This man helped make Shah Rukh, Akshay, Salman stars, worked in 1000 films, now has no work, one mistake ruined him

In the 90s, as Shah Rukh Khan and Akshay Kumar were embarking on what would be legendary film careers, music composers were scrambling to find singers to be the voice of these two young actors. Udit Narayan and Kumar Sanu did playback for them for many songs but a fresher voice was needed. Enter Abhijeet Bhattacharya. The singer with a silken voice gave several memorable songs to both the stars and even their contemporary Salman Khan before establishing himself as SRK’s voice through the late-90s.

Abhijeet Bhattacharya’s peak as a singer

Having begun his career in 1982 with the Bengali film Aparupa, Abhijeet ventured into Bollywood the following year. By the 90s, he was an established singer in both the industries, considered a rival to Udit Narayan and Kumar Sanu and later to Sonu Nigam, KK, and Shaan. Songs like ‘Wada Raha Sanam’, ‘Ole Ole’, ‘Goriya Chura Na’, ‘Shehar Ki Ladki’, ‘Bas Itna Sa Khwab Hai’, ‘Baadshah’, and ‘I’m The Best’ catapulted him to being a household name. Abhijeet sang over 6000 songs in a thousand films.

Abhijeet Bhattacharya’s downfall

A couple of controversies was what led to Abhijeet’s eventual downfall. During Salman Khan’s hit-and-run case, the singer made several off-colour and insensitive remarks where he put the blame on the homeless people sleeping on pavements, saying they died ‘a dog’s death’. The statements led to several people demanding a ban on him. This led to many composers distance themselves from him. This was followed by accusations from an aspiring singer that Abhijeet sexually harassed her in a Kolkat pub. This further alienated the singer. After 2018, he had very few songs in his kitty and none in mainstream Hindi films.

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