Rajesh Johri ( hi, राजेश जौहरी ; 19 June 1952 – 1 March 2017Kusnur, Narendra.
The wonder years
, The Hindu, 4 March 2017.) was an Indian poet, Lyricist, Ad Film Maker, Voice Over Artist, and Anchor based in

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- ...

Early life and education

Rajesh belonged to

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

and was born in 1952 in

Pilani Pilani is a small city situated in the Shekhawati region of Rajasthan, India. Administratively, it forms a part of Jhunjhunu district. The place became popular since the establishment of BITS Pilani.The city is also the home to some of the olde ...

. His father, Dr. A. N. Johri, was a professor of

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

and an author, and his mother, Chandra Johri, was well-educated. Rajesh was the youngest of three brothers and also had two sisters. Artistically inclined from a very young age, he penned his first poem at the age of 10. He had a deep interest in music and literature. In one of his interviews, he was quoted saying that his father's paternal grandmother, Heera Kunwar, used to pen

bhajan Bhajan refers to any devotional song with a religious theme or spiritual ideas, specifically among Indian religions, in any language. The term bhajanam (Sanskrit: भजनम्) means ''reverence'' and originates from the root word ''bhaj'' ...

s in praise of Lord

Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one ...

, and that she is who he got it from. Rajesh received his primary education from

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...

and since his father was in a transferable job, he travelled during his childhood to

Chandausi Chandausi is a city and a municipal board in Sambhal district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. The original name of the city was "Chanda Si", meaning "moon-like" (in Indian poetry the moon is considered to be beautiful). Actually, Chandaus ...

Khurja Khurja is a city (and a municipal board) in Bulandshahr district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is situated around 20 km from Bulandshahr, 85 km from Delhi. Khurja supplies a large portion of the ceramics used in the country, henc ...

and finally,

Saharanpur Saharanpur is a city and a municipal corporation in Uttar Pradesh, India. It is also the administrative headquarters of Saharanpur district. Saharanpur city's name was given after the Saint Shah Haroon Chishti. Saharanpur is declared as on ...

where he completed his graduation in science stream from Jain College, in 1972. His parents' dream was that he would become an engineer, and so they enrolled him for an

MSc MSC may refer to: Computers * Message Sequence Chart * Microelectronics Support Centre of UK Rutherford Appleton Laboratory * MIDI Show Control * MSC Malaysia (formerly known as Multimedia Super Corridor) * USB mass storage device class (USB MSC ...

course in physics. However, following his passion for writing, one day before his 20th birthday, he boarded a train to

from

for the purpose of fulfilling his creative dreams. Having no connection whatsoever with the music industry leading to a single-handed struggle, he left for his journey to the city of his dreams.

Career

1972–1990

Rajesh Johri's first song was sung by Chandru Aatma, "Chanchal Nain Tihare" and soon after that his career picked up wonderfully, crossing milestone after milestone. Soon after this bhajan, "Hari ka Dhyaan Laga", "Mere Shyaam Tera Naam" and "Mann Re Tan Hai Dukh Ka Gaon" were sung by

Mohammed Rafi Mohammed Rafi (24 December 1924 – 31 July 1980) was an Indian playback singer and musician. He is considered to have been one of the greatest and most influential singers of the Indian subcontinent. Rafi was notable for his versatility and ...

which became quite popular. Johri gave his voice for numerous ad-jingles of that era namely Ajanta watches for

Ajanta Group Ajanta Group or Oreva Group (stylized as OREVA) is a diversified group, active in textiles, transport, construction equipment, and machinery. History The company was founded by Odhavaji Raghavji Patel in 1971. It is known for the manufacturi ...

, Nescafe, and "Vardhman Knitting Yarn" For

Vardhman Group of Companies Vardhman Group is a textile group based in Ludhiana, Punjab, India, that was established in 1965. The group is engaged in manufacturing and trading in Yarn Yarn is a long continuous length of interlocked fibres, used in sewing, crochet ...

. He worked closely with Pandit Vinod Sharma and voice-over legend Ameen Sayani whom he considered his mentors. He was a regular anchor for Sur Singar Samsad in which he shared stage with the best of artists and musicians such as Bismillah Khan,

Ram Narayan Ram Narayan (; born 25 December 1927), often referred to with the title Pandit, is an Indian musician who popularised the bowed instrument ''sarangi'' as a solo concert instrument in Hindustani classical music and became the first international ...

Kavita Krishnamurthy Sharada Krishnamurthy, popularly known as Kavita Krishnamurthy or Kavita Subramaniam, is an Indian playback and classical singer. She has recorded 50,000 songs in 45 various Indian languages including Hindi, Bengali, Kannada, Rajasthani, Bhojp ...

Suresh Wadkar Suresh Ishwar Wadkar (born 7 August 1955) is an Indian playback singer. He performs in both Hindi and Marathi films. He has sung songs in some Bhojpuri films, Odia albums and bhajans and in Konkani films. He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Aka ...

, and others. Johri Penned numerous bhajans for Anup Jalota of which "Hey Sharde Ma

"Tere Tan Mein Ram", "Jo Tu Mitaana Chah

and many more. Another very popular album by Johri was "Baby Doll" by Alisha Chinai.

1990–2017

Johri created a niche for himself in the world of Indian pop. The album

Halka Nasha ''Halka Nasha'' is a popular Hindi ghazal album of the Indian singer and Ghazal composer Hariharan (singer), Hariharan. It was released on 1996 by Bayshore, and later re-released by the same label in 2004 for its popularity. The album consists of ...

was very well received, which had ghazals sung by Hariharan. The song "Sa Ni Dha Pa" from the Colonial Cousins, a fusion album by Hariharan and Lewis, was the first ever offering that was a part of MTV Unplugged. He worked for many online projects in this era of online channels, giving his services as a lyricist, voice over artist and also as a brand ambassador for teleshopping product English Guru. His notable works include "Asian Sky Shop", Theme Songs for

Border Security Force The Border Security Force (BSF) is India's border guarding organisation on its border with Pakistan and Bangladesh. It is one of the seven Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) of India, and was raised in the wake of the 1965 war on 1 December 1 ...

Delhi Police The Delhi Police (DP) is the law enforcement agency for the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). Delhi Police comes under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Government of India. In 2015, sanctioned strength of Delhi ...

and many more. He designed programs for online radio channel "2B! Radio" and also contributed as a voice-over artist and a scriptwriter.

Discography

He was credited as a lyricist for the film '' Thank You for Coming'' (2023), the song "Pari Hoon Main" is remake version of the famous Suneeta Rao's song "Paree Hoon Main" from the album ''Dhuan'' (1991).

Personal life

Rajesh married Archana Johri, a scriptwriter, anchor and poet in the year 1986. He had two daughters, Ratika Johri and Rashee Johri. The elder one, Ratika is a singer and lending her voice for many albums, serials and films. The younger one, Rashee is an anchor, choreographer, director and founder of an event company - 'Zodiac events'.

Death

Johri suffered from kidney disease in the last few years of his life. As a result, he suffered cardiac arrest on 1 March 2017 and died at the Bhartiya Aaroya Nidhi Hospital in Mumbai.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johri, Raajesh 1952 births 2017 deaths Poets from Rajasthan Indian lyricists People from Jhunjhunu district 20th-century Indian poets 21st-century Indian poets Musicians from Mumbai 20th-century Indian composers 21st-century Indian composers Musicians from Rajasthan Indian poets Indian musicians