Maqsood Mahmood Ali (born 19 September 1958), better known as Lucky Ali, is an Indian singer, songwriter and actor. With several popular singles and albums, he emerged as a significant figure of

Indipop Indian pop music, also known as Indi-pop, refers to pop music produced in India that is independent from filmi soundtracks for Indian cinema, such as the music of Bollywood, which tends to be more popular. Indian pop is closely linked to Bollywo ...

during the 1990s.

Early life and education

Ali is the second of the eight children of

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 ...

actor,

Mehmood Ali Mehmood Ali (29 September 1932 – 23 July 2004), popularly known simply as Mehmood, was an Indian actor, singer, director and producer best known for playing comic roles in Hindi films.Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

and part

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically re ...

, and the sister of 1960s Indian actress

Meena Kumari Meena Kumari (born Mahjabeen Bano; 1 August 1933 – 31 March 1972) was an Indian actress and poet, who worked in Hindi films. Popularly known as ''The Tragedy Queen'', she was active between 1939 and 1972. Kumari is widely considered one of ...

. The Bollywood actress and dancer,

Minoo Mumtaz is a city in northwestern Osaka Prefecture, Japan. Its name is commonly romanized as "Minō" or "Minoo"; however, the city government officially uses the spelling Minoh in English. As of October 2016, the city has an estimated population of 134 ...

, is his paternal aunt. He attended

City Montessori School City Montessori School (CMS) is a co-educational English medium private school that offers education from Pre-school up to K-12 (Grade 12) level in Lucknow, India. The school was founded in 1959 by Dr. Bharti Gandhi and Jagdish Gandhi, Dr. Jagdi ...

, Convent of Jesus and Mary, Hampton Court,

Mussoorie Mussoorie is a hill station and a municipal board, near Dehradun city in the Dehradun district of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is about from the state capital of Dehradun and north of the national capital of New Delhi. The hill s ...

, Manekji Cooper (Kindergarten) (Juhu),

Bombay Scottish School The Bombay Scottish School, Mahim (BSS or BSS Mahim), popularly known as Scottish, is a private, Christian co-educational day school located at Mahim West in Mumbai, India. The institution was established in 1847 by Scottish Christian missionar ...

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

, and the

Bishop Cotton Boys' School Bishop Cotton Boys' School is an all-boys school for boarders and day scholars in Bangalore, India, founded in the memory of Bishop George Edward Lynch Cotton, Bishop of Calcutta. The school has been described as "The Eton of the East". Th ...

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

Personal life

Ali has two children with his first wife – Ta'awwuz and Tasmiyah. He then married Inaya (Anahita, a Persian). With her, he has two children: Sara and Raiyan. He married a third time in 2010 to British model and former beauty queen Kate Elizabeth Hallam whom he divorced in 2017. The couple have a son named Dani Maqsood Ali. Ali presently lives on the outskirts of Bengaluru in his farm house. His favourite places are Mecca and Medina. Ali and his father shared a tempestuous relationship.

Mehmood Ali Mehmood Ali (29 September 1932 – 23 July 2004), popularly known simply as Mehmood, was an Indian actor, singer, director and producer best known for playing comic roles in Hindi films.Mussoorie Mussoorie is a hill station and a municipal board, near Dehradun city in the Dehradun district of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is about from the state capital of Dehradun and north of the national capital of New Delhi. The hill s ...

. Ali's tryst with

marijuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...

led Mehmood to write the script of the movie ''

Dushman Duniya Ka ''Dushman Duniya Ka'' () is a 1996 Hindi-language drama film, produced by Ashok Mishra, Babubhai, Masoom Ali under the Canmore Cinema banner and directed by Mehmood. It stars Jeetendra, Sumalatha, Manzoor Ali, Laila while Shah Rukh Khan a ...

'' (Enemy of the World). The movie stars Ali's youngest brother, Manzoor. It is the story of the

drug abuse Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, is the use of a drug in amounts or by methods which are harmful to the individual or others. It is a form of substance-related disorder. Differing definitions of drug abuse are used in public health, ...

of a young man called Lucky. In the end, the young man kills his mother, destroys everything around him and is then killed by his father. Ali differed with his father's vision and did not act in the movie. "I felt the story lacked hope," he said. However, he sang his first song for the film. Best known for his music, singing and acting, Ali has also bred horses, worked on an oil rig off the coast of

Pondicherry Pondicherry (), now known as Puducherry ( French: Pondichéry ʊdʊˈtʃɛɹi(listen), on-dicherry, is the capital and the most populous city of the Union Territory of Puducherry in India. The city is in the Puducherry district on the sout ...

in South India, cleaned and sold carpets and is a farmer with a strong opinion on organic methods in farming.

Personal albums

Ali made his debut on the

Indian music Owing to India's vastness and diversity, Indian music encompasses numerous genres in multiple varieties and forms which include classical music, folk (Bollywood), rock, and pop. It has a history spanning several millennia and developed ove ...

scene with the album '' Sunoh'', which established him as a singer. This album won many of the top awards in Indian music, including the Best Pop Male Vocalist at the 1996

Screen Awards The Screen Awards is an annual awards ceremony held in India honouring professional excellence in Bollywood. The nomination and award selection is done by a panel of distinguished professionals from the industry. The awards were introduced by t ...

and the

Channel V Channel '' ("V" standing for the letter, not the Roman numeral "5") is a Chinese and former Asian pay television musical network originally launched by Star TV Hong Kong (now Fox Networks Group Asia Pacific). It was part of the unit of Disney ...

