Lucky Ali

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 This article does not cite any references or sources. (June 2007)
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.
Lucky Ali
Birth name Maqsood Mehmood Ali
Born September 19, 1958 (1958-09-19) (age 49)
Origin Flag of India India
Genre(s) Playback singing
Occupation(s) Singer, composer, Actor
Instrument(s) Vocalist
Years active 1999–present

Lucky Ali (born September 19, 1958), born as Maqsood Mehmood Ali, is an Indian singer, composer and actor. Lucky is best known for his soulful but strikingly simple ballad-style singing.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Lucky Ali is the second of the eight children of the popular Bollywood comedian, Mehmood. His mother Madhuri, was a Bengali and the sister of a popular Indian actress of the 1960s - Meena Kumari. He attended the Bombay Scottish School in Mumbai, Hampton Court in Mussoorie, St. Georges College in Mussoorie, Rajkumar College, Raipur and St. Bishop Cottons Boys School, Bangalore. [1] His first wife was Masooma, who accepted Islam after marrying Lucky Ali. She acted in the video O Sanam from his first album Sunoh. Lucky Ali has two children from his first wife - Tasmia and Ta'awwuz. He has a second wife, Inaya (maiden name Anaida). Originally a Parsi, she also accepted Islam after marriage. Lucky Ali's third child is a girl named Sara from his second wife.

Lucky and his father Mehmood did not get along very well. Mehmood was a very busy actor in 1960s, and remained away from home for his shoots. Once, when Lucky's mother came with him to receive Mehmood at the airport, Lucky didn't recognize his father and on seeing him said, "He's the film comedian Mehmood!" Lucky has tried marijuana and his drug abuse problem led Mehmood to write the script of the movie Dushman Duniya Ka (Enemy of the World).[2] The movie stars Ali's youngest brother, 21 year old Manzoor. It is the story of the drug abuse of a young man called Lucky. In the end the young man kills his mother, destroys everything around him and is then killed by his father. Lucky Ali was furious with his father's vision and refused to act in the movie. "I felt the story lacked hope," he said.[2] However he sang his first song for a movie for the film.

Lucky's wanderlust has taken him many places. He used to breed race horses, and also ran a carpet-cleaning business with his friend Aslam (who penned the lyrics for his first album Sunoh, and for his second album Sifar). He then worked in an oil rig in Pondicherry. He has settled somewhere near Glen Eden in Auckland, New Zealand.

[edit] Personal albums

His first composition was a three-chord lament called 'Nobody Loves Me'. Pretty pessimistic for a boy named Lucky. Lucky Ali was gifted a guitar at age 13. He taught himself to play it.From music it went to horses, and then to acting, and direction, further on tor roughnecking on the rigs, to washing carpets finally returned to music Lucky made his debut on the Indian pop scene with the soulful album Sunoh which established him as a pop singer. This album won many of the top awards in Indian music, including the Best Pop Male Vocalist at the 1996 Screen Awards and the Channel V Viewers Choice Award in 1997. It stayed on the MTV Asia Charts for 60 weeks. The song O Sanam from Sunoh, launched his career and is considered by some to be one of the best indi-pop songs ever.[1] His next album, Sifar, wasn't quite as successful as Sunoh, but it was noted for its music, lyrics and vocals. Lucky Ali is known for his distinctive music style and also for his husky voice. His third album and fourth albums were Aks and Kabhi Aisa Lagta Hai, both of which were reasonably successful. He is also known for contributing the song "Anjaani Raahon Mein" to the album "Meri Jaan Hindustan" which commemorated 50 years of Indian independence in the year 1997. The video was directed by Mani Shankar, and features Lucky Ali as a young urban man roaming the Indian countryside, trying to discover new meaning to life. When asked about the video, Lucky Ali once said "The video of Anjaani Raahon Mein was a beautiful story in itself. It was done straight from the heart and it is very special to me." .

[edit] Playback singing career

Lucky Ali started his Playback singing career with the song "Nasha Nasha" from the film Dushman Duniya Ka which starred his brother Manzoor Ali in the lead role. The film was directed by their father Mehmood. However the song and the film both went unnoticed.

After that, his next song in films was in Hrithik Roshan's debut movie Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai.The songs Na tum jaano na hum and Ek pal ka jeena became huge hits and he won the Filmfare award (best male playback singer) for Na tum jaano na hum .

[edit] Acting career

Being the nephew of Meena Kumari, one of the great actresses to grace the Indian screen, and moreover being Mehmood's son, Lucky Ali did not lack the requisite opportunity to make his debut as an actor. He acted in a few films in the 1970s and 1980s such as Yeh Hain Zindagi (1977) Hamare Tumhare (1979) and Shyam Benegal 's Trikaal (1985) After a long break from acting, he returned in Sanjay Gupta's Kaante (2002) where he acted along leading stars like legend Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt and Suniel Shetty. Lucky acted in the TV serial Zara Hatke. In 2002, he acted in the Hindi musical Sur-The Melody of Life essaying a complex role that earned him accolades as an actor. Lucky ali now coming back in bollywood through his songs in Janne tu ya naa jane which is under AAmir khan productions and its music director is A.R.Rehman.

[edit] Discography

  • Kaalai (2008) (Tamil movie - Playback)
  • Kya Main Ab Bhi Tumse Pyar Karta Hoon
  • Avataar
  • Love At Times Square
  • Yuva (2004) (Hindi movie - Playback)
  • Kabhi Aisa Lagta Hai (2004) (Private album)
  • Anand (2004) (Telugu movie - Playback)
  • Aayitha Ezhuthu (2004) (Tamil movie - Playback)
  • Sye (2004) (Telugu movie - Playback)
  • Boys (2003) (Telugu movie - Playback)
  • Boys (2003) (Tamil movie - Playback)
  • Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai (2000) (Hindi movie - Playback)
  • Aks (2000) (Private album)
  • Bhopal Express (1999) (Hindi movie - Playback)
  • Sifar (1998) (Private album)
  • Anjaani Raahon Mein (1997) (For the album Meri Jaan Hindustan)
  • Sunoh (1996) (Private album)
  • Dushman Duniya Ka (1996) (Hindi movie - Playback)
  • The Film (2005) (Hindi Movie - Playback)

[edit] Filmography

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Mala Kumar. Ali is a Maali at Home. The Hindu. Retrieved on 2008-02-11.
  2. ^ a b Aparjita Ghosh. Hitting the high notes. Rediff.com. Retrieved on 2007-06-13.

[edit] External links