Lucky Ali

Biography

Maqsood Mahmood "Lucky" Ali (born 19 September 1958) is an Indian singer, songwriter, and actor. With several popular singles and albums, he emerged as a significant figure of Indipop during the 1990s.

Early life and education

Ali is the second of the eight children of Bollywood actor, Mehmood Ali. His mother, actress Mah Laqa, was part Bengali and part Pashtun, and the younger sister of 1960s Indian Bollywood actress Meena Kumari, He was born in 1958 at Bangalore, Karnataka. The Bollywood actress and dancer, Minoo Mumtaz, was his paternal aunt. He attended City Montessori School, Convent of Jesus and Mary, Hampton Court, Mussoorie, St. George's College, Mussoorie, Manekji Cooper (Kindergarten) (Juhu), Bombay Scottish School in Mumbai, and the Bishop Cotton Boys' School, Bangalore.

Connection with Tagore family

His mother Mah Laqa's grandmother, Hem Sundari Tagore, was either the daughter or a widow of Rabindranath Tagore's distant cousin. After the death of her husband, she was forced by his family to leave for Meerut, where she became a nurse, married a Christian named Pyare Lal Shakir Meeruti (1880–1956), who was an Urdu journalist, and embraced Christianity. She had two daughters; one of whom was Prabhavati, Ali's maternal grandmother.

Personal life

Ali has two children with his first wife Meaghan Jane McCleary – Ta'awwuz and Tasmiyah. He then married Inaya (Anahita, a Persian). With her, he has two children: Sara and Raiyan. He married a third time in 2010 to British model and former beauty queen Kate Elizabeth Hallam whom he divorced in 2017. The couple has a son named Dani Maqsood Ali.
Ali currently lives on the outskirts of Bengaluru in his farm house.
His Mother Tongue Deccani Dakhni Urdu.
Ali and his father shared a tempestuous relationship. Mehmood Ali was a very busy actor in the 1960s and '70s, and remained away from home for his shoots. Once, around the age of four when Ali first returned from boarding school, Mehmood and the entire family had come to receive Ali at the airport. Ali did not recognize his father, but on seeing him said, "He's the film comedian Mehmood!" Ali lived away from his family in a St George's College boarding school in Dehradun, Mussoorie. Ali's tryst with marijuana led Mehmood to write the script of the movie Dushman Duniya Ka (Enemy of the World). The movie stars Ali's youngest brother, Manzoor. It is the story of the drug abuse of a young man called Lucky. In the end, the young man kills his mother, destroys everything around him and is then killed by his father. Ali differed from his father's vision and did not act in the movie. "I felt the story lacked hope," he said. However, he sang his first song for the film.
Best known for his music, singing and acting, Ali has also bred horses, worked on an oil rig off the coast of Pondicherry in South India, cleaned and sold carpets and is a farmer with a strong opinion on organic methods in farming.

Personal albums

Ali made his debut on the Indian music scene with the album Sunoh×Sunoh6 May 1996 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1O Sanam3:432Sunoh5:023Pyar Ka Musafir3:234Aap Par Arz Hai3:185Milegi Milegi Manzil3:336Tum Hi Se4:027Yeh Zameen Hai, Aasmaan Hai3:238Jab Hum Chhote The4:219Kya Mausam Hai3:1110Yeh Mumbai Nagariya4:22, which established him as a singer. This album won many of the top awards in Indian music, including the Best Pop Male Vocalist at the 1996 Screen Awards and the Channel V Viewers Choice Award in 1997. It stayed on the MTV Asia Charts in the top three for 60 weeks. The song "O Sanam" from Sunoh launched his career. It was also nominated at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards His next album, Sifar×Sifar21 May 1998 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracksA1Teri Yadein4:09A2Mil Jaan Se3:56A3Dekha Hai Aise Bhi3:57A4Dil Aise Na Samjahna5:03A5Nahin Rakhta Dil Main Kuch4:19B1Tum Ho Wohi5:25B2Jheel Pe Jaise3:14B3Mausam3:49B4Baadalon Ki Gahrayee3:51B5Suntay Hi Rehtay Hian4:14, was noted for its music, lyrics and vocals.
Ali became known for his distinctive music style and also for his untrained voice - elements that helped him emerge as a leading figure in Indipop during the period. His third and fourth albums were Aks and Kabhi Aisa Lagta Hai×Kabhi Aisa Lagta Hai21 June 2004 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 8 tracks1Kabhi Aisa Lagta Hai6:212Teri Yaad Jab Aati Hai4:333Jabse Mili Tumse4:294Tanhaai Mein Basi4:325Ek Pal Mein Hai4:026Ye Dil Deewana Hai4:177Kabhi Aisa Lagta Hai (Instrