Amitabh Bhattacharya is an Indian lyricist, playback singer, and a film producer who mainly works in Bollywood. He came into the limelight after penning the lyrics of the song, ‘Emotional Atyachar’ for the Bollywood film, “Dev.D.” He also lent his voice to this song with Amit Trivedi. He is best known for his work in the Bollywood films, Dilwale (2015), Dangal (2016), and Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (2013).
Wiki/Biography
Amitabh Bhattacharya was born on Wednesday, 16 November 1977 (age 45 years; as of 2022) in Malad, Mumbai. His zodiac sign is Scorpio. His family has its roots in West Bengal. Bhattacharya grew up in Lucknow. He attended Lucknow’s Spring Dale College and thereafter, he went to Lucknow University to pursue his graduation. Bhattacharya was inclined towards singing from a very young age. While in college, he started singing for orchestras. After completing his graduation, Amitabh relocated to Mumbai to pursue a career in singing. While in Mumbai, Amitabh had to stand in long queues outside music composers’ offices to give them demo audio cassettes of his voice. However, he didn’t receive any offer for long. Later, music composer & director, Pritam Chakraborty offered Bhattacharya to assist him in his compositions.
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 6″
Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour: Black
Family & Caste
Amitabh Bhattacharya belongs to a Bengali Brahmin Family. [1]Wikipedia
Parents & Siblings
Amitabh’s father is a retired civil servant, and his mother is a homemaker. Amitabh has one younger sister.
Career
Amitabh Bhattacharya started his career in 2000 by working as an assistant to music composer & director, Pritam Chakraborty. He worked under Chakraborty for around two years and subsequently, he started writing jingles for TV commercials. Amitabh learned the art of song-writing in his struggling days. In 2014, Amitabh was introduced to music composer, Amit Trivedi by his friend, Amartya Rahut. Amit took Amitabh as a dummy singer to give presentations of his music to film directors. Slowly, Trivedi urged Bhattacharya to write rough lyrics to his tunes. Amitabh enjoyed giving words to tunes, and he started writing lyrics for the songs.
Amitabh Bhattacharya during a show
Amitabh made his debut as a lyricist and a playback singer in 2008 with the songs “Ek Lau” and “Ha Raham” from the film, ‘Aamir.’ His breakthrough came when Amit Trivedi was working upon the music of the film, “Dev.D.” Amit asked Amitabh to write rough lyrics on the tunes. Bhattacharya wrote the lyrics, and they were selected for the film. Most of the songs became a huge hit and earned Amitabh recognition.
Bhattacharya, then, went on to work on the lyrics of the songs of many popular films, including “Housefull,” “No One Killed Jessica,” “Delhi Belly,” “Ladies V/S Ricky Bahl,” “Agneepath,” and “Lootera.” As a lyricist, he has written many hit songs, like “Channa Mereya,” “Ae Dil Hai Mushkil,” “Bulleya,” “Kabira,” “Balam Pichkari,” “Badtameez Dil,” “Abhi Mujh Mein Kahin,” “Naina,” “Zinda Hoon,” and “Ghar More Pardesiya.”
Amitabh Bhattacharya writing the lyrics of a song
He made his debut as a film producer in 2005 with the film, “The Film.” Bhattacharya has also performed in many national and international concerts.
Amitabh Bhattacharya during a stage show in Delhi
Awards
- National Film Award for ‘Best Lyrics’ for the song, “Agar Zindagi” from the film, ‘I Am’ (2012)
- Filmfare Award for ‘Best Lyricist’ for the song, “Abhi Mujh Mein Kahin” from the film, ‘Agneepath’ (2012)
- GiMA Award for ‘Lyricist of the Year’ for the song, “Abhi Mujh Mein Kahin” from the film, ‘Agneepath’ (2012)
- IIFA Award for ‘Best Lyricist’ for the song, “Abhi Mujh Mein Kahin” from the film, ‘Agneepath’ (2013)
- Mirchi Music Award for ‘Album of the Year’ for the film, ‘Agneepath’ (2013)
- Mirchi Music Award for ‘Album of the Year’ for the film, ‘2 States’ (2015)
- RMIM Puruskaar Award for ‘Lyricist of the Year’ for the films, “Ae Dil Hai Mushkil,” “Dangal,” and “Teen” (2016)
- Screen Award for ‘Best Lyricist’ for the song, “Ae Dil Hai Mushkil” from the film, ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ (2016)
Amitabh Bhattacharya with an award
- Mirchi Music Award for ‘Critics’ Choice Lyricist of the Year’ for the song, “Channa Mereya” from the film, ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ (2017)
- Mirchi Music Award for ‘Critics’ Choice Song of the Year’ for the song, “Channa Mereya” from the film, ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ (2017)
- Filmfare Award for ‘Best Lyricist’ for the song, “Channa Mereya” from the film, ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ (2017)
- IIFA Award for ‘Best Lyricist’ for the song, “Channa Mereya” from the film, ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ (2017)
- Filmfare Award for ‘Best Lyricist’ for the song, “Ullu Ka Patha” from the film, ‘Jagga Jasoos’ (2018)
- Mirchi Music Award for ‘Listeners’ Choice Album of the Year’ for the film, “Jagga Jasoos” (2018)
- Filmfare Award for Best Lyrics for the song “Kesariya” from the film ‘Brahmāstra: Part One – Shiva’ in 2023
- 69th Filmfare Award for Best Lyricist for the song “Tere Vaaste” from the film ‘Zara Hatke Zara Bachke’ on 28 January 2024
Amitabh Bhattacharya with the 69th Filmfare Award
Favourites
- Beverage: Green Tea
- Lyricist(s)/Poet(s): Shailendra, Anand Bakshi, Gulzar, Sahir Ludhianvi, Sameer, Majrooh Sultanpuri
- Singer(s): Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar, Mohit Chauhan, Arijit Singh
- Music Director(s): Pritam Chakraborty, Amit Trivedi, A. R. Rahman, Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy
Facts/Trivia
- His hobbies include reading, writing, and listening to music.
- During his initial days in Bollywood, Amitabh worked under his pen name, Indraneel.
- Amitabh shared during an interview that he preferred writing lyrics to tunes. According to him, his brain worked 10 times faster that way.
- Bhattacharya shares a great bond with the singer and music director, Amit Trivedi.
Amitabh Bhattacharya with Amit Trivedi
- The fastest written song by Bhattacharya is ‘Emotional Atyachaar’ from the film, “Dev.D”
- Amitabh has worked in collaboration with many popular music composers, like Pritam Chakraborty, Amit Trivedi, Salim-Sulaiman, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Vishal-Shekhar, Ajay-Atul, and A.R. Rahman.
- In his entire career, Bhattacharya has won highest number of awards, precisely 9, for the song, “Channa Mereya” (Until 2020).
- His lyrics are often described as ‘frillfree’ and ‘smartly worded’ by the critics.
