| Name |
Shubha Mudgal |
| Height |
|
| Naionality |
Indian |
| Date of Birth |
1959 |
| Place of Birth |
Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India |
| Famous for |
Singing |
Shubha Mudgal (born 1959) is a well-known Indian singer of Hindustani classical music, Khayal, Thumri, Dadra, and popular Indian Pop music. She has been awarded 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), and the Padma Shri in 2000. She is also close to progressive movements like ANHAD and SAHMAT.
Born in an academic family to Skand and Jaya Gupta in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh. Both her parents were professors of English literature at Allahabad University, with deep interest in classical Hindustani music and Kathak. Her paternal grandfather, Prof. P. C. Gupta was also a professor at Allahabad University.
She attended St. Mary's Convent Inter College. As a young girl she started learning Kathak in Allahabad following the foot steps of her sister. She replied once to a dance examiner's routine query of "Aap kis gharaane ka naachti hain (what gharana (house/style) do you dance from?)" with the retort "Hum apne gharaane ka naachti hain (I dance from my own gharana)". She later switched to Hindustani classical music as her vocation of choice while maintaining the same individualistic attitude. Her first traditional teacher (guru) was Pandit Ramashreya Jha in Allahabad.
Mudgal moved to New Delhi and enrolled at the Delhi University. She continued her musical education under Pandit Vinaya Chandra Mudgalya at the urging of her first guru. After graduating from the university, her training continued under Pandit Vasant Thakar in Delhi, and more informally with other established singer as Pandit Jitendra Abhisheki, Naina Devi and Pt. Kumar Gandharva.
Shubha Mudgal started performing as a classical singer in the 80s and gained a certain reputation as a talented singer. In the 90's, she started experimenting with other forms of music, including pop and fusion varieties. She says, "I believe in music. Khayal and thumari are my favourites, but that doesn’t mean I should not experiment with other forms, Why should I curtail my musical urges?" asks the singer and adds, "I want to allow the artist in me to come through. If you are a musician, how can you say, 'this one is from devotional poetry, so I'm not going to sing it. In addition to her recordings and concerts, she also briefly ran a website called raagsangeet.com aimed at lovers of traditional Indian music.
After graduating from University Shubha married Pt. Mudgalaya's son Mukul Mudgal who was a promising lawyer. Shubha Mudgal got divorced from her first husband, and got married to Aneesh Pradhan. Her only son from her previous marriage, Dhawal, is a member of a Delhi-based band.
