 Shubha Mudgal is a celebrated Indian classical vocalist who is known for her unique voice. Her music includes mainly Khayal, Thumri and Dadra and also Indian Pop. Her voice in the song ‘Ab Ke Sawan’ had created a music label in 2003 to distribute the work of independent musicians. Shubha Mudgal is also involved with several projects related to music education in India. Though, professionally, she is a classical singer, but she has adapted her voice to sing all genres of music like Rock, Blues, Samba, Jazz and Folk.
Early Life of Shubha Mudgal Shubha Mudgal was born in Allahabad, in 1959 in an academic family to Skand Gupta and Jaya Gupta, who embraced literature as well as Hindustani Classical Music and Kathak. As a young girl she started learning Kathak in Allahabad following the footsteps of her sister. She later switched to Hindustani Classical Music and her first traditional teacher was Pandit Ramashreya Jha in Allahabad. Later, Shubha Mudgal moved to New Delhi, and continued her musical education under Pandit Vinaya Chandra Mudgalya and Pandit Vasant Thakar. Shubha Mudgal went to Pandit Jitendra Abhishekiand Pandit Kumar Gandharva to polish her stylistic techniques in singing. Her association with Pandit Kumar Gandharva however changed her style of music, as his eclectic approach resounds in Shubha Mudgal’s performances, especially renditions of Bhakti and Sufi poetry. Shubha Mudgal has also received training in Thumri from Guru Smt. Naina Devi and she is considered as a part of the new generation of Hindustani musicians.  Career of Shubha Mudgal
Shubha Mudgal started performing as a Hindustani classical singer in the 1980s, and gained a certain reputation as a talented singer. In the 1990s, she started experimenting with other forms of music, including pop and fusion varieties. Her album ‘Ali More Angana’ was a big hit, especially amongst the youngsters. Shubha Mudgal briefly ran websites called ‘raagsangeet.com’ aimed at lovers of Classical Indian Music, ‘UnderscoreRecords.com’; an online distribution platform for musicians which specializes in several forms of Indian music and ‘SangeetKosh.net’ which aims to preserve the rich Indian musical heritage. In addition to being a performer, Shubha Mudgal is also recognized as a composer. She did the soundtrack for Mira Nair's film ‘Kamasutra’ and also gave the score for Rajan Khosa's ‘Dance of the Wind’. She has composed for dancers like Aditi Mangaldas and Sonal Mansingh and for ballets like ‘Meera and Krishna Katha’ of the "Shri Ram Bharatiya Kala Kendra". Shubha Mudgal composed and sang the title track of Star Plus’s serial “Diya Aur Baati Hum” along with Kailash Kher. It is a very soulful, classical-based Rajasthani folk song. Awards and Recognition by Shubha Mudgal Shubha Mudgal has been honoured with various awards and recognitions which are as follows: • The 1996 National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film Music Direction for ‘Amrit Beej’. • The 1998 Gold Plaque Award for Special Achievement in Music, at the 34th Chicago International Film Festival, for her music in the film ‘Dance of the Wind’ (1997). • Padma Shri in 2000. • She is also close to progressive movements like ANHAD and SAHMAT Personal Life of Shubha Mudgal After graduating from University of Delhi, Shubha Mudgal married Pt. Mudgalaya’s son Mukul Mudgal who was a talented lawyer by profession. She got divorced from her first husband, and married again to Aneesh Pradhan. She has one son from her previous marriage, Dhawal, who is a member of Half Step Down, a Delhi-based music band. (Last Updated on : 01-02-2019) |
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