Usha Timothy Biography 
Usha Timothy is a playback singer of Bollywood songs, who has also rendered her voice for Malayalam, Punjabi, Bhojpuri and Marathi film songs. She has sung more than 1000 songs belonging to different languages. She got her first break to playback singing through manoj Kumar – Mala Sinha starrer Himalay Ki Godmein, where she rendered her voice for the folk dance sequence, "Tu Raat Khadi Thi Chhat Pe". She sang this duet aside legendary singer Mohammed Rafi. Usha Timothy has sung over a hundred songs in her collaboration with Kalyanji Anandji, who gave the first break through Himalay Ki Godmein. Her voice resembles Lata Mangeshkar.
Usha Timothy was born in Nagpur, Maharashtra into a Christian family. Her father worked for the CBI. She has 10 elder siblings of whom Madhusudan Timothy used to arrange music gatherings at their home. She received initial training in Hindustani music from Pandit Laxman Prasad. Later she also mastered Tappas and Thumris from Nirmala Devi, film actor Govinda’s mother. She was spotted by Kalyanji Anandji in a music concert in the 1960s and gave her a position in his troupe. Later they gave her first break through Himalay Ki Godmein in 1965. She sang the folk song, "Tu Raat Khadi Thi Chhat Pe" aside Mohammed Rafi and it’s too hard to distinguish her voice from Lata Mangeshkar’s. Many people even believed it to be Asha Bhosle's voice.
After that Kalyanji Anandji gave her numerous opportunities in Bollywood films. She sang many duets with Rafi in the 1970s, mostly composed by Kalyanji Anandji. "Are Rafta Rafta Dekho" of Kahani Kismat Ke and "Honthon Pe Inkaar Thoda Thoda" of Raat Ke Andhere Mein are other noted works. Though she had a wonderful voice, sadly she met with the same fate of Suman Kalyanpur.
Published: February 18, 2019
Updated: February 18, 2019
