Vijay Benedict is an Indian former

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 ...

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 ...

who provided playback for over 35 Bollywood films in the 1980s and early 1990s.

Career

He made his debut as a singer for the hit 1982 film ''

Disco Dancer ''Disco Dancer'' is a 1982 Indian dance film, written by Rahi Masoom Raza and directed by Babbar Subhash. It stars Mithun Chakraborty and Kim in leading roles, with Om Puri, Gita Siddharth and Karan Razdan in supporting roles with Rajesh Kh ...

'' singing the popular title song "I Am a Disco Dancer" for actor

Mithun Chakraborty Mithun Chakraborty (born Gouranga Chakraborty; 16 June 1950) is an Indian actor, producer and politician who predominantly worked in Hindi and Bengali language films. He is a former Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament. He is the recipient of three ...

. The film's director was

Babbar Subhash Babbar Subhash is an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter who primarily works in Hindi films. He is known for his film collaborations with actor Mithun Chakraborty including ''Disco Dancer'' (1982), ''Kasam Paida Karne Wale Ki'' (1984), ...

and music director was

Bappi Lahiri Bappi Aparesh Lahiri (born Alokesh Aparesh Lahiri; 27 November 1952 – 15 February 2022), also known as Bappi Da was an Indian singer, composer and record producer. He popularised the use of synthesised disco music in Indian music industry and ...

. He was frequently used as the playback singer for films starring Mithun Chakraborty which were directed by Babbar Subhash and music by Bappi Lahiri. He also worked with other music directors like Laxmikant Pyarelal,

Anand–Milind Anand and Milind Srivastava are a duo of Indian film music composers. Born to composer Chitragupt, they have composed music for over 200 Bollywood films. The brothers debuted in 1984 with '' Ab Ayega Mazaa'' and had their major breakthrough with ...

and Nadeem-Shravan and sang for other actors like

Govinda Govinda (), also rendered Govind and Gobind, is an epithet of Vishnu which is also used for his avatars such as Krishna. The name appears as the 187th and the 539th name of Vishnu in '' Vishnu Sahasranama''. The name is also popularly addresse ...

Jackie Shroff Jaikishan Kakubhai Shroff (born 1 February 1957), popularly known as Jackie Shroff, is an Indian actor and former model. He has been in the Bollywood industry for over four decades, and , has appeared in over 220 films in 13 languages namely Hi ...

and

Aamir Khan Mohammed Aamir Hussain Khan (; born 14 March 1965) is an Indian actor, film director and producer who works in Hindi films. Through his career spanning over 30 years, Khan has established himself as one of the most notable actors of Indian ci ...

. He has sung duets with female singers like

Alisha Chinai Alisha Chinai (born 18 March 1965) is an Indian pop singer known for her Indi-pop albums as well as Music of Bollywood, playback singing in Hindi cinema. She began her singing career with the album ''Jadoo'' in 1985, and by the 1990s she had bec ...

Asha Bhosle Asha Bhosle (; Mangeshkar; born 8 September 1933) is an Indian playback singer, entrepreneur and occasional actress and television personality who predominantly works in Indian Cinema. Known for her versatility, she has been described in the ...

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 ...

Parvati Khan Parvati Khan ( Maharaj) is a pop singer and model, who sang the song ''Jimmy Jimmy Aaja'' in the 1982 Bollywood hit movie ''Disco Dancer'', which won a ''Gold Disc'' award. She is also known for the song ''Khula Tala Chod Aayi''. Early life Parv ...

, and male singers like

Amit Kumar Amit Kumar (born 3 July 1952) is an Indian playback singer, actor, music composer. Kumar launched his own music production company, named Kumar Brothers Music. He predominantly worked in Bollywood and regional film songs since the 1970s, inc ...

and

Kumar Sanu Kedarnath Bhattacharya (born 20 October 1957), better known as Kumar Sanu, is an Indian playback singer. He is known as the King of Melody in Bollywood. He is famous for singing thousands of Bollywood Hindi songs. Apart from Hindi, he has al ...

. His career as a playback singer lasted for 10 years from 1982 to 1992. He is currently a

gospel singer Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music, and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music varies according to culture and social context. Gospel music is com ...

Personal life

He was born in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

to a North Indian Christian family. He studied in

Prayagraj Allahabad (), officially known as Prayagraj, also known as Ilahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi (Benares). It is the administrat ...

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 a graduate in

Business Management Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of managemen ...

