Mumbai: Legendary Hindi film singer Alka Yagnik enjoyed unprecedented stardom.
In the 1990s, Alka’s voice was ubiquitous in almost every film of the decade. Today, Alka is celebrating her 54th birthday. On this occasion, let us tell you some unheard stories about her.
Alka has sung more than 20,000 songs in over 1,000 films and has received the National Film Award twice as a playback singer.
Alka was born in a middle class family in Kolkata. She was a bright student but didn’t like studies. She started her musical journey at the age of six by singing for Kolkata Akashvani. At the age of 10, she moved to Mumbai with her mother and met filmmaker Raj Kapoor.
Raj Kapoor liked Alka’s voice and introduced her to Laxmikant Pyarelal. Alka started her career as a playback singer with Payal Ki Jhankaar (1980). She got her big break with the song Ek Do Teen from the film Tezaab (1988). And the rest as they say, is history.
Alka married Shillong-based businessman Neeraj Kapoor in 1989. They have a daughter called Syesha. The couple has been in a long-distance marriage for more than 20 years.
For the most part of their marriage, Alka was a single mother due to their career choices which demanded her to be in Mumbai. Despite this, Neeraj was always in Alka’s thoughts where she always praised him for being very understanding towards her career demands. Baring the distance, the duo made it a point to stay as husband-wife. While Neeraj would visit Mumbai in fixed intervals, Alka would spend a month in Shillong every year to spend some time together as a family.
Due to issues, the couple was separated and never saw each other for about 4-5 years but later realised that they are inseparable despite all the hurdles.
Besides singing, Alka also judged several singing reality shows on television. She mentioned that kids and children are the main reasons for doing reality shows and she feels comfortable working with them.
Alka has won several music awards for best female playback singer such as Filmfare Awards, National Awards, Lata Mangeshkar Award, Hindi Movie Awards, IIFA Awards, Star Screen Awards, Zee Cine Awards, etc. She also holds the record for most awards won as well as maximum nominations for Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer.