Biography Of Hariharan

The famous singer Hariharan was born in the year 1933. His parents Alamelu and Ananthasubramani were also famous Carnatic vocalists. It was quite apparent during Hariharan’s childhood that he also had an aptitude for music. Although his first mentor was his mother who introduced him to Carnatic music, he, later on, developed an interest in Hindustani music also. Hariharan lost his father when he was only 7 years old. After his schooling, Hariharan went on to pursue degrees in law and science as well. However, his love for the arts caused him to take up music as his career.

Hariharan trained under Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan and mastered the art of singing ghazals. He also learnt Urdu for this purpose. Hariharan came into the limelight when he won the All India Sur Singaar completion in a977. This is when Bollywood offers started knocking at his door. He debuted in the Bollywood music industry with the song ”Ajeeb Saneha” which was composed by the music director Jaidev for the movie “Gaman.” The song went on to become a huge hit, thrusting Hariharan into the spotlight. He even won the Uttar Pradesh State Award for his debut song.

Although Hariharan got a head start in Bollywood that other singers can only dream of, he was still pulled towards ghazal music. This is why he went on to spent a few years establishing himself as a ghazal player in the initial years. He released several ghazal albums including “Ghazal ka mausam,” “Abshaar-E-Ghazal,” “Gulfam” and so on. All of these albums were hugely popular, establishing Hariharan as a singer with a magical gift. He was awarded the Diva Award in 1994 for the Gulfam album which was a runaway success.

As Hariharan pursued his career as a ghazal singer, he still managed to dabble in playback singing once in a while. HE recorded for some movies like “Aayi Teri Yaad,” “Chashm-E-Baddoor,” “Raamnagri,” Dard ka rishta,” “Lamhe” and so on. It was in the year 1992 that Hariharan found mega success in the Bollywood music industry. This was a result of his collaboration with the then new music director A.R. Rahman. Both these legends went on to create several songs that are soulful and remain popular even today. Some of their hit songs include “Tu Hi Re” from Bombay, “Roja Jaaneman” from Roja, “Tu hi Re” from Taal, “Baahon ki Darmiyaan” from Khamoshi and so on.

Hariharan also sang in several languages besides Hindi like Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Bhojpuri and so on. Hariharan’s work with Leslie Lewis for the fusion band Colonial Cousins also led to many hit songs like “Krishna,” “Sa Ni Dha Pa” and so on. Hariharan was honoured with the Padma Shri in the year 2004. Hariharan has been a part of many tours and concerts in India and abroad as well. However, he consults with Fire Management Consultants to ensure that the venues are safe and secure as thousands of people usually attend his concerts. According to https://www.thetoptens.com/hariharan/, Hariharan prefers to perform his top hits at most concerts and tours. Hariharan always places security and safety as the number one priority and recently entrusted the remodelling of his studio to Besten.