. In 1991, his brother was murdered by a

mafia "Mafia" is an informal term that is used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original “Mafia”, the Sicilian Mafia and Italian Mafia. The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of d ...

gang in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

after which he quit playback singing. This made him reconnect with his faith and devoting himself to singing for his Christian faith. He is now a

.http://www.christiantoday.co.in/articles/interview-vijay-benedicts-life-from-bollywood-to-gospel/5203.htm

Notable Bollywood Playback Singing

* ''

'' (1982) - "I Am a Disco Dancer" * ''

Kasam Paida Karne Wale Ki ''Kasam Paida Karne Wale Ki'' () is a 1984 Indian Hindi-language masala film produced and directed by Babbar Subhash, starring Mithun Chakraborty (in double role), Smita Patil, Salma Agha, Karan Razdan, Geeta Siddharth and Amrish Puri. It was ...

'' (1984) - "Kasam Paida Karne Wale Ki" *''

Aandhi-Toofan ''Aandhi-Toofan'' is a 1985 Indian Hindi-language film directed by B.Subhash, starring Shashi Kapoor, Hema Malini, Shatrughan Sinha, Mithun Chakraborty, Meenakshi Sheshadri and Danny Denzongpa. Plot Notorious biker-gangster Balvir (Danny D ...

'' (1985) - "Banu Ko Mil Gaya Janu" *'' Maa Kasam'' (1985) *''

Sadaa Suhagan ''Sadaa Suhagan'' () is a 1986 Hindi-language drama film, produced by Vijay Soorma, Rajeev Kumar for Vidya Shree Films and directed by T. Rama Rao. It stars Jeetendra and Rekha. The music was composed by Laxmikant-Pyarelal. It is remake of the ...

'' (1986) - "Hum Hain Naujawan" * '' Dance Dance'' (1987) - "Dance Dance", "Aa Gaya Aa Gaya Halwa Wala", "Everybody Dance with Papa" *''

Pyaar Karke Dekho ''Pyaar Karke Dekho'' (transl. ''Look At Me Lovingly'') is a 1987 Indian film. It was one of the first movies to feature Govinda (actor), Govinda and Kader Khan, who went on to star in a number of movies later. Another cast includes Mandakini (a ...

'' (1987) - "Its My Challenge" *''

Commando Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin">40_Commando.html" ;"title="Royal Marines from 40 Commando">Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin area of Afghanistan are pictured A commando is a combatant, or operativ ...

'' (1988) - "O Mere Apne", " Maine Maine Tujhe", "Its a Dance Party" *''

Hum Intezaar Karenge ''Hum Intezaar Karenge'' is a 1989 Indian Hindi-language film directed by Prabhat Roy. It stars Mithun Chakraborty, Padmini Kolhapure, Vinod Mehra, Shakti Kapoor, Shafi Inamdar, Dina Pathak in pivotal roles. The music was composed by Bappi Lahir ...

'' (1989) *''

Farz Ki Jung ''Farz Ki Jung'' is a 1989 Indian Bollywood action film directed by R.P. Swamy and produced by Dalwinder Sohal. It stars Govinda, Shashi Kapoor, Amrish Puri and Neelam in pivotal roles. Plot Honest, hardworking, and diligent Police Inspector V ...

'' (1989) "Naachenge Gayengi" *''Sikka'' (1989) - "Blow Hot Blow Cold" *'' Love Love Love'' (1989) - "We Are in Love", "Jeene Hai Pyar Main Jeena", "Main Tujhse Pyaar Karta Hoon" *'' Naachnewale Gaanewale'' (1990) - "Aayi Naseebowali Raat" *'' Yaadon Ke Mausam'' (1990) - "Dil Dil Hindustan" *''

Pyaar Ka Saaya Pyaar Ka Saaya (English: The Shadow of love) is a 1991 Bollywood Thriller film directed by Vinod Verma and starring Rahul Roy and Sheeba Akashdeep in lead roles. Plot Avinash Saxena lives with his uncle and cousin, Vimal. His uncle passes away ...

'' (1991) - "Tu Chaahat Hai Tu Dhadkan Hai" *''

Laal Paree ''Laal Paree'' is a 1991 Bollywood romance fantasy film directed by Hannif Chippa, starring Aditya Pancholi and introducing Jahnvi in the role of the mermaid. Plot Shankar falls in love with a girl, unaware of that she is a mermaid. Dr Jacob ...

'' (1991) - "No Objection" *'' Meri Jaaneman'' (1992) - "Romance Romance" *''

Daddy A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. An adoptive fathe ...

'' (2017) - "Zindagi Meri Dance" (from the soundtrack of 1987 film ''Dance Dance'')

References

External links

*
Interview with Vijay Benedict
{{DEFAULTSORT:Benedict, Vijay Indian male playback singers Bollywood playback singers Living people Indian gospel singers Indian Christians Year of birth missing (living people)