Suresh Wadkar

• Birth Date: 01 Jan 1954
• Birth Place: Kolhapur

Artist Information

Suresh Wadkar is one of the artists who are benchmarks of their generation because of their talent.Though he could not become a superstar he was one of the few singers whose vocals respect its genes, one can identify his songs without any confusion.

Suresh Wadkar hails from Kolhapur in Maharashtra. His father named him ‘Sur – esh’ (God of Sur) because he wanted him to become a singer. At the age of ten, the boy went to the gurukul of Pandit Jialal Vasant to take formal training in music, from where comes his grounding in classical music, a must for any singer.

Thoroughly groomed in Indian Classical music, Suresh entered the Sur – Shringar Samsad at the behest of his guru. This proved to be his entrance ticket films. The young Wadkar,who had stunned his guru within a year of joining him, won the competition, which was judged by illustrious composers from Hindi cinema including Jaidev and Jaidev. In 1974, Jaidev gave him a break with ‘Seene Mein Jalan’ in Gaman. But though connoisseurs admire the song to this day, the art film failed to give him general exposure. This explains the erroneous assumption that Wadkar’s first film was Rajshri’s Paheli in which Ravindra Jain composed the hit Wadkar – Hemlata duet ‘Bishti Kare Tipur Tipar’.

Lata Mangeshkar was so impressed with him that she rang up composers like Laxmikant, Kalyanji and Khayyam in his presence and strongly recommended the young boy’s voice. Laxmikant – Pyarelal too were impressed and soon recorded a duet with Lata ‘Chal Chameli Bagh Mein’ for Krodhi (1981), and soon after gave him hit songs in Hum Paanch, Pyasa Sawan (‘Megha re Megha Re’) and above all, his turning point in films, Raj Kapoor’s Prem Rog, in which he sang all the four songs for hero Rishi Kapoor.Among Kalyanji – Kalyanji’s songs, the Vidhaata number ‘Hathon Ki Chand Lakeeron Ka’ proved a big hit. He sings non – filmi albums in Hindi and Marathi and sings in Marathi films too.

He was unluckily branded as a semi – classical singer despite singing so many light songs in Hindi.He proved himself an original and not a clone with his major hits including Laxmikant – Pyarelal’s Krodhi, Hum Paanch (title song), Pyasa Sawan, Prem Rog , Coolie ( ‘Hum Ko Ishq Hai Logon’ ), Hero (‘Mohabbat Yeh Mohabbat’), Utsav, Sindoor, Eeshwar, Saudagar and Prem Granth, Kalyanji – Anandji’s ‘Aur Is Dil Mein’ from Imaandaar, Rajesh Roshan’s ‘Kaale Kaale Badal’ (Anjaane), Anand Milind’s Dil, Vansh and Bol Radha Bol, Hridaynath Mangeshkar’s Dhanwaan and Lekin, Ravindra Jain’s Paheli, Ram Teri Ganga Maili and Henna, Shiv – Hari’s 59c Chaandni, Usha Khanna’s Saajan Bina Suhagan, R. D. Burman’s Parinda, A. R. Rahman’s Rangeela, Vishal’s Maachis, Dilip Sen – Sameer Sen’s Aaina and others.

Suresh Wadkar has now turned composer with two Marathi films and the Hindi film Dil Churaya Aapne. But singing continues to be his first love and he feels that he has miles to go before he can reach anywhere near the great singers.