Viewers Choice Award in 1997. It stayed on the

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

Asia Charts in the top three for 60 weeks. The song "O Sanam" from '' Sunoh'' launched his career. It was also nominated at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards His next album, ''

Sifar Servizio per le Informazioni e la Sicurezza Militare (abbreviated SISMI, ''Military Intelligence and Security Service'') was the military intelligence intelligence agency, agency of Italy from 1977–2007. With the reform of the Italian Inte ...

'', was noted for its music, lyrics and vocals. Ali became known for his distinctive music style and also for his untrained voice - elements that helped him emerge as a leading figure in

during the period. His third and fourth albums were '' Aks'' and '' Kabhi Aisa Lagta Hai'', both of which were reasonably successful. He is also known for contributing the song "Anjaani Raahon Mein" to the album '' Meri Jaan Hindustan'', which commemorated 50 years of Indian independence in the year 1997. The video was directed by

Mani Shankar Mani Shankar is a Bollywood film director, holographic technology expert, writer and speaker. He is best known for introducing computer-generated imagery to India, and for designing the world's first holographic political campaign, which he ...

, and features him as a young rural man working in a foreign country, with a longing to go back home, and his joy of actually returning to a place he loved. When asked about the video, he once said "The video of 'Anjaani Raahon Mein' was a beautiful story in itself. It was done straight from the heart and it is very special to me."

Bollywood career

Ali debuted in Bollywood with the song "Nasha Nasha" in the movie ''

''. After that he sung “Ek Pal Ka Jeena” and "Na Tum Jaano Na Hum", featured in '' Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai'' (2000). He received the 2001

Filmfare Award for Best Male Playback Singer The Filmfare Best Male Playback Singer Award is given by Indian film magazine ''Filmfare'' as a part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise a male playback singer who has delivered an outstanding performance in a film song. ...

for "Ek Pal Ka Jeena" song. He was nominated for the Best Playback Singer Male for "Aa Bhi Jaa", featured in '' Sur'' in the 48th Filmfare Awards, but lost to

Sonu Nigam Sonu Nigam (born 30 July 1973) is an Indian singer, music director and actor. He has been described in the media as one of the most popular and successful playback singers of Hindi Cinema and Kannada Cinema. He has been honoured by the Govern ...

. He has lent his voice to films such as '' Sur'' (2003), ''

Bachna Ae Haseeno ''Bachna Ae Haseeno'' () is a 2008 Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy film directed by Siddharth Anand, whose previous projects included ''Salaam Namaste'' (2005) and ''Ta Ra Rum Pum'' (2007). Produced by Yash Raj Films, the film stars Ranbir ...

'' (2008), '' Anjaana Anjaani'' (2010) and ''

Tamasha Tamasha ( mr, तमाशा) is a traditional form of Marathi theatre, often with singing and dancing, widely performed by local or travelling theatre groups within the state of Maharashtra, India."Tamasha", in James R. Brandon and Martin Banham ...

'' (2015).

Playback singing career

Lucky Ali started his playback singing career with the song "Walking All Alone" from the film ''

Ek Baap Chhe Bete ''Ek Baap Chhe Bete'' is a 1978 Bollywood film directed by Mehmood. The film stars Yogeeta Bali. Cast *Yogeeta Bali *I. S. Johar *Shubha Khote *Mehmood *Pucky Ali * Lucky Ali *Macky Ali * Nutan Behl (Guest appearance) *Jaya Bhaduri ...

'' in 1978. This film starred

Mehmood Ali Mehmood Ali (29 September 1932 – 23 July 2004), popularly known simply as Mehmood, was an Indian actor, singer, director and producer best known for playing comic roles in Hindi films.Dushman Duniya Ka ''Dushman Duniya Ka'' () is a 1996 Hindi-language drama film, produced by Ashok Mishra, Babubhai, Masoom Ali under the Canmore Cinema banner and directed by Mehmood. It stars Jeetendra, Sumalatha, Manzoor Ali, Laila while Shah Rukh Khan a ...

'', which starred his brother Manzoor Ali in the lead role. The film was directed by their father Mehmood. He has worked with composers such as

A.R Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967) is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer and songwriter, popular for his works in Indian cinema; predominantly in Tamil and Hindi films, with occasional forays in i ...

Vishal Bhardwaj Vishal Bhardwaj (born 4 August 1965) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, producer, music composer and playback singer. He is known for his work in Hindi cinema, and is the recipient of seven National Film Awards and a Filmfare Award. Bha ...

Vishal–Shekhar Vishal–Shekhar are an Indian music composer, production, singing and songwriting duo consisting of Vishal Dadlani and Shekhar Ravjiani from Mumbai. Known predominantly for their work as music composers in Hindi cinema, Vishal–Shekhar have a ...

