Bollywood sensation, Alka Yagnik was 14 years old when she made her debut in the singing industry. She was the melody queen of the '90s and remains a famous singer to date. Alka Yagnik has recorded around 2000 songs in over 16 languages in her melodious voice. Alka Yagnik is among the most prolific female playback singers of Indian Cinema and has sung a large number of female solos in her Bollywood career.
Most of her tracks have been a huge hit in the industry, some of which are, Ek Do Teen from the film, Tezaab, Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai from Khal Nayak, Chamma Chamma from China Gate and more. Besides singing, Alka Yagnik has also judged several singing reality shows on television, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa L'il Champs, Indian Idol, Superstar Singer, amongst several others. While many of us know about her fruitful singing career, a few facts remain that are yet not known to us. Let’s find it out.
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Born in Kolkata on March 20, 1966, to a Gujarati family, Alka Yagnik became the daughter of Dharmendra Shankar and Shubha. Alka Yagnik’s mother, Subha was a singer of Indian classical music and had helped Alka learn music at a very young age. Alka followed in her mother’s footsteps and found her interest in Indian music, and she credits her mother as her first guru, who began singing at the age of four.
At the young age of six, in the year 1972, she started singing for Akashvani (All India Radio), Calcutta. When Alka turned 10, her mother had brought her to Mumbai as a child singer. However, she was advised to wait until her voice became matured, but her mother did not give up; she remained determined. One of her visits turned out positive for them when Subha received a letter of introduction to Raj Kapoor from his Kolkata distributor.
When Raj Kapoor had heard Alka’s voice, he was left amused and had sent her to the noted music director, Laxmikant Pyarelal. Even there, Alka had impressed Laxmikant with her melodious singing and was given two alternatives by him. First, to immediately start as a dubbing artist or a later work as a singer. Out of which, her mother had chosen the second option for her daughter. And since then, Alka’s journey as a singer touched heights.
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The singer had met her love unexpectedly. In the year 1986, Alka Yagnik and her mother had gone to New Delhi by train, and Neeraj Kapoor had come to receive them at the station early in the morning. Neeraj was Alka’s mother’s friend’s nephew. This is when both Alka Yagnik and Neeraj Kapoor had first seen each other.
This meeting had led to the beginning of a sweet friendship, and Alka and Neeraj stayed in constant touch after the trip. Moreover, Neeraj had visited Alka’s residence whenever he visited Mumbai during his work trip. As time passed, their bond grew, and after being friends for six months, the couple realised they had fallen in love.
The couple had dated for two long years and had decided to commit for life. In the year 1988, Alka Yagnik and Neeraj Kapoor made a decision of taking things to their families about their relationship. However, when the couple decided to get married, the families shared their deep concerns regarding their choice. Out of which, one problem was that they belonged to different professions and the other was the physical distance between the two.
Their parents not only warned them but also said that their marriage would be a failure. But, both of them had refused to give up on their love. The families finally agreed to their marriage. In February 1989, the couple tied the knot and started a beautiful journey of their lives. However, later Alka stayed in Mumbai, and Neeraj lived in Shillong. The same year, they were blessed with a baby girl, Sayesha, who stayed with Alka.
Initially, the couple would put effort to stay together. Neeraj would visit Mumbai at fixed intervals, and Alka would spend a month in Shillong every year with family. However, this could not continue for long. Due to Alka Yagnik’s career choices, she had to stay in Mumbai. However, Alka Yagnik's husband was a businessman from Shillong and had his work setup in Shillong, which he could not move, because of which the couple hardly stayed together.
Alka had no choice but to be a single mother for most of her marriage. Soon, the long-distance took a toll and issues came up. The couple stopped seeing each other for almost 4 to 5 years. During this time, they realised how strong their love was and how attached they were to each other. Both Alka and Neeraj had realised that they were inseparable and reconsidered the terms of marriage.
Even after staying away from each other for more than two decades, Alka Yagnik and Neeraj Kapoor crossed all hurdles which came in their way. Not only this, but both of them respected and supported each other’s dreams without any hesitation. And even after 25 years, Alka and Neeraj are still happily together with no regrets absolutely about their marriage. As reported by Iforher, Alka had mentioned, “Our marriage can be summed up in the U2 song ‘Can’t live with or without you’. It’s been a difficult marriage to hold on to. But we couldn’t let go of each other.”
Alka Yagnik and Neeraj Kapoor’s love story is inspiring. What do you think about their love story?
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