Suresh Wadkar
Wadkar in 2008
Suresh Wadkar in 2008
Born (1955-08-07) 7 August 1955 (age 68)
Kolhapur, Bombay State (present-day Maharashtra), India
Occupation(s)Playback singer
music director
Years active1976–present
SpousePadma Wadkar
Children2
AwardsPadma Shri
Musical career
Genres
Instrument(s)Vocals

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[2] and in Konkani films.

He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for 2018 for Sugam Sangeet.[3] In 2020, the Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri.

Early life and musical training

Wadkar was born in Kolhapur in a middle-class family that soon moved to Girangaon. His father Ishwar Wadkar worked in cloth mills and his mother cooked food for the mill workers.[4] In youth, he wrestled at akhadas and frequented the Talwalkar gym with his father, who was also a wrestler.[5]

In 1968, when Wadkar was 13, Jialal Vasant encouraged him to work towards the "Prabhakar" certificate offered by the Prayag Sangit Samiti, because it was equivalent to a BEd and qualifies the awardee to teach professionally. Wadkar successfully completed his "Prabhakar" and joined Arya Vidya Mandir in Mumbai as a music teacher.[4]

Singing career

Though groomed for Indian classical music, Wadkar entered the Sur-Singar competition in 1976. He won the competition which was judged by composers from the Indian film industry including Jaidev and Ravindra Jain.[4] Ravindra Jain introduced him to the world of playback singing, and Wadkar sang Jain's composition Sona Kare Jhilmil Jhilmil Vrishti Pade Tapur Tupur in the film Paheli (1977).[6] Jaidev also offered him the song "Seene Mein Jalan" in the film Gaman (1978).[5]

At the time, Lata Mangeshkar was so impressed with his voice that she strongly recommended him to film personalities including Laxmikant–Pyarelal, Khayyam and Kalyanji-Anandji.[7] Laxmikant-Pyarelal, impressed with his voice, soon recorded a duet with Lata, "Chal Chameli Bagh Mein" for Krodhi (1981).[5] Soon after, he was given the opportunity to perform for songs in Hum Paanch, Pyaasa Sawan ("Megha Re Megha Re") and above all, his turning point in films – Raj Kapoor's Prem Rog (1982).[5] After that, Wadkar sang many songs under the R. K. Banner, and he often gave his voice for Rishi Kapoor in Heena, Prem Granth, Bol Radha Bol, Vijay and others. He also sang for Rajiv Kapoor in Ram Teri Ganga Maili. Two of his most famous songs are "Tum Se Milke" from Parinda (1989) and "Aye Zindagi Gale Laga Le" from Sadma (1983).

Wadkar sang his first Tamil song in the 2009 film Kanden Kadhalai, an adaptation of the Hindi blockbuster Jab We Met. The song is a ghazal type song called "Naan Mozhi Arindhaen".

He has sung numerous devotional songs in various Indian languages for many denominations including many Vaishnav and Shaivite sampradayas such as the Swaminarayan Sampradaya.

In 1996, Wadkar sang Channeache Rati among several other songs in Rajendra Talak's Konkani album Daryachya Deger with Asha Bhosle.

Marathi music career

Suresh Wadkar has worked with some of the top class Marathi music directors like Pt.Hridaynath Mangeshkar, Sudhir Phadke, Shrinivas Khale, Shridhar Phadke, Vasant Desai, Ashok Patki, Anil-Arun etc.

Other work

In 2002, Wadkar produced the film "Tanman.com".[8]

In 2003, he collaborated with arist Shivanand (Udayraj A. Gadnis) on Cosmic Raga Mandal project.[9]

He was a judge on the Indian TV singing show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa L'il Champs and at the 2005 Sangeet Awards.[10][11]

In 2022, he was the judge for Zee TV's devotional music reality show Swarna Swar Bharat along with Kumar Vishwas and Kailash Kher.[12][13]

Music schools

Wadkar is the director of the Ajivasan(Acharya Jialal Vasant Sangeet NIkaetan) Music Academy in Mumbai [14] He also has a training institute in and New Jersey/New York City area.[citation needed] He has also started an online music school, called SWAMA (Suresh Wadkar Ajivasan Music Academy), under Ace Open University.[citation needed]

Personal life

Wadkar is married to classical singer Padma and the couple has two daughters, Ananya and Jiya.[15][16]

Awards

Wadkar was conferred upon the National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer by President Pratibha Patil for his rendition of Hey Bhaskara in the biopic Mee Sindhutai Sapkal (2010).

