Hemlata (born 16 August 1954) is an Indian classically trained

playback singer A playback singer, also known as a ghost singer, is a singer whose singing is pre-recorded for use in films. Playback singers record songs for soundtracks, and actors or actresses lip-sync the songs for cameras; the actual singer does not app ...

in Bollywood. She is best known for her songs in the late 1970s, especially

Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se ''Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se'' ( hi, अँखियों के झरोखे से, lit=Through the eyelashes) is a 1978 Indian Hindi language Drama (film and television), drama film, starring Ranjeeta and Sachin (actor), Sachin and direc ...

song. She was nominated for

Filmfare Best Female Playback Award The Filmfare Best Female Playback Award is given by ''Filmfare'' as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise a female playback singer who has delivered an outstanding performance in a film song. Although the award cerem ...

five times in the period of 1977–81 and won once for

Chitchor ''Chitchor'' () is a 1976 Indian Hindi romantic musical film, written and directed by Basu Chatterjee. The film is a Rajshri Productions film produced by Tarachand Barjatya. It is based on a Bengali story, ''Chittachakor'' by Subodh Ghosh. K. ...

in 1977 for her classical rendition of "Tu Jo Mere Sur Mein" which was duet with K.J. Yesudas, composed by

Ravindra Jain Ravindra Jain (28 February 1944 – 9 October 2015) was an Indian music composer, lyricist and playback singer. He started his career in the early 1970s by composing for several hit movies. His notable works include '' Chor Machaye Shor'' (19 ...

Early life and background

Hemlata was born in

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

as ''Lata Bhatt'' into an Marwari Brahmin family and spent her childhood in

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

. She was married to Yogesh Bali, the brother of Indian film actress

Yogeeta Bali Yogeeta Bali Chakraborty (born 13 August 1952) is a former Indian Bollywood actress. She was active in the late 1970s and through the 1980s. Biography Yogeeta Bali was born on 13 August 1952. She is the niece of actress Geeta Bali. Bali mar ...

Career

Leading career

In association with

, she had worked on many other songs. Among them is "''Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se''". According to the

Binaca Geet Mala ''Binaca Geetmala'' was a weekly countdown show of top filmi songs from Bollywood, Hindi cinema. It was popular and had millions of listeners. ''Binaca Geetmala'' was broadcast on Radio Ceylon from 1952 to 1988 and then shifted to the Vividh Bhar ...

(a radio show that used to compile records of album sales), it became the number one song in the year 1978. Hemlata was also nominated for

Filmfare award The Filmfare Awards are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Hindi-language film industry of India.Al The Filmfare ceremony is one of the most famous film events in India. The awards were first introduced by th ...

for the best female playback singer for this song. It has received millions of views on YouTube. Hemlata sang on Jain's cassette album ''Sahaj Dhara'' (1991) dedicated to

Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi Nirmala Srivastava (née Nirmala Salve; 21 March 192323 February 2011), also known as Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, was the founder and Modern yoga gurus, guru of Sahaja Yoga, a new religious movement sometimes classified as a cult. She claimed to h ...

, and sang songs from this album in two concerts in Brussels, Belgium in July 1992. In the 1990s,

Doordarshan Doordarshan (abbreviated as DD; Hindi: , ) is an Indian public service broadcaster founded by the Government of India, owned by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and one of Prasar Bharati's two divisions. One of India's largest bro ...

had invited her to perform "Tista Nadi Si Tu Chanchala"

Performing career and albums

She has lent her voice for Ramanand Sagar's epics T.V. Serial Ramayan (She also appeared herself in one episode to perform traditional Meera Bhajan Payoji Maine Ram Ratan Dhan Payoji), as well as Uttar Ramayan (Luv Kush) and Shri Krishna throughout the series. She also rendered the Italian song O Sole Mio in concert in Italy during Easter 1992. Regarding these three albums, only

Sarhadein ''Sarhadein'' is an Indian television series which aired on Zee TV . The story narrates the similarities between the people living in two countries. Besides, it won a numerous awards at the time it was on-air, such as the Indian television actor ...

was released by Tips. She was the only one

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

singer, who has been selected by the world community of

Sikhs Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism (Sikhi), a monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ...