Mikey McCleary Michael McCleary is a New Zealand songwriter, composer, performer, producer and director based in Mumbai, India since 2007. He has worked on a large number of advertisements such as for brands like Levi's, Coca-Cola, Vodafone etc. and films su ...

Prashant Pillai Prashant Pillai (born 8 September 1981) is a music producer and composer from India. Early career After completing his Sound engineering in Chennai, he went on to work with A.R.Rahman. After a short stint with him, he moved on and settled in ...

, Varun Ahuja and Rajiv Bhalla.

Acting career

As the nephew of

and son of Mehmood, Lucky Ali did not lack the requisites to make his debut as an actor. He first appeared in ''Chote Nawab'' ("The Little Prince") in 1962, directed by Mehmood. He acted in a few films in the 1970s and 1980s such as ''

Yehi Hai Zindagi ''Yehi Hai Zindagi'' () is a 1977 Hindi-language film. Produced by B. Nagi Reddy, it is directed by K. S. Sethumadhavan. The film stars Sanjeev Kumar, Seema Deo, Utpal Dutt, Lucky Ali, Ramesh Deo and Neeta Mehta. The film's music was composed by ...

'' (1977), ''

Hamare Tumhare ''Hamare Tumhare'' is a 1979 Hindi movie, produced by F. C. Mehra and directed by Umesh Mehra. The film stars Sanjeev Kumar, Raakhee, Amjad Khan, Prem Krishen, David, Mehmood, Asrani, Anil Kapoor (In his film debut), Lucky Ali, and Amrish Pur ...

'' (1979) and

Shyam Benegal Shyam Benegal (born 14 December 1934) is an Indian film director, screenwriter and documentary filmmaker. Often regarded as the pioneer of parallel cinema, he is widely considered as one of the greatest filmmakers post 1970s. He has received ...

's ''

Trikaal Trikal (Past, Present and Future) is a 1985 Indian movie written and directed by Shyam Benegal, set in Goa during the twilight of Portuguese rule, It marked the return of Leela Naidu in her first film appearance since 1969. The film was sel ...

'' (1985). He also acted in the television series ''

Bharat Ek Khoj ''Bharat Ek Khoj'' () is a 53-episode Indian historical drama based on the book '' The Discovery of India'' (1946) by Jawaharlal Nehru that covers a 5,000-year history of India from its beginnings to independence from the British in 1947. The ...

'', directed by Shyam Benegal. After a long break from acting, he returned in

Sanjay Gupta Sanjay Gupta (born October 23, 1969) is an American neurosurgeon, medical reporter, and writer. He serves as associate chief of the neurosurgery service at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, associate professor of neurosurgery at t ...

's ''

Kaante ''Kaante'' () is a 2002 Indian Hindi-language action-thriller film directed by Sanjay Gupta, written by Milap Zaveri, and starring an ensemble cast including Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Kumar Gaurav, Sunil Shetty, Lucky Ali, Mahesh Manjre ...

'' (2002), in which he acted alongside leading stars

Amitabh Bachchan Amitabh Bachchan (; born as Amitabh Shrivastav; 11 October 1942) is an Indian actor, film producer, television host, occasional playback singer and former politician known for his work in Hindi cinema. He is regarded as one of the most succe ...

Sanjay Dutt Sanjay Balraj Dutt (born 29 July 1959) is an Indian actor who primarily works in Hindi cinema. In a career spanning over four decades, Dutt has won several accolades and acted in over 100 films, ranging from romance to comedy genres, though u ...

Kumar Gaurav Kumar Gaurav (born Manoj Tuli; 11 July 1956) is an Indian businessman and former actor who worked in Hindi cinema. Son of actor Rajendra Kumar, Gaurav has appeared in several films such as '' Love Story'', '' Teri Kasam'', '' Star'', '' Naam'' ...

and Suniel Shetty. Ali also acted in the TV serial ''Zara Hatke''. In 2002, he acted in the Hindi musical '' Sur-The Melody of Life'' playing a complex role.

Discography

Ali's

discography Discography is the study and cataloging of published sound recordings, often by specified artists or within identified music genres. The exact information included varies depending on the type and scope of the discography, but a discography entry ...

contains six studio albums, six compilations, seven

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

, 19 soundtracks, two

concert tour A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific to ...

s and two other albums (as a composer).

Studio albums

Soundtrack

Filmography

Films

Television series

References

External links

Lucky Ali's Official Website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ali, Lucky 1958 births Living people Bollywood playback singers Male actors in Hindi cinema Indian male film actors Indian male playback singers Indian male pop singers Indian male singer-songwriters Indian singer-songwriters Indian male television actors Bishop Cotton Boys' School alumni Telugu playback singers 20th-century Indian male actors 21st-century Indian male actors Singers from Mumbai Male actors from Mumbai Indian folk-pop singers Filmfare Awards winners Screen Awards winners Zee Cine Awards winners International Indian Film Academy Awards winners 20th-century Indian composers 21st-century Indian composers 20th-century Indian male singers 20th-century Indian singers 21st-century Indian male singers 21st-century Indian singers