadhyay conducted solo music performances in India and abroad. Apart from singing in Gujarati Sugam Sangeet (semi-classical music), he sang ghazals. He worked with

Kalyanji–Anandji Kalyanji–Anandji were an Indian composer duo: Kalyanji Virji Shah (30 June 1928 – 24 August 2000) and his brother Anandji Virji Shah (born 2 March 1933). The duo are known for their work on Hindi film soundtracks, with many evergreen son ...

where he gained experience as a music composer. He composed music for playback singers such as

Lata Mangeshkar Lata Mangeshkar (; born Hema Mangeshkar; 28 September 1929 – 6 February 2022) was an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer. She is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential singers of the Indian subcontinent. He ...

Asha Bhosle Asha Bhosle (; ; born 8 September 1933) is an Indian playback singer, entrepreneur, actress and television personality who predominantly works in Indian cinema. Known for her versatility, she has been described in the media as one of the ...

, and

Mohammed Rafi Mohammed Rafi (24 December 1924 – 31 July 1980) was an Indian playback singer. He is considered to have been one of the greatest and most influential singers of the Indian subcontinent. Rafi was notable for his versatility and range of voice ...

. In the domain of Gujarati Sugam Sangeet, Hansa Dave was among the singers who performed under his direction. He composed music for more than 20 films and 30 plays. His well known Gujarati songs include "He Ranglo Jamyo", "Divaso Judaina Jay Che", "Ae Jaashe Jarur Milan Sudhi", "Have Mandir Na Barana", "Mari Koi Dalkhi Ma" and "Kahu Chu Jawanine". Upadhyay had two daughters. He died in Mumbai on 11 December 2024, at the age of 90.

Recognition

The

Government of Gujarat The Government of Gujarat, also known as Gujarat Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Gujarat and its 33 districts. It consists of an executive of the legislators appointed by the Governor of Gujarat, a judiciar ...

honoured him with the Gaurav Puraskar for his contributions to Gujarati music. In 2017, he received the

from the Government of India.

Filmography

Upadhyay composed, co-composed, or sang songs for following films: * ''Liludi Dharati'' (1968, Gujarati) * ''Taqdeer'' (1983, Hindi)

References

External Links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Upadhyay, Purushottam 1934 births 2024 deaths Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts Musicians from Gujarat Indian film score composers Indian male playback singers Gujarati playback singers 20th-century Indian composers 20th-century Indian singers Indian male film score composers 20th-century Indian male singers People from Kheda district