Rajesh Johri ( ; 19 June 1952 – 1 March 2017Kusnur, Narendra.
The wonder years
, The Hindu, 4 March 2017.) was an Indian poet, Lyricist, Ad Film Maker, Voice Over Artist, and Anchor based in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

Early life and education

Rajesh belonged to

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

and was born in 1952 in

Pilani Pilani is a town located in the Jhunjhunu district of Rajasthan, India. The town is well known as the location of BITS Pilani. Demographics , Pilani has a population of 29,741 of which 51% are males and 49% females. The average literacy rate is ...

. His father, Dr. A. N. Johri, was a professor of English

Literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

and an author, and his mother, Chandra Johri, was well-educated. Rajesh was the youngest of three brothers and also had two sisters. Artistically inclined from a very young age, he penned his first poem at the age of 10. He had a deep interest in music and literature. In one of his interviews, he was quoted saying that his father's paternal grandmother, Heera Kunwar, used to pen

bhajan Bhajan is an Indian term for any devotional song with a religious theme or spiritual ideas, specifically among Dharmic religions, in any language. The term bhajanam (Sanskrit: भजनम्) means ''reverence'' and originates from the root w ...

s in praise of Lord

Krishna Krishna (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God (Hinduism), Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, c ...

, and that she is who he got it from. Rajesh received his primary education from

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

and since his father was in a transferable job, he travelled during his childhood to Chandausi,

Khurja Khurja is a city (and a municipal board) in Bulandshahr district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Uttar Pradesh. It is situated around 20 km from Bulandshahr and 85 km from Delhi. Khurja supplies a large portion of th ...

and finally,

Saharanpur Saharanpur is a city and a Municipal corporation (India), municipal corporation in Uttar Pradesh, India. It is also the public administration, administrative headquarters of Saharanpur district. Saharanpur city's name was given after the Sain ...

where he completed his graduation in science stream from Jain College, in 1972. His parents' dream was that he would become an engineer, and so they enrolled him for an MSc course in physics. However, following his passion for writing, one day before his 20th birthday, he boarded a train to

from

for the purpose of fulfilling his creative dreams. Having no connection whatsoever with the music industry leading to a single-handed struggle, he left for his journey to the city of his dreams.

Career

1972–1990

Rajesh Johri's first song was sung by Chandru Aatma, "Chanchal Nain Tihare" and soon after that his career picked up wonderfully, crossing milestone after milestone. Soon after this bhajan, "Hari ka Dhyaan Laga", "Mere Shyaam Tera Naam" and "Mann Re Tan Hai Dukh Ka Gaon" were sung by

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 ...

which became quite popular. Johri gave his voice for numerous ad-jingles of that era namely Ajanta watches for

Ajanta Group Ajanta Group or Oreva Group (stylized as OREVA) is a diversified Indian conglomerate, active in textiles, transport, construction equipment, and machinery. History The company was founded by Odhavaji Raghavji Patel in 1971. It is known for th ...

, Nescafe, and "Vardhman Knitting Yarn" For Vardhman Group of Companies. He worked closely with Pandit Vinod Sharma and voice-over legend

Ameen Sayani Ameen Sayani (21 December 1932 – 20 February 2024) was an Indian radio announcer. He achieved fame and popularity across the Indian subcontinent when he presented his ''Binaca Geetmala'' programme of hits over the airwaves of Radio Ceylon. H ...

whom he considered his mentors. He was a regular anchor for Sur Singar Samsad in which he shared stage with the best of artists and musicians such as

Bismillah Khan Ustad Bismillah Khan (born Qamaruddin Khan, 21 March 1916 – 21 August 2006), often referred to by the title ''Ustad'', was an Indian musician credited with popularizing the shehnai, a reeded woodwind instrument. His virtuosity made him a le ...

Ram Narayan Ram Narayan (; 25 December 1927 – 9 November 2024), often referred to with the title Pandit, was an Indian musician who popularised the bowed instrument ''sarangi'' as a solo concert instrument in Hindustani classical music and became the f ...

