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khazana theme song
FOUNDERS
Pankaj Udhas
President Parents Association Thalassemic Unit Trust

Pankaj Udhas is a ghazal singer, hailing from Gujarat in India.

He started his career with a release of a ghazal album titled, Aahat in 1980 and subsequently recorded many hits like Mukarrar in 1981, Tarrannum in 1982, Mehfil in 1983, Pankaj Udhas Live at Royal Albert Hall in 1984, Nayaab in 1985 and Aafreen in 1986.

After his success as a ghazal singer, he was invited to appear and sing for a film by Mahesh Bhatt, Naam. Udhas rose to further fame for singing in the 1986 film Naam, in which his song "Chitthi Aayee Hai" became an instant hit.

He did playback singing for many Hindi films after that and albums and live concerts around the globe which brought him fame as a singer. In 2006, Pankaj Udhas was awarded the coveted Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian award.

Mr Y.K. Sapru
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Founder Director,
Cancer Patients Aid Association (CPAA)

Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Founder Director, Cancer Patients Aid Association (CPAA), established in 1969.

CPAA is an NGO committed to the concept of "Total Management of Cancer" from awareness to rehabilitation, research and advocacy, with over 125 employees, branches in several towns in India, several hundred volunteers and a budget of approximately Rs. 80 million per year. The organization has been developed to maintain excellent governance through a management board which has directors heading various disciplines ranging from Patient Care, Early diagnosis, Rehabilitation, Cancer Insurance, Cancer Research, Advocacy and Fund raising.

He has been awarded with the Lifetime Achievement Award, at the International Workshop on Cancer Awareness, Prevention, Screening & Early Detection for SAARC Nations in March 2016 and the World Health Organization 2012 Certificate of Appreciation to Cancer Patients Aid Association India in recognition of outstanding contribution to tobacco control

About Us
KHAZANA is an initiative started in 2002 by Pankaj Udhas, Talat Aziz and Anup Jalota in partnership with CPAA, in the form of a Festival of Ghazals that supports and funds cancer and thalassaemia patients.

It has had an amazing line up of acclaimed artists like Talat Aziz, Anup Jalota, Penaz Masani, Bhupinder Singh, Mitali Singh, Suresh Wadkar, Sonu Nigam, Rekha Bhardwaj, Papon, Javed Ali, Soha Mohapatra, Sudeep Banerjee among others. The two-day festival is a tribute to poetry and all the master poets, shayars and shayaranas of yesteryears and today.

In 2018, we introduced KHAZANA ARTIST ALOUD TALENT HUNT, a unique, pan-India talent hunt that seeks to amalgamate the magic of Ghazals with the technology and the reach of Hungama Artist Aloud to enable aspiring singers, irrespective of their age to be a part of the magnificent art of Ghazal singing. The Talent Hunt gives winners an exclusive chance to perform at the Khazana concert with the greatest Ghazal singers India has ever seen, including Pankaj Udhas, Anup Jalota, Talat Aziz, Rekha Bhardwaj, Bhupinder Singh, Mitali Singh among others.

Jury Members
Pankaj Udhas

Pankaj Udhas is a ghazal singer, hailing from Gujarat in India.

He started his career with a release of a ghazal album titled, Aahat in 1980 and subsequently recorded many hits like Mukarrar in 1981, Tarrannum in 1982, Mehfil in 1983, Pankaj Udhas Live at Royal Albert Hall in 1984, Nayaab in 1985 and Aafreen in 1986.

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After his success as a ghazal singer, he was invited to appear and sing for a film by Mahesh Bhatt, Naam. Udhas rose to further fame for singing in the 1986 film Naam, in which his song "Chitthi Aayee Hai" became an instant hit.

He did playback singing for many Hindi films after that and albums and live concerts around the globe which brought him fame as a singer. In 2006, Pankaj Udhas was awarded the coveted Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian award.

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Talat Aziz

Talat Aziz was born in Hyderabad, India to Abdul Azeem Khan and Sajida Abid, a famous Urdu writer and poet. He went to Hyderabad Public School till the 12th standard when he finished his ISC and then joined The Indian Institute of Management and Commerce for his B'Com (Hons) Course.

His family loved fine arts and used to organize Mehfils in their house, inviting artists and poets like Jagjit Singh, Jan Nisaar Akhtar, the father of the famous writer Javed Akhtar to name a few. This greatly influenced him and he started learning music from an early age.

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Talat Aziz took his initial training in music from Kirana Gharana. He was trained primarily by Ustad Samad Khan and later by Ustad Fayaz Ahmed who were famous classical music singers.

After the initial training, Talat decided to learn music from music maestro Mehdi Hassan. On many occasions, like on a concert tour of the US and Canada in 1986, he shared the same stage with him on concerts in India and abroad.

His first major performance was in Hyderabad at a place called King Kothi. He sang before a crowd of over 5,000. He sung Kaise Sukoon Paoon and some ghazals by noted shaayars of Hyderabad. Though he was nervous at his first performance in front of the audience, he performed well.

After his graduation, he moved to Bombay in 1976 as advised by Jagjit Singh. He also trained under classical music Ustad Samaad Khan and Faiyaz Ahmed Khan. And for his ghazal training he became a disciple of Mehdi Hassan in 1978. With the help of Jagjit Singh he released his first album in 1979, Jagjit Singh Presents Talat Aziz. But after several years of struggle Talat also sang some ghazals in films like Umrao Jaan and Bazaar, which were super-hit.