In 1976, Wadkar won the Madan Mohan Best Male Playback Singer Award at the Sur-Singar competition.[6][5] He is also a recipient of the 2004 Lata Mangeshkar Puraskar instituted by Madhya Pradesh government.[17] He also won the 2007 Maharashtra Pride Award which is given by the government of Maharashtra to citizens of note.[18] He got awarded by Late Sadashiv Amarapurkar Award 2017 by Ahmednagar's Think Global Foundation.

He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for 2018 for Sugam Sangeet.[3] On January 25, 2020, his name was announced for Government of India's fourth highest civilian honour, the Padma Shri, for his work in the field of arts.[19][20][21]

National Film Awards

Wins

Filmfare Awards

He, along with KK, holds the record for most number of nominations for the Filmfare Award for Best Male Playback Singer without even winning.

Nominations

Collaborators

Suresh Wadkar has sung for a variety of composers in the Indian film industry. These include:

Filmography

This article contains a list that has not been properly sorted. Specifically, it does not follow the Manual of Style for lists of works (often, though not always, due to being in reverse-chronological order). See MOS:LISTSORT for more information. Please improve this article if you can. (November 2021)

Devotional

References

  1. ^ "Suresh Wadkar sings Marathi ghazal". 20 January 2012. Archived from the original on 20 January 2012. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
  2. ^ "Suresh Wadekar :: Odia Music Songs Collection". Archived from the original on 24 May 2021. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  3. ^ a b "The General Council of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Announces Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowships (Akademi Ratna) and Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards (Akademi Puraskar) for the Year 2018". pib.gov.in. Archived from the original on 20 February 2023. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d Khurana, Suanshu (10 November 2021). "'Where is the warmth in the voices now?': Padma Shri singer Suresh Wadkar". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 28 March 2022. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Raheja, Dinesh (20 February 2022). "Nostalgia with Suresh Wadkar: "I had to sell my bike after my father threatened to drop it from the terrace"". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 28 March 2022. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
  6. ^ a b Shahane, Devayani (24 June 2002). "Voicing his soul". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 11 November 2012. Retrieved 23 October 2008.
  7. ^ Vijaykar, Rajiv (September 1999). "I am fortunate I lived in her time". Rediff. Archived from the original on 26 October 2006. Retrieved 29 August 2006.
  8. ^ "Suresh Wadkar to produce Tanman.com". The Times of India. 28 August 2002. Archived from the original on 28 March 2022. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
  9. ^ "The colour of divine sound". The Times of India. 8 June 2003. Archived from the original on 4 July 2009. Retrieved 23 October 2008.
  10. ^ "Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Li'l Champs judges meet renowned singer Suresh Wadkar". The Times of India. 24 October 2021. Archived from the original on 28 March 2022. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
  11. ^ "Mixing it all up". The Telegraph. Calcutta, India. 30 August 2005. Archived from the original on 28 March 2022. Retrieved 23 October 2008.
  12. ^ Chauha, Harmisha. "EXCLUSIVE! Suresh Wadkar on Swarna Swar Bharat being the first-ever devotional singing reality show: It is a much more difficult genre as it is connected with classical singing". Tellychakkar.com. Archived from the original on 16 April 2022. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
  13. ^ Rizvi, S Farah (4 February 2022). "There is no shelf life of songs made today: Suresh Wadkar". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 28 March 2022. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
  14. ^ "Home". ajivasan.com. Archived from the original on 7 August 2022. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
  15. ^ "Famous singer Suresh Wadkar apologized to wife Padma on the stage of Hunar Haat, sang this song for Madhuri Dixit". News NCR. 26 November 2021. Archived from the original on 27 November 2021. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
  16. ^ "Sony's Santiniketan". The Telegraph. Calcutta, India. 5 May 2005. Archived from the original on 7 May 2005. Retrieved 23 October 2008.
  17. ^ "पार्श्व गायक सुरेश वाडकर लता अंलकरण से सम्मानित". Navbharat Times (in Hindi). Indore. 16 February 2004. Archived from the original on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
  18. ^ "And the award goes to..." The Times of India. 2 December 2007. Archived from the original on 22 October 2012. Retrieved 23 October 2008.
  19. ^ "Padma Awards 2020" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 May 2020. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
  20. ^ "Suresh Wadkar receives Padma Shri; says, 'There's no bigger achievement than people's love'". mid-day. ANI. 8 November 2021. Archived from the original on 28 March 2022. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
  21. ^ "The Padma is late, but welcome: Suresh Wadkar". The Hans India. 13 November 2021. Archived from the original on 28 March 2022. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
  22. ^ "58th National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 July 2011. Retrieved 29 March 2012.

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