Maheshbhai & Shri Nareshbhai Kanodia

Mahesh Kanodia and Naresh Kanodia were brothers from a poor Dalit family who became central figures of Gujarati film music and cinema. They were jointly named for the Padma Shri posthumously in 2021 in the field of art, from Gujarat ^[1].

Mahesh Kumar and Party

Mahesh Kanodia was born on 27 January 1937 in Mehsana district, into a Vankar weaving family, and grew up in poverty ^[2]. He began singing at seven, and in 1952 sang playback for the Hindi film Rajrani Damyanti ^[2]. He founded the musical troupe Mahesh Kumar and Party, which over 65 years gave more than 14,000 stage shows in India and abroad ^[2].

Naresh Kanodia, born on 20 August 1943 in Ahmedabad, started out as a street singer and joined his brother’s troupe at ten ^[2].

Films

In 1969 the brothers made their debut as music directors with the Gujarati film Veli ne Aavya Ful, which was also Naresh’s first film as an actor ^[2]. Together they were music directors for more than 125 Gujarati films and 15 Hindi films, and they produced films under their own banner, starting with Vanzari Vaav ^[2]. Mahesh sang more than 1,000 songs ^[2]. Naresh became a leading star, with more than 150 Gujarati films over 51 years, and was called the “millennium megastar” of Gujarati cinema ^[2]. Their film Jog Sanjog (1980–81) won the Gujarat government’s best film award ^[2].

The Gujarat government named them best music directors seven times, Mahesh won best playback singer twice and Naresh best actor twice ^[2].

Public life

Through their shows the brothers raised money for relief after the Morbi floods and helped in Kutch and Bhuj after the 2001 earthquake ^[2]. Mahesh represented Patan in the Lok Sabha from 1991 to 2000 and again from 2004 to 2009, and set up a hospital in his home village of Kanoda ^[2]. Naresh was elected to the Gujarat Legislative Assembly from Karjan in 2002 ^[2].

Mahesh Kanodia died on 25 October 2020 ^[2].