Sonu Nigam attended Pankaj Udhas’ funeral on Tuesday, February 27. In a video that surfaced on social media, the singer was seen getting emotional as he paid his last respects to the ghazal maestro. Sonu Nigam was also seen wiping his tears as he hugged Shaan at Udhas’ final rites.
Besides Sonu Nigam and Shaan, several other celebrities including Vidya Balan, Zakir Hussain and Shankar Mahadevan were also seen paying their last respects to the singer at the funeral. While interacting with the paparazzi at the funeral, Shankar remembered Pankaj as the “most gentle soul” and went on to call him a “fantastic musician”. He further thanked Udhas for taking ghazal to the masses.
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Pankaj Udhas passed away on February 26 in Mumbai after a ‘prolonged illness’. In a statement issued to the press, the family said, “With a very heavy heart, we are saddened to inform you of the sad demise of Padmashri Pankaj Udhar on February 26, 2024, due to a prolonged illness.”
Later, singer Anup Jalota revealed that Pankaj was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and had been battling the same for the last two to three months. “The man who helped so many cancer patients, himself died of cancer. That is life. He had pancreatic cancer. I knew this for the last 5 to 6 months, and he stopped talking to me in the last 2-3 months, so I realized that his health was not okay. I feel very sad that this illness took his life,” he told The Indian Express.
Pankaj Udhas was born on May 17, 1951, in Jetpur, Gujarat. He began his career by releasing a ghazal album named Aahat in 1980. Soon, he became synonymous with ghazal music in India. In Bollywood, the ghazal singer sang the iconic track Chitthi Aayee Hai, for Sanjay Dutt’s film Naam. Pankaj released several albums and hosted many live concerts over the years which amplified his popularity. Pankaj Udhas was honoured with India’s fourth-highest civilian award, the Padma Shri.
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