WELL KNOWN GAZAL SINGER , RADHIKA CHOPRA IS FROM JAMMU...

                                   

WELL   KNOWN  GHAZAL  SINGER  RADHIKA CHOPRA  IS  FROM   JAMMU...

She sings with elegance ,poise and perfect Laikaari. She sings Thumri, Geet, Bhajan,  but Ghazal is her forte. She has sung across continents and even  at Karachi ,Lahore, Rawalpindi  and Islamabad. Current lockdown situation  gave me a chance to listen to her singing. Henceforth, include me also as an admirer of her  versatility ,style and range .

For the last three days ,I kept  listening to her music. Some  favourites could go as under:

(1) Allama Iqbal's ..Teray ishq ki inteha chaahta huun

(2)  Faiz Ahmed Faiz's ...Aapki Yaad aati rahi raat bhar

(3) Ghalib's ...Nuqtacheen hai Gham e dil

(4) Sahir's ..Tum apna ranjho gham.

(5) Momin's ..Assar  uss ko zara nahin hota.

(6) Kaifi Azmi's  ..Aaj socha to aansoo bhar aaye

(7) Raja Mehdi Ali Khan's ..Hai issī mein pyaar ki aabroo

(8) Faiz Ahmed Faiz's....Dono jahaan Teri muhabbat mein haar me

(8) Ghalib's..Har eik  baat  pe kehte ho tum

(9) Faiz Ahmed Faiz's...Raaze ulfat chhuppa me Dekh Kiya

(10) Sahir's Prayer song..Allah tero  naam Ishwar tero naam

One can understand how much Riaz must have gone into making of Radhika Chopra ,the singer. She is graceful and her mastery over Sur ,Taal and Lai is simply unbelievable .She sings Faiz, Iqbal,  Jigar, Sahir, Ghalib, Zauq,  Mir ,Bahadur Shah Zafar and Makhdoom.She speaks fluent Urdu with perfect Tallafuz( pronunciation). Presently , it is difficult to come   across a voice that has  soul ,  emotion ,  meticulous selection and  flawless rendition of the poetry and all together  .She keeps minimum musical  instruments to support her singing. Sahir's Ghazal  'Tum apna Ranjho gham' sung by her has more than fifty Lakh views on YouTube .Radhika is empanelled by the ICCR to perform globally.

Radhika belongs to J&K  UT. She  was born and brought up in Jammu . She did her schooling ( Kendriya Vidyalaya)  in Jammu and graduated from Government College for Women, Gandhi Nagar. Thereafter she went to Delhi to complete her post graduation,   M.Phil and doctorate. She also acted in a tel-film scripted by Virendera Patwari for Door-Darshan .

She informs;

" I belong to Jammu . My journey in music started when I was just 8 years old. My parents were also lovers of music. My father, Dayanand  Sharma  wanted to be a  singer. So is my mother,  Kamala Sharma ( well known drama artist and writer of AIR Jammu) For many reasons ,my father could not pursue his music and singing . He  used to sing Ghazals of Ghalib. I remember him singing 'Dard Minnat Kashe dawa na huva'. He wanted me to be a singer. A music teacher was arranged for me when I was supposed to play with my friends. I sang  for AIR ,Jammu. I have fond memories of my childhood and Jammu. My parents were  very progressive . They  allowed me to go to Delhi and complete my MA,M.Phil and doctorate in Music. Sri Jagmohan, the then governor of J&k also encouraged and helped me . In Jammu , Pandit J. R.Sharma  is my first Guru. Later Padamshri  Shanti Hiranand taught me. I am married to  Rakesh Chopra. I could pursue my music career solely due to cooperation from my husband and in-laws.  Now my two daughters ,Devika and Ridhima are grown up . They are pursuing non music careers, yet they  love music and have become my additional support as I try to discharge my multifarious roles; I mean a mother, a wife, a daughter in law and a singer. I remained away from stage and singing  for about ten years when my daughters were growing up and needed my full time attention.

There are some cities in India where you find some real connoisseurs of music. I mean cities like Bhopal, Jodhpur , Hyderabad etc. One loves to sing in such cities.

K. L Sehgal,Begum Akhtar , Mehdi Hasan and Jagjit singh highly  inspired me . Like Begum Akhtar, I too want to die while performing or singing.

Ghalib and Faiz are my favourite poets. I love to sing them anytime anywhere.."

.(Avtar Mota)