Anup Jalota, (born 29 July 1953) is an Indian singer, musician and actor, best known for his contributions to the Bhajan genre of Indian music. He is popularly known as the "Bhajan Samraat" (Emperor of Bhajans).[2] The Padma Shri was awarded to him by the Government of India in 2012. He was a contestant on the reality show Bigg Boss 12.

Anup Jalota
Jalota in 2011
Born (1953-07-29) 29 July 1953 (age 70)
NationalityIndian
Alma materUniversity of Lucknow, Bhatkhande Music Institute[1]
OccupationSinger
Spouses
(separated/divorced in 1984)
Medha Gujral
(m. 1994; died 2014)
Children1
Parent
AwardsPadma Shri Award 2012.
HonoursPadma Shri (2012)
Musical career
OriginPhagwara, Punjab, India
GenresBhajan, Ghazal
Instrument(s)Vocals and Harmonium
Websiteanupjalota.in
Signature

Early life and background edit

Anup Jalota was born in Nainital, Uttrakhand and hails from the Sham Chowrasi Gharana of Punjab. He was educated in Lucknow's Bhatkhande Music Institute. His father, Purshottam Das Jalota, was also a Bhajan singer. He also spent few years in Savarkundla, Gujarat in his early days. He has four siblings, two of which are younger brothers, Anil Jalota and Ajay Jalota and two of which are his younger sisters, Anjali Dhir and Anita Mehra. Ajay currently lives in California.

Career edit

Jalota started his musical career as a chorus singer in All India Radio. He is usually backed by a santoor player, dholak player, sarod player, sarangi player, violinist, sitar player, tabla player and guitarist. Some of his popular bhajans include Aisi Lagi Lagan, Main Nahi Makhan Khayo, Rang De Chunariya, Jag Me Sundar Hai Do Naam, and Chadariya Jhini Re Jhini. He was also the presenter of the program Dharam Aur Hum, telecast in Star Plus from 2002 to 2005. He met Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj in Mumbai and agreed to release several CDs of his compositions.[3] In 2008 he recorded the title song "Golden Memorable Yaadein" for the CD "Noorani Chehra", produced by Shaukat (Sam) Kassam to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of the Aga Khan.

On 16 September 2018, Jalota entered Bigg Boss house in its twelfth season, as a contestant, along with Jasleen Matharu.[4]

Personal life edit

Jalota's first marriage was to Sonali Sheth, a Gujarati girl who was then a music student and later a singer. They married without his family's approval. The couple became popular in the North Indian live performance circuit as "Anup and Sonali Jalota," which disbanded after their divorce.

His second marriage was an arranged one, to Bina Bhatia, which too ended in divorce. Anup's third marriage was to Medha Gujral, niece of former Indian Prime Minister I. K. Gujral and director Shekhar Kapur's first wife whom he had divorced in 1994. Anup and Medha have a son named Aryaman (born in 1996), who studied at Princeton University.[5] Medha died on 25 November 2014 in New York City of renal failure following a second heart and first kidney transplant.[6][7][8]

It came to light in 2018 that he had been in a relationship with Bigg Boss 12 contestant Jasleen Matharu, who is thirty-seven years younger than him. They had been together at least three and a half years prior. However, after getting evicted from the house, Anup said their relationship was only of a teacher and student.[9]

Awards edit

The Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian honour, was given to Jalota by the Government of India in 2012.[10]

Discography edit

The Bhajans and ghazals for which he is credited the most are given below

  • Aisi Lagi Lagan
  • Chaand Angdaiyaan Le Raha Hai
  • Tumhare Shahar Ka Mausam
  • Jag Mein Sundar Hai Do Naam
  • Kabhi Kabhi Bhagwan Ko Bhi
  • Tere Man Mein Raam
  • Main Nazar Se Pee Raha Hoon
  • Hum Se Achi to Kahin Aaine ki Khismat Hogi
  • Rukh Se Parda Hata De
  • La Pila De Saqiya
  • Shree Hanuman Chalisa
  • Noorani Chehra (Ismaili Devotional songs)
  • Mere Kabr Par Pate Huye
  • Tum Kya Samjho Tum Kya Jano
  • Kategi Ye Zindagi Ab Rote Rote
  • Laga Chunari Mein Daag[2]
  • Rang De Chunariya
  • Prabhuji Tum Chandan Hum Pani
  • Suraj ki Garmi Se
  • Bhajan prabhat
  • Bol pinjire ka tota ram
  • Chaderiya jhini re jhini
  • Radha Ke Bina Shyam Adha
  • Devonix[11] with Kunal Saha
  • Hot and Spicy with Sundar Popo
  • Bhagwan Mere Bhagwan[12] with Satyam Anandjee[13]

