Zubeen Garg (born Zubeen Borthakur; 18 November 1972) is an Indian singer, music director, composer, lyricist, music producer, actor, film director, film producer, script writer and philanthropist. He primarily works for and sings in the Assamese,

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

Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

-language film and music industries, but has sung in many other languages and

dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a ...

s, including

Bishnupriya Manipuri Bishnupriya Manipuri, also known as simply Bishnupriya, is an Indo-Aryan language belonging to the Bengali–Assamese languages, Bengali–Assamese linguistic sub-branch. It is a creole language, creole of Bengali language and Meitei languag ...

Boro __NOTOC__ Boro may refer to: People * Boro people, indigenous peoples of Amazonas, Brazil * A variant spelling for the Bodo people of northeast India * Charan Boro, Indian politician * Isaac Adaka Boro, a celebrated Niger Delta nationalist and Nig ...

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 ...

, Goalpariya,

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

, Karbi, Khasi,

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 2 ...

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

, Mising, Nepali, Odia,

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

, Sindhi,

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

Tiwa Tiwa and Tigua may refer to: * Tiwa Puebloans, an ethnic group of New Mexico, US * Tiwa (Lalung), an ethnic group of north-eastern India * Tiwa language (India), a Sino-Tibetan language of India * Tiwa languages, a group of Tanoan languages of the ...

. He is also an

instrumentalist A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person who pl ...

and plays 12 instruments including Ananda Lohori,

dhol Dhol (IPA: ) can refer to any one of a number of similar types of double-headed drum widely used, with regional variations, throughout the Indian subcontinent. Its range of distribution in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan primarily includes nort ...

dotara The ''dotara'' (or ''dotar'') Persian ( bn, দোতারা, as, দোতাৰা, literally, 'Of or having two strings') is a two, four, or sometimes five- stringed musical instrument, originating from Iran and Central Asia. It is comm ...

, drums,

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

, harmonica,

harmonium The pump organ is a type of free-reed organ that generates sound as air flows past a vibrating piece of thin metal in a frame. The piece of metal is called a reed. Specific types of pump organ include the reed organ, harmonium, and melodeon. Th ...

, mandolin,

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

tabla A tabla, bn, তবলা, prs, طبلا, gu, તબલા, hi, तबला, kn, ತಬಲಾ, ml, തബല, mr, तबला, ne, तबला, or, ତବଲା, ps, طبله, pa, ਤਬਲਾ, ta, தபலா, te, తబల� ...

and various

percussion instrument A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

s. He is Assam's highest-paid singer. In 2011, Zubeen Garg was honoured as a guest artist of the year by the Assam Convention, at Oakbrook in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Early life

Garg was born in a

Brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (gur ...

family at

Tura, Meghalaya Tura (IPA: ˈtʊərə) is a municipality in the West Garo Hills district of the Indian state of Meghalaya. One of the largest towns in Meghalaya, Tura is located in the foothills of the Tura range of the Garo Hills. Before Britishers came to Gar ...

to Mohini Mohon Borthakur and Late Ily Borthakur. He was named after the music composer

Zubin Mehta Zubin Mehta (born 29 April 1936) is an Indian conductor of Western classical music. He is music director emeritus of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) and conductor emeritus of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Mehta's father was the fou ...

and used his gotra '''Garg as his surname. His father Mohini Borthakur was a Magistrate, and is a lyricist and a poet under the name ''Kapil Thakur'' and his mother Late Ily Borthakur was a singer. Garg's younger sister Jonkey Borthakur was an actress and singer who died in a car accident in February 2002 in

Sonitpur district Sonitpur district ron: ˌsə(ʊ)nɪtˈpʊə or ˌʃə(ʊ)nɪtˈpʊəis an administrative district in the state of Assam in India. The district headquarters is located at Tezpur. Etymology The name of the is derived from a mythological story f ...

while they were going to perform stage show along with her co-artists. He had released the album ''Xixhu'' in 2002, in the memory of Jonkey Borthakur. His another sister is Dr. Palme Borthakur. Garg pursued a degree in

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

B. Borooah College B. Borooah College , established in 1943, is one of the oldest degree college situated in Guwahati, Assam. It was named after Bholanath Borooah a businessman from Nagaon. This college is affiliated with the Gauhati University. Departments Scie ...

but

dropped out Dropping out refers to leaving high school, college, university or another group for practical reasons, necessities, inability, apathy, or disillusionment with the system from which the individual in question leaves. Canada In Canada, most ind ...

to concentrate in his singing career. Garg married Garima Saikia, a fashion designer from

Golaghat Golaghat ( ''Gʊlaɡʱat'' ) one of the largest subdivisions of the Indian state of Assam, later elevated to the position of a full–fledged district headquarter on 5 October 1987, is a city and a municipality and the seat of administrative ...

, Assam on 4 February 2002.

Starting of musical life

Garg started to sing from the age of three. His first guru was his mother from where he learnt to sing and then he learnt tabla from Pandit Robin Banerjee for 11 years. Guru Ramani Rai acquainted him with Assamese folk. Garg was composing songs from his school days and one of the song from his first album Anamika "Gaane ki Aane" was composed by him at the age of 13.

