Veteran singer Narendra Chanchal passed away this afternoon (January 22) in Delhi at Apollo Hospital due to age-related illnesses. He had not been keeping well since quite some time and was in hospital for two months before the end came. He was 80 years old.
Chanchal had a unique voice and had rendered many bhajans and devotional songs, mainly for Super Cassettes. He shot to fame with the Beshaq mandir masjid todo song from Bobby. Chalo bulava aaya hai from Avtaar and Tune mujhe bulaya Sheranwaliye from Asha were two other popular numbers rendered by him. Yaara o yaara (Benaam) and Mehngai maar gayi (Roti Kapda Aur Makaan), rendered by Chanchal, were also chartbusters. No less than Prime Minister Narendra Modi shared his condolences on Twitter, praising the singer.
In the early days, Chanchal sang at impromptu gatherings in his locality where his talent got noticed. He was a sought-after stage performer. He used to sit outside record stores, listen to film songs and reproduce them. As a child, he loved shouting into a well in the courtyard of his house in Amritsar and listen to the echo.
Chanchal sang songs in Hindi, Punjabi, Marathi, Gujarati and Bengali. He lost his voice once, for a couple of months, after which he concentrated on devotional songs, especially at jagrans. He had released a number of non-film albums. His shows were booked months in advance.