Talat has also composed music for TV serials and has also acted in several of them. He composed music for tele-serials to name a few like Deewar, Baaz, Adhikaar, Ghutan, Sailaab, Aashirwaad and the magnum opus, Noorjehan. His acting was appreciated in serials like Sahil, Manzil, , Dil Apna Aur Preet Parayee and Noorjehan, a TV serial written by Nida Fazli. Talat released many albums like Jagjit Singh presents Talat Aziz, Talat Aziz live,Images - A team Come True, Lehren, Ehsaas, Suroor, Saughaat, Tasavvur , Manzil, Storms, Dhadkan, Shahkaar, Mehboob, Khubsoorat,Irshaad, Khushnuma, Caravan e Ghazal in which Sonu Niigaam also participated in a duet 'Qurbaton mein bhi' a ghazal written by Ahmed Faraaz and a tribute to his Master Mehdi Hassan released in 2012 . Recently, he released a ghazal album with Pankaj Udhas and Anup Jalota called Destiny.

The singer was the ghazal artiste to release a ghazal music video of Tasavvur, in 1987 when a video album was not even thought of. He is often seen on the small screen in various roles as a music judge as well.

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Rekha Bhardwaj

Rekha Bhardwaj is an Indian singer and live performer. She has received two Filmfare and one National Award. In addition to Hindi, she has also sung in Bengali, Marathi, Punjabi and Malayalam languages. She married the noted film director, composer and playback singer Vishal Bhardwaj in 1991. She first met him in 1984 when preparing for the annual function of Hindu College in New Delhi.

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Bhardwaj was initially trained in music by her older sister. She went on to receive formal training under Pandit Amarnath. Bhardwaj's first album titled 'Ishqa Ishqa' was released in 2002, ten years after its conception. Its success got her recognition and helped bag her career-defining songs like "Namak Ishq Ka" in the 2006 film, Omkara followed by "Sasural Genda Phool" in 2009 film, Delhi-6.

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Anup Jalota

Anup Jalota, son of Bhajan exponent Padmashri Pt.Purshottam Das Jalota, took his first lesson in music from his renowned father. Anup then, was barely 7 years old. Between then and now Anup Jalota has matured into a singer par excellence to become a leading and most-sought-after performer of the day, Known for his versatility, the smiling and ever-obliging musician from Lucknow renders bhajan, ghazals, geets, ad film songs with equal grace and finnesse. No wonder, wherever Anup goes - east, west, north or south, his easy charm and mellifluous voice holds his audience spellbound in admiration.

Having toured extensively, there is little of the world that has yet to see Anup Jalota in person.

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Anup Jalota sets a new world record by receiving more than 100 Gold, Platinum and Multi-platinum discs, Anup Jalota has recorded more then 200 albums so far. Today, having performed over 5000 live concerts throughout the world, Anup Jalota - the superstar of devotional music enjoys an awesome global fan following.

  • He is selected for the Award of Honorary Doctor of Letters (D Litt: Honoris Causa) on January 12 th 2013 in Bengluru.
  • Govt of India has conferred him with 4th highest civilian Award Padma Shri on 26th January 2012
  • He was felicitated by British Parliaments “House Of Commons" & also received Annual Globe Award on 15th July 2010
  • Sangeet Natak Academy Award - U.P Govt
  • Screen Film Music Award, Mumbai
  • Gandharva Gaan Mani Award - Kanchi Shankracharya Math
  • Citizen Council Award - Gujarat Govt
  • Manav Ratna Award - Global Sai Foundation
  • Bhajan Samrat - Shankracharya Peeth
  • Rasheshwar Award - Sur Singar Samsad, Mumbai
  • He has sung in 9 languages
  • Has earned a record number of 100 Gold, Platinum and Multi-Platinum Discs
  • Has recorded and sung over 2000 Bhajans, Ghazals, and Geets
  • Has performed over 5000 live concerts spread over 300 cities on all five continents
  • Has performed at prestigious venues like Royal Albert Hall, Wembley, Lincoln Center, Madison Square Garden, Sydney Opera House & Esplanade many a times
  • Over 30 years, released more than 200 albums of Ghazals & Bhajans
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Sudeep Banerjee

Sudeep’s ghazal repertoire includes Zafar, Ghalib, Zauq, Daag, Jigar, Shakeel, Faani, and Firaq on one hand, and the sharp edge of the writings of modern poets like Faiz, Nida Fazli, Ahmad Faraz, Bashir Badr and Amir Qazalbash on the other. He is also the voice of vibrant new poets like Faiyyazuddin Saeb, Farzana Akhtar and Indira Varma, amongst others.

Sudeep's unending romance with the ghazal has flowered under many influences. Many a day has been spent in the company of inspiring poets like Bashir Badr, Nida Fazli, Amir Qazalbash and Ahmad Faraz and ghazal legends like Begum Iqbal Bano, Ustad Mehdi Hasan, Jagjit Singh and Ustad Ghulam Ali, amongst others.

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Sudeep has also received invaluable guidance in Hindustani classical music from one of India’s leading classical vocalists and gurus, Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty. Sudeep loves Urdu. He reads and writes Urdu fluently. It is this that enables him to dig deep into the fascinating treasure-trove of enchanting classical and modern Urdu poetry.

Sudeep's singing is inspired by the music of his three inspirations Mehdi Hasan, Jagjit Singh (who has also sung to Sudeep's music) and Kishore Kumar. What sets apart Sudeep? Sudeep is what a ghazal singer needs to be... a poet at heart, who keeps the poetry upfront while rendering it. 'Ghazal gaayi nahin jaati, padhi jaati hai..." Sudeep believes that "A ghazal is never sung. It should always be read. Even when it is being sung!"

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