Career

Beginning of singing career (1992-1995)

Garg got his confidence to become a professional singer when he got gold medal for his western solo performance in youth festival held in 1992. And after this he entered into professional music with his debut Assamese album ''Anamika'', which was released in 1992. His first composed song from this album was ''"Gaane Ki Aane"'' which he composed at the age of 13. Garg first recorded songs for album were ''"Tumi Junu Pariba Hun"'' and ''"Tumi Junaki Hubakh"'' for the album ''Ritu.'' He later released many other albums such as ''Xapunor Xur (1992), Junaki Mon (1993), Maya (1994)'', ''Asha (1995)'', ''Ujan Piriti'' (1995), etc.

Bollywood singing career (1995-present)

In the mid 1995, Garg moved to

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- ...

to work in the

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 ...

music industry where he debut his first Indipop solo album ''Chandni Raat''. Later, he recorded few Hindi albums and remix songs like ''Chanda (1996), Shradhaanjali vol: 1,2,3 (1996-97), Jalwa (1998),'' ''Yuhi Kabhi (1998)'', ''Jadoo (1999), Sparsh (2000), etc.'' He got to sing for different films like '' Gaddaar (1995), Dil Se (1998)'', '' Doli Saja Ke Rakhna (1998)'', '' Fiza (2000)'', '' Kaante (2002)''. In 2003, he sung "Sapne Saare" and "khwabon Ki" from the movie '' Mudda-The Issue'', "Mango Agar Dil Se Toh Khuda" from the movie '' Chupke Se'', "Holi Re" from the movie ''Mumbai se Aiya Mera Dost'' and "Jo Pyar tumne" from the movie ''Jaal:The trap''. Apart from singing in his Bollywood and Assamese industries, he debuted in Bengali music industry in 2003 where he sung two songs in the movie ''Mon''. In the next year he sung three songs in the movie ''

Shudhu Tumi ''Shudhu Tumi'' is a 2004 Bengali film directed by Abhijit Guha and Sudeshna Roy, produced by Sagar Bhora and Siddhartha Bhora, and starring Prosenjit Chatterjee and Koel Mallick in the lead roles. Zubeen Garg composed the music. Cast * P ...

'' and also was the music director in the film. In 2005 he sung "''O bondhure"'' and "Lagena Bhalo" in the film ''

Premi ''Premi'' ( bn, প্রেমী, translated as "Lover") is a Bengali movie released in 2004. Directed by Rabi Kinagi, the movie featured Jeet, Jisshu Sengupta and Chandana Sharma. This was Chandana Sharma's debut movie This movie is also the ...

''. In 2008 he recorded songs like "Mon mane Na" from" the movie ''Mon Mane Na'' , "Piya re Piya re" from the movie '' Chirodini Tumi je Amaar'', and "Mon jete chay shudhu" from the movie '' Love story''. He got the biggest break in Bollywood from the movie ''

Gangster A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from '' mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level of organization and ...

'' where he sang the song ''"Ya ali"''. The song brought him the best playback singer Global Indian Film Awards (GIFA) in 2006. His next Hindi album '' Zindagi'' was released in 2007.

Social work

Garg runs a charity, the Kalaguru Artiste Foundation, which donates money for various causes. He urged people to donate clothes, medicines and contributions when devastating floods hit Assam. He took on the issue over corruption in APSC recruitment in his movie Kanchanjangha. He is a football fan and has played matches to collect funds for flood affected people. Garg was one of the main non-political figure of the Anti-CAA protest in Assam.

Discography

As a music director

Films

Garg won the " Best Music Direction" for the film ''Echoes Of Silence'' in the 55th National Film Awards. He was nominated for the " Best Music Direction" for the film ''Dinabandhu'' in the

52nd National Film Awards The 52nd National Film Awards, presented by Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India to felicitate the best of Indian Cinema released in the year 2004. The selection process of ...

Television

Theater

As a composer and lyricist

As an actor

Films

Garg played the lead role in ''

Mon Jaai ''Mon Jaai'' (English: I feel like) is a 2008 Assamese language drama film directed by Moirangthem Maniram. The film is about the life of four unemployed educated youths from lower-middle-class families of Tinsukia, Assam who are entangled by t ...

'', for which he was nominated for the " Best Actor" in the 56th National Film Awards. He was nominated for the " Best Supporting Actor" for the film ''Dinabandhu'' in the

Television

As a director

Films

Theater

As a producer, script writer and poet

Producer

Script writer

As a poet

He got Seuji-Seuji award for his poetry book in 2017.

As a judge

Awards and honours

Zubeen Garg has received the following recognitions for his successful work in the industry.

Collaboration with musician and lyricist

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Garg, Zubeen 1972 births Living people Assamese playback singers Assamese-language singers Bengali playback singers Bengali-language singers Bollywood playback singers 21st-century Indian male singers 21st-century Indian singers Indian pop singers Indian male singer-songwriters Indian male pop singers Indian male playback singers Indian rock singers Indian folk-pop singers Indian male composers People from Jorhat district Performers of Hindu music Singers from Assam Singers from Guwahati Singers from Meghalaya Assamese-language film directors Indian film score composers Assamese actors 21st-century Indian film directors 21st-century Indian composers Film directors from Assam People from Meghalaya People from Tura, Meghalaya People from Guwahati Indian male film score composers Assamese film score composers Assamese-language lyricists