Vinod Rathod

• Birth Date: 31 Dec 1969
• Birth Place: Mumbai

Artist Information

Vinod Rathod was born to the late learned classical musician, Pandit Chhaturbhuj Rathod. His father knew that Vinod is very talented and interested in music.Vinod could grasp the essentials of music and showing a distinct flair for singing. Hence his father gave him basic training.

His career started when Usha Khanna (after listening to his voice in a cassette )called him on April 1986, to sing a qawwali, ‘Chand chhupne ke baad’ in Bedaag. Mohammed Aziz was his co-singer. Vinod recorded no less than 40 songs for the composer, and also sang for small composers like Ajay Swami and Surinder Kohli in his struggle phase. His TV serial title song, ‘Yeh jeevan hai akash ganga’ for the serial Akash Ganga proved very successful amongst viewers.

He entered the big film league when composers Shiv-Hari called him to record ‘Baadal pe chalke aa’ (with Lata Mangeshkar and Suresh Wadkar) - which proved popular - and ‘Zindagi har janam pyar ki dastan’ with Lata Mangeshkar in Yash Chopra's Vijay (1988).

Vinod was the voice of Rishi Kapoor in the multi-star film. He then sang for Rishi-Yash-Shiv-Hari again in Chandni (1989). This song, ‘Parbat se kaali ghata takrayi’ with Asha Bhosle, also proved a hit.

However, he got his real break in 1992 when Laxmikant Pyarelal offered him ‘Romeo naam mera’ for Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja. It proved the biggest hit of the Amit Kumar-dominated score. LP rapidly called him for more films, which instilled confidence in Vinod among the younger composers like Anu Malik, Bappi Lahiri and Anand-Milind. As luck would have it, Nadeem-Shravan (Shravan is Vinod's elder brother) were at the crest of popularity, and though Nadeem favored Kumar Sanu, he gave Vinod Rathod the onus of being the voice of Shah Rukh Khan in the latter's very first film Deewana. ‘Aisi deewangi’ (with Alka Yagnik) proved a rage and ‘Koi na koi chahiye pyar karne wala’ too proved popular. This film was also released in 1992.

By 1993, Vinod Rathod was a busy man. Laxmikant Pyarelal gave him excellent songs in several films like Bedardi (‘Ek din to honi thi muhabbat’), Dilbar, and many other films, and decided that he would be the major voice of Rishi Kapoor in the RK film Prem Granth. Their hits with him included ‘Jab se main zara sa’(Gumrah) and ‘Nayak nahin khalnayak hoon main’ (Khal-Nayak). Anu Malik swept aside Nadeem -Shravan by late 1993-94 and Vinod Rathod was very much there in hits like ‘Ae mere humsafar’, ‘Kitaben bahut si’, ‘Samajhkar chand jisko’ and ‘Chhupana bhi nahin aata’ (Baazigar). Followed Laadla (‘Boi boi’), Elaan, Agnisakshi, Raja Hindustani, Muhabbat Ki Arzoo, Chahoonga Main Tujhe, Aurat Aurat Aurat, Gambler (the title-track), Parampara, The Gentleman, Aatish, Zamana Deewana, Shreemaan Aashique, Maidan-E-Jung, Policewala Gunda, Hum Sab Chor Hain, Chaahat ,Vaastav and the hits ‘Duniya yeh duniya very good, very good’ (Trimurti) and Prem Granth (‘Dil dene ki rut aayi’).

Vinod had a triumph of sorts in the Zee telefilm, Mr Shrimati, in which he sang ‘Aashiq ki hai baaraat’. His other hits include his songs from Deewana Mastana (LP), Army, Hero No. 1 and Dulhe Raja (Anand-Milind), Tere Mere Sapne (the title-track with Udit Narayan and Hema Sardesai), and his latest chartbuster, ‘Dholi taaro dhol baaje’ (Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam/ Ismail Darbar) which has given his career a new boost after a tame period between 1995 and 1999. His songs from Chal Mere Bhai (Anand-Milind) have proved popular too. He has sung for all the leading composers and his list also includes Jatin-Lalit, Ravindra Jain, Bappi Lahiri, Viju Shah, Rajesh Roshan, Dilip Sen-Sameer Sen and A.R.Rahman.

His voice is flexible and suits seniors from Dharmendra and Rishi Kapoor (who are not musically active today) to younger heroes.An unabashed Kishore fan, Vinod's singing replicates the punch, energy and throw of Kishore Kumar. A slightly harsh timbre makes him lose out, however, despite his strong classical leanings that impressed mentors Laxmikant Pyarelal. Vinod does not believe in doing excessive shows , so as to protect his voice . His regret is that could never sing for Rajesh Khanna, despite getting his first big film in Vijay, whose cast was headed by the ex-superstar.