Pankaj Udhas
The ghazal singer famed for "Chitthi Aayi Hai", who also championed thalassemia care, honoured posthumously with the Padma Bhushan in 2025.
Pankaj Udhas brought the ghazal to millions of listeners who had never heard one before. He was named for the Padma Bhushan in 2025, posthumously, in the field of art, from Maharashtra [1]. He had received the Padma Shri in 2006 [2].
The velvet voice
Udhas was born on 17 May 1951 in Jetpur, Gujarat, in a home full of poetry and music [2]. He had no formal classical training [2]. His breakthrough came with “Chitthi Aayi Hai” in the 1986 film Naam, and hits such as “Ghungroo Toot Gaye” and “Aur Ahista Kijiye Baatein” followed [2].
His concerts took him to famous halls including London’s Royal Albert Hall and New York’s Madison Square Garden, and he released his last ghazal album, Forever Ghalib, at a sold-out Sydney Opera House concert in 2022 [2].
Giving back
In 2002 he co-founded Khazana, a ghazal festival that raises money for cancer and thalassemia patients [2]. As president of the Parents Association Thalassemic Unit Trust for more than forty years, he helped arrange more than 740 bone-marrow transplants for children [2].
He received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 2023 [2]. Pankaj Udhas died on 26 February 2024 [2].
Sources
- [1] Padma Awards 2025: list of awardees — Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. Accessed 11 October 2026.
- [2] Padma Awards 2025: citation for Pankaj Udhas — Padma Awards, Government of India. Accessed 11 October 2026.
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