Mumbai square named after 'ghazal king' Jagjit Singh

A Mumbai square was named after the legendary ghazal singer and composer, the late Jagjit Singh, on the occasion of his fifth death anniversary here on Monday, an official said.

The plague renaming the junction of KC Marg and Bandra Reclamation near the bus depot in Bandra West as "Padma Bhushan Jagjit Singh Chowk" was unveiled by Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray in the presence of Mayor Snehal Ambedkar.

Present was his widow and eminent ghazal singer Chitra Singh, local municipal corporators Asif Zakaria, Arman Choudhary, Mehraz Shaikh, top civic officials and other dignitaries.

Born Jagmohan Singh in Rajasthan and belonging to a Punjabi Sikh family, Jagjit left an indelible mark in the world of music with his treasury of ghazals, many of them sung jointly with Chitra.

The formidable duo, credited with revival of and popularising the ghazals, also composed music for several Bollywood films including "Arth", "Saath Saath", "Sajda" and "Prem Geet".

During his musical career starting 1961 till his demise, Jagjit released around 80 ghazal albums which are popular even today.

He was the only artiste who composed and recorded the songs penned by former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in two albums - "Nayi Disha" and "Samvedna".

Conferred with by the Padma Bhushan in 2003, Singh passed away here on October 10, 2011.

--IANS

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