From Ghazal Dreams To Bollywood Hits, A Look At Javed Ali's Musical Career On His Birthday

One of the prominent playback singers in Bollywood, Javed Ali, is celebrating his 42nd birthday today. Javed started his musical journey under the able guidance of his father and soon became a force to be reckoned with. A little-known fact about this 42-year-old singer is that he didn’t want to be a playback singer in Bollywood. Instead, he wanted to opt for a career in singing ghazals. This dream couldn’t materialise, and Javed went ahead to carve a massive fan base in Bollywood. He has several chartbusters to his credit, like Srivalli from the film Pushpa: The Rise, Jashn-E-Bahaaraa from the film Jodhaa Akbar, etc.

Another interesting fact related to the singer is his name, which he changed later on. Born as Javed Hussain in Delhi on July 5, 1982, Javed Ali hailed from a traditional Muslim family with strong musical roots. His father, Hamid Hussain, himself a classical musician, honed Javed’s musical talents from a young age. During his early career, Javed Ali used the surname Hussain. He changed his name to Javed Ali as a mark of tribute and respect to his guru and renowned ghazal singer Ghulam Ali.

Before becoming one of the most sought-after singers in the industry, Javed had to experience his share of struggle. In an interview with a portal, the 42-year-old singer recounted that he came to Mumbai intending to become a singer and here his real struggle began. The Srivalli singer had reminisced that when he arrived in Mumbai, he used to share a room with many people. According to him, in some instances, there was no money to eat food or even to purchase a bus ticket. Compelled by these circumstances, Javed said that he had to walk to the studio.

Javed debuted in the industry with the song Chori Chori Aankh Ladi from the film Beti No.1 directed by Rama Rao Tatineni. However, he garnered his much-deserved fame only seven years later with the song Ek Din Teri Raahon Mein, composed by Pritam. This song is from the film Naqaab, directed by the duo Abbas-Mastan.

Javed had talked about this in an interview with the Hindustan Times.