and the government of

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

as well as the Holy

Akal Takht The Akal Takht ("Throne of the Timeless One") is one of five takhts (seats of power) of the Sikhs. It is located in the Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple) complex in Amritsar, Punjab, India. The Akal Takht (originally called Akal Bunga) was built by ...

to perform

Gurmat Sangeet Sikh music, also known as Gurbani Sangeet (Gurmukhi: ਗੁਰਬਾਣੀ ਸੰਗੀਤ; meaning ''music of'' ''the speech of wisdom'')'','' and as Gurmat Sangeet (Gurmukhi: ਗੁਰਮਤਿ ਸੰਗੀਤ; meaning ''music of the counsel o ...

live composed in original Ragas for the celebration of 300 years of Sikh Khalsa Panth at Shri Anandpur Sahib Akal Takht on 13 April 1999. ''Kini Tera Ant Na Paya'' was the only one album of Sikh Sangeet which was especially in her voice and inaugurated by the honourable Chief Minister of

Shri

Prakash Singh Badal Parkash Singh Badal ( pa, ਪ੍ਰਕਾਸ਼ ਸਿੰਘ ਬਾਦਲ; born 8 December 1927) is an Indian politician who was Chief Minister of Punjab state from 1970 to 1971, from 1977 to 1980, from 1997 to 2002, and from 2007 to 2017. He ...

and attended and blessed by honourable Prime Minister of India Shri

Atal Bihari Vajpayee Atal Bihari Vajpayee (; 25 December 1924 – 16 August 2018) was an Indian politician who served three terms as the 10th prime minister of India, first for a term of 13 days in 1996, then for a period of 13 months fr ...

. In November 2010, she was in news for filing FIR against the mother in law of

Sonali Bendre Sonali Bendre (born 1 January 1975) is an Indian actress primarily known for her work in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu films. She did modelling assignments prior to making her acting debut with '' Aag'' (1994), which won her the Filmfare Award for Ne ...

for cheating Hemlata in a case of selling a bungalow in Lokhandwala, for Rs.25 million.

Awards and nominations

, - , rowspan="2", 1977 , "Tu Jo Mere Sur Mein" (''

'') , rowspan="5",

Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer The Filmfare Best Female Playback Award is given by '' Filmfare'' as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise a female playback singer who has delivered an outstanding performance in a film song. Although the award ce ...

, , - , "Sun Ke Teri Pukar" (''

Fakira ''Fakira'' is a 1976 Indian Hindi-language crime action film produced by N.N. Sippy and directed by C.P. Dixit. The film stars Shashi Kapoor, Shabana Azmi, Asrani, Aruna Irani, Danny Denzongpa, Asit Sen (actor), Asit Sen, Ramesh Deo and Madan ...

'') , , - , 1979 , "Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se" (''

'') , , - , 1980 , "Megha O Re Megha" (''

Sunayana ''Sunayana'' is a 1979 Bollywood family drama film directed by Hiren Nag and produced by Tarachand Barjatya. Cast *Talluri Rameshwari as Sunayana * Vijayendra Ghatge as Dr. Indrajeet *Naseeruddin Shah as Rajoo *Gayatri *Sulochana Latkar *Jag ...

'') , , - , 1981 , "Tu Is Tarah Se Meri Zindagi Mein Shaamil Hai" (''

Aap To Aise Na The ''Aap To Aise Na The'' (meaning-you were not like this) is a 1980 Hindi movie directed by Ambrish Sangal, starring Raj Babbar, Deepak Parashar, Ranjeeta Kaur, Madan Puri and Om Shivpuri. The movie is still remembered for its song "Tu Is Tarah S ...

'') ,

Filmography

2000s

1990s

1980s

1970s

1960s

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hemlata Living people Bollywood playback singers Indian women playback singers 1954 births Singers from Hyderabad, India Rajasthani people Film musicians from Andhra Pradesh Singers from Rajasthan Women musicians from Rajasthan 20th-century Indian singers 20th-century Indian women singers 21st-century Indian women singers 21st-century Indian singers Nepali-language singers from India Filmfare Awards winners