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 ap ...

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 ...

'' 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 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 and Nadeem-Shravan and sang for other actors like Govinda, Jackie Shroff and Aamir Khan. 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 playback singing in Hindi cinema. She began her singing career with the album ''Jadoo'' in 1985, and by the 1990s she had become known as the 'Qu ...

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 th ...

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, Bh ...

, Parvati Khan, 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, in ...

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.

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 wi ...

to a North Indian Christian family. He studied in Prayagraj,

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 manageme ...

. 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 ...

gang in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

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 gospel singer.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'' (1984) - "Kasam Paida Karne Wale Ki" *'' Aandhi-Toofan'' (1985) - "Banu Ko Mil Gaya Janu" *'' Maa Kasam'' (1985) *'' Sadaa Suhagan'' (1986) - "Hum Hain Naujawan" * '' Dance Dance'' (1987) - "Dance Dance", "Aa Gaya Aa Gaya Halwa Wala", "Everybody Dance with Papa" *'' Pyaar Karke Dekho'' (1987) - "Its My Challenge" *''

Commando 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 operative of an elite light infantry or special operations forc ...

'' (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 ...

'' (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 Inspecto ...

'' (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'' (1991) - "Tu Chaahat Hai Tu Dhadkan Hai" *'' Laal Paree'' (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 fath ...

'' (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)