Raajesh Johri
Raajesh Johri (Hindi: राजेश जौहरी راجیش سنار) 19 June 1952 – 1 March 2017[1]) was an Indian poet, Lyricist, Ad Film Maker, Voice Over Artist and Anchor based in Mumbai India. Johri's notable works as a lyricist include Pari Hoon Main by Sunita Rao,[2] Colonial Cousins[3] by Hariharan and Lesle Lewis, Subha subha jab khidki khole by Jojo, Tere Mann Mein Ram by Anup Jalota. Famous works as an ad/jingle writer include Action Shoes ("Action ka School time"), Nirma Bathing Soap ("Saundarya Saabun Nirma"),[2] Vicco Vajradanti, Dabur Lal Dant Majan and many more.
Raajesh Johri | |
|---|---|
 Johri in 2016 | |
| Born | 19 June 1952 |
| Died | 1 March 2017 (aged 64) |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Occupation | Poet, lyricist, Scriptwriter, Compere |
| Years active | 1972–2017 |
| Spouse(s) | Archana Johri (m. 1986) |
| Children | Ratika Johri Rashee Johri |
| Signature | |
 | |
Early life and education
Raajesh belonged to Uttar Pradesh and was born in 1952 in Pilani. His father, Dr. A. N. Johri was a professor of English Literature and an author, and his mother Chandra Johri was a well-educated lady. Raajesh was the third of his three brothers and two sisters. Artistically inclined from a very young age, he penned his first poem at the age of 10. He had deep interest in music and literature. In one of his interviews, he was quoted saying that his father's paternal grand mother, Heera Kunwar used to pen bhajans in praise of Lord Krishna, that is where he got it from.
Raajesh received his primary education from Pilani in Rajasthan and since his father was in a transferable job, in his childhood he travelled to Chandausi, Khurja and finally, Saharanpur where he completed his graduation in Science stream from Jain College, in 1972. His parents' dream was that he becomes an engineer and so they enrolled him for an M.Sc course in Physics. But, following his passion for writing, one day ahead of his 20th birthday, he boarded a train to Mumbai from Saharanpur for the purpose of fulfilling his dreams.[2] Having no connection whatsoever with the industry leading to a single-handed struggle he left for his journey to the city of his dreams.
Career 1972–1990
Raajesh's first song was sung by Chandru Atma, "Chanchal Nain Tihare" and soon after that his career picked up beautifully crossing milestone after milestone. Soon after this bhajans, "Hari ka Dhyaan Laga", "Mere Shyaam Tera Naam" and "Mann Re Tan Hai Dukh Ka Gaon" were sung by Mohammed Rafi which became quite popular. Johri gave his voice for numerous ad-jingles of that era namely Ajanta watches for Ajanta Group, Nescafe and "Vardhman Knitting Yarn" For Vardhman Group of Companies. He worked closely with Pandit Vinod Sharma and voice-over legend Ameen Sayani whom he considered his mentors. As an anchor, he was a regular anchor for Sur Singar Samsad in which he shared stage with the best of artists and musicians such as Bismillah Khan, Ram Narayan, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Suresh Wadkar etc. Johri Penned numerous bhajans for Anup Jalota of which "Hey Sharde Maa", "Tere Tan Mein Ram", "Jo Tu Mitaana Chahe" and many more. Another very popular album by Johri was "Baby Doll" by Alisha Chinai.
1990–2017
Johri created niche for himself in the world of Indian pop (Indie Pop). It will not be wrong to call him one of the pioneers of this genre called "Indie Pop". It was in 1990 that the album "Dhuan" by Sunita Rao released, composed by Lesle Lewis which contained the song, Pari Hoon Main which is an iconic song of the pop era. The album Halka Nasha was very well received which had ghazals sung by Hariharan, penned by Johri. The song "Sa Ni Dha Pa" from the Colonial Cousins, a fusion album by Hariharan and Lesle Lewis was the first ever offering that was a part of MTV Unplugged. The album "Dil Chaahe" by Shiamak Davar was also amongst his popular works. His songs sung by JoJo, "Wo Kaun Thi" and "Subah Subah Jab Khidhki Khole" were milestones. He penned numerous bhajans and hymns for different religious sects namely Roman Catholic Church, Jain sect, Swami Narayan Sect and many others. He penned title songs for tele-serials like Koshish (TV series), Chandan Ka Palna Resham Ki Dori, Ghar Ek Mandir, Saara Akaash, Chittod Ki Rani Padmini Ka Johur and many others. He used to write the script of the famous TV Show Rangoli (TV series) produced by National Film Development Corporation of India anchored by Hema Malini, directed by Ramesh Talwar. The same show was later produced by Doordarshan Kendra Mumbai, anchored by Jaya Bhattacharya and Shweta Tiwari. He has worked as a lyricist with renowned music directors such as: Kalyanji–Anandji, R. D. Burman, Hariharan, Jagjit Singh, Shankar Mahadevan, Salim–Sulaiman, Bappi Lahiri, Pritam, Anup Jalota, Ashok Patki, Louis Banks, Lesle Lewis, Manna Dey, Datta Naik, Nikhil Kamath, Nikhil-Vinay , Raju Singh, Lt. Murlimanohar Swaroop (HMV), Anil Mohile, Dilip Sen-Sameer Sen, Rajat Dholakia, Dheeraj Dhanak, Vanraj Bhatia, Vaidya Nathan, Bhupinder Singh, Tabun Sutradhar, Ashit Desai, Nishith Mehta etc. His songs have been sung by well-known singers such as Mohammed Rafi, Asha Bhosle, Mahendra Kapoor, Anup Jalota, Jagjit Singh, Hariharan, Bhupinder Singh Mitali Mukherjee, Suresh Wadkar, Sadhna Sargam, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Anwar (singer), Anuradha Paudwal, Udit Narayan, Kumar Sanu, Babul Supriyo, Abhijeet Bhattacharya, Shreya Ghoshal, Madhushree, Anny Chatterjee, Sudesh Bhosle, Kunal Ganjawala, Usha Uthup, Shaan, Sonu Nigam, Jaspinder Narula, Jojo, Chandrashekhar Gargil, Hari Om Sharan, Nandini Sharan, Kirti-Anurag, Ram Shankar, Alisha Chinai, Kailash Kher, Sunita Rao etc. He has Anchored Stage Shows For Jagjit Singh, Mahendra Kapoor, Pankaj Udhas, Bhupinder Singh, Anup Jalota, Penaz Masani, Chhaya Ganguli, Abdul Halim Jaffer Khan, Dagar Bandhu, Bismillah Khan, Sitara Devi, Bhajan Sopori, Gopi Krishna (dancer) and many other most reputed artistes of our country. He has written songs for 13 films including Subhash Ghai’s Mukta Arts' "Khanna and Iyer", Suneil Anand's "Master" and Zee Entertainment Enterprises and so on. He worked for many online projects in this era of online channels, giving his services as a lyricist, voice over artist and also as a brand ambassador for tele-shopping product English Guru.[4] His notable works include "Asian Sky Shop", Theme Songs for Border Security Force, Delhi Police and many more. He designed programs for online radio channel "2B! Radio"and also contributed as a voice over artist and a script writer.
Personal life
Raajesh married Archana Johri, a script writer, anchor and poet by profession in the year 1986. He has two daughters, Ratika Johri and Rashee Johri. The elder one, Ratika is a singer and lending her voice for many albums, serials and films. The younger one, Rashee is a choreographer, director and anchor.
Awards and recognition
Johri Received "Best Lyric Writer Award" for the film Aakarshan from "Uttar Pradesh Patrakaar Sangh", Lt. R. Venkat Raman the past President of India for writing the BSF Song. "Salam India Award" for excellence in advertising, RAPA (Radio and TV Advertising Practitioners Association Mumbai) award for writing a Radio commercial for the product "Vardhaman Knitting Yarn". RAPA Award for writing a Radio Campaign for film Chandni from Yash Raj Films. Award from Cottage Industry Department Government of India for Promotional Speech for Hindi. Received "Gurjari Award" from Gujarat Association, Mumbai. Received the Indian Television Academy Awards for "Best Lyricist" for writing the Title track of Chittod Ki Rani Padmini Ka Johur telecast on Sony Entertainment Television.
Death
Johri suffered from kidney disease since the past few years. As a result of the same, he suffered a cardiac arrest on 1 March 2017 and breathed his last at Bhartiya Aaroya Nidhi Hospital in Mumbai.
References
- Kusnur, Narendra. "The wonder years", The Hindu, 4 March 2017.
- Maskeri, Anju. "Raajesh Johri talks of his ghazal album with singing-duo Bhupendra and Mitali Singh", Mid Day, 15 January 2017.
- "Colonial Cousins - Sa Ni Dha Pa". 21 May 2014.
- "English Guru - Spoken English Course". 10 January 2011.