Tracks edit

Albums Song Singer Composer Lyricist Year of Release
Unknown Jai Bholenath, Jai Mahadev Anup Jalota 2004
Shri Siddhivinayak Aarti Sindhur Lal Chadhayo Anup Jalota 2009[14]
Mata Ka Jagrata Mata Ki Aarti Anup Jalota & Sanghamitra Bharali Traditional 2011[15]
Mata Ka Jagrata Tarse Naina barse Naina Anup Jalota & Sanghamitra Bharali Dinesh Kumar Dube Mohan Sharma 2011[16]
Mata Ka Jagrata Raat Jagraate Ki Hai Anup Jalota & Sanghamitra Bharali Mohan Sharma 2011[17]
Bhajan Sangrah – Lord Hanuman Sankatmochan Naam Tiharo Anup Jalota 2016[18]
Bhajan Sandhya, Vol. 16 Suraj Ki Garmi Se Anup Jalota 2016[19]
Krishna Janmashtami Aayo Re – Best of Lord Krishna Songs 2016 Mukund Madhav Govind Bol Anup Jalota 2016[20]
51 Essentials Krishna Best of Aarti, Bhajans, Kirtan, Mantras & Shlokas Govind Bolo Hari Gopal[21] Anup Jalota 2016[22]
Bhagwan Mere Bhagwan[12] Bhagwan Mere Bhagwan[12] Anup Jalota, Soma Ghosh, Sudesh Bhosale, Madhushree & Satyam Anandjee[23][13] Satyam Anandjee[23] Sukhnidhan Mishra[24] 2021[25]

Filmography edit

Films edit

Year Film Role Notes
2019 Rock Star Bini Guruji [26]
2021 Satya Sai Baba Sathya Sai Baba [27]
2022 Kartoot Police commissioner

Television}

Television edit

Year Shows Role Notes
2018 Bigg Boss 12 Himself/Contestant Evicted Day 42
2020 Paatal Lok Balkishan Bajpayee

References edit

  1. ^ "Centenary year of Lucknow University: भजन सम्राट अनूप जलोटा ने 47 साल बाद ली अपनी बीए की डिग्रीwebsite=www.jagran.com".
  2. ^ a b CRY America Inc.(RDU Chapter)Anup Jalota Sings for CRY. Rdu.cryamerica.org (26 July 1953). Retrieved 5 June 2012.
  3. ^ Rang De with Anup Jalota at Radha Madhav Dham, Austin Archived 5 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine. 20 October 2011. Indo-American News. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
  4. ^ "Bigg Boss 12: Anup Jalota to enter Salman Khan's show". 8 September 2018.
  5. ^ "Aryaman Jalota - Princeton University - Academia.edu". princeton.academia.edu.
  6. ^ "Third time lucky". Archived from the original on 15 July 2013.
  7. ^ "Anup Jalota's wife passes away". The Times of India.
  8. ^ "Sad demise". 5 December 2014.
  9. ^ "Bigg Boss 12: Jasleen Matharu confirms dating Anup Jalota since three and a half years who is now eliminated from Bigg Boss 12". Bollywood Life. 16 September 2018.
  10. ^ "Padma Awards Announced". Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs. 25 January 2012. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
  11. ^ "Devonix by Anup Jalota". iTunes. 1 December 2014.
  12. ^ a b c "Bhagwan Mere Bhagwan". 13 July 2021.
  13. ^ a b "Satyam Anandjee - Google Search". www.google.com. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
  14. ^ "Shri Siddhivinayak Aarti by Various Artists". iTunes. 1 October 2009.
  15. ^ "Mata Ki Aarti by Anup Jalota". iTunes. 29 July 2011.
  16. ^ "Tarse Naina barse Naina by Anup Jalota". iTunes. 29 July 2011.
  17. ^ "Raat Jagraate Ki Hai by Anup Jalota". iTunes. 29 July 2011.
  18. ^ "Bhajan Sangrah - Lord Hanuman by Various Artists on iTunes". iTunes. Archived from the original on 27 September 2016. Retrieved 26 September 2016.
  19. ^ "Suraj Ki Garmi Se by Various Artists". iTunes. 11 August 2016.
  20. ^ "Krishna Janmashtami Aayo Re - Best of Lord Krishna Songs 2016 (Feat. Kailash Hare Krishna Das) by Anup Jalota on Apple Music". iTunes. Archived from the original on 27 September 2016. Retrieved 26 September 2016.
  21. ^ "Every internet detail Hari Gopal, Anup Jalota". RedMux.com. Archived from the original on 14 January 2018. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  22. ^ "51 Essentials Krishna Best of Aarti, Bhajans, Kirtan, Mantras & Shlokas by Various Artists on Apple Music". iTunes. Archived from the original on 27 September 2016. Retrieved 26 September 2016.
  23. ^ a b "Satyam Anandjee". IMDb. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
  24. ^ "Sukhnidhan Mishra - Top Songs - Listen on JioSaavn". JioSaavn. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
  25. ^ "Popularly known as the Bhajan Samrat, Anup Jalota is making headlines for his latest song Bhagwan Mere Bhagwan. Here's a candid chat with the singer". The Tribune. 28 July 2021.
  26. ^ SNS (16 February 2019). "Anup Jalota to star in Bengali film Rockstar Bini". The Statesman. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  27. ^ Taneja, Parina (29 January 2021). "Anup Jalota shares interesting photo with Arun Govil aka Ram from Ramayan". www.indiatvnews.com.

External links edit