One of the most prolific singers ever to work in the Indian film industry, Kumar Sanu's recorded output numbers in the thousands of songs, reaching by his estimation over 8,000 by the turn of the millennium.
Background
He was born on 23rd September, 1957 and was named Kedernath Bhattacharjee. His father, Pashupati Bhattacharjee was a renowned classical singer and composer who noticed his son's talent at a very young age. When he was still very young, his father trained him to sing classical music and play the tabla.
Career
Sanu began performing publicly in 1979, singing at shows and restaurants around Calcutta. He modeled his singing style after famous Bollywood singer Kishore Kumar. Sanu tried to make a career in Bollywood, but did not achieve success for a long time. He made his living in the early 1980s partly by recording a series of Kishore Kumar covers for a pop label. His son, Jaan Sanu has also made inroads into singing by going into a semi final of a singing contest held in India.
In 1987, music director and singer Jagjit Singh offered Sanu the chance to sing in the Hindi film Andhiyan. Sanu then relocated to Mumbai, where Kalyanji-Anandji gave him chance to sing in the film Jadoogar. Kalyanji-Anandji suggested that he change his name from Kedar Bhattacharya to Kumar Sanu because of the prevalent caste/region-based favoritism in Bollywood and to give him wider appeal outside of a strictly Bengali audience.
Sanu's breakthrough came in 1990, in form of the film Aashiqui. The music directors Nadeem-Shravan got Sanu to sing all but one of the songs. Sanu gained overnight success. The hit songs from Aashiqui included Sanson ki zaroorat hai jaise, Tu meri zindagi hain, Nazar ke saamne, Jaane jigar jaaneman, Ab Tere Bin Jee Lenge Hum and Dheere, dheere se meri zindagi mein aana. He won the first of his record five consecutive Filmfare awards as Best Male Playback Singer. His next Filmfare Awards came for songs in the movies Saajan (1991), Deewana (1992), Baazigar (1993), and 1942: A Love Story (1994).
Sanu became a favorite with Nadeem-Shravan. He rendered many hit songs in movies like Sadak (Tumhe apna bana ne ki kasam khayi hai), Deewana (title song), Baazigar (title song, Kali kali ankhen), Saajan (Jeeye to jeeye kaise, Mera dil bhi kitna pagal hai), Pardes (Meri Mehbooba, Do dil mil rahe hain), and others.
In late 1990s, Sanu singing career went into decline. He then branched out into acting, appearing in a Bengali film and starting television serials in both Bengali and Hindi. He also did some concerts.
His most recent hit songs include Humraaz, Yeh Dil Aapka Huwa (Pakistan), Karz, Dil Ka Rishta, Indian Babu, Ishq Vishk, Andaaz, Qayamat, Hungama and Footpath. He has also turned his trade at making music for Indian films and also recently as a producer for a new Bollywood film, Utthaan.