Kavita Krishnamurthy Kavita Krishnamurthy (born as Sharada Krishnamurthy), is an Indian playback and classical singer. She has recorded numerous songs in various Indian languages including Hindi, Bengali, Kannada, Rajasthani, Bhojpuri, Telugu, Odia, Marathi, ...

Suresh Wadkar Suresh Ishwar Wadkar (born 7 August 1955) is an Indian playback singer. He performs in both Hindi and Marathi films. He has sung songs in some Bhojpuri films, Odia albums and bhajans and in Konkani films. He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Ak ...

, and others. Johri Penned numerous bhajans for

Anup Jalota Anup Jalota, (born 29 July 1953) is an Indian singer, musician and actor, best known for his contributions to the bhajan and ghazal genre of Indian music. He is popularly known as the ''Bhajan Samraat'' ().
"Tere Tan Mein Ram", "Jo Tu Mitaana Chah

and many more. Another very popular album by Johri was "Baby Doll" by Alisha Chinai.

1990–2017

Johri created a niche for himself in the world of Indian pop. The album Halka Nasha was very well received, which had ghazals sung by Hariharan. The song "Sa Ni Dha Pa" from the

Colonial Cousins Colonial Cousins is an Indian duo, formed by singer Hariharan and singer-composer Leslee Lewis, who also have successful solo careers. Their eponymous first album hit platinum in sales in India and consistently headed the Indian music charts ...

, a fusion album by Hariharan and Lewis, was the first ever offering that was a part of

MTV Unplugged ''MTV Unplugged'' is an American television series on MTV. It showcases recorded live performances of popular music artists playing acoustic instrument, acoustic or "unplugged" variations of songs. The show aired regularly from 1989 to 1999. F ...

. He worked for many online projects in this era of online channels, giving his services as a lyricist, voice over artist and also as a brand ambassador for teleshopping product English Guru. His notable works include "Asian Sky Shop", Theme Songs for

Border Security Force The Border Security Force (BSF) is a central armed police force in India under the Ministry of Home Affairs. It is responsible for guarding India’s borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh. It was formed in the wake of the Indo-Pak War of 196 ...

Delhi Police The Delhi Police (DP) is the law enforcement agency for the National Capital Territory of Delhi. Delhi Police falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. In 2024, the sanctioned strength of Delhi Police w ...

and many more. He designed programs for online radio channel "2B! Radio" and also contributed as a voice-over artist and a scriptwriter.

Discography

He was credited as a lyricist for the film ''

Thank You for Coming ''Thank You for Coming'' is a 2023 Indian Hindi-language sex comedy film directed by Karan Boolani and produced by Rhea Kapoor and Ekta Kapoor. Written by Radhika Anand and Prashasti Singh, the film stars Bhumi Pednekar, Shehnaaz Gill, Dolly S ...

'' (2023), the song "Pari Hoon Main" is remake version of the famous

Suneeta Rao Suneeta Rao is an Indian pop singer, playback singer, dancer and stage actress, popular for her songs sung in the 1980s and 1990s. Her most famous song is ''Paree Hoon Main'' from the album ''Dhuan'' (1991). Early life and career Suneeta Rao w ...

's song "Paree Hoon Main" from the album ''Dhuan'' (1991).

Personal life

Rajesh married Archana Johri, a scriptwriter, anchor and poet in the year 1986. He had two daughters, Ratika Johri and Rashee Johri. The elder one, Ratika is a singer and lending her voice for many albums, serials and films. The younger one, Rashee is an anchor, choreographer, director and founder of an event company - 'Zodiac events'.

Death

Johri suffered from kidney disease in the last few years of his life. As a result, he suffered cardiac arrest on 1 March 2017 and died at the Bhartiya Aaroya Nidhi Hospital in Mumbai.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johri, Raajesh 1952 births 2017 deaths Poets from Rajasthan Indian lyricists People from Jhunjhunu district 20th-century Indian poets 21st-century Indian poets Musicians from Mumbai 20th-century Indian composers 21st-century Indian composers Musicians from Rajasthan Indian poets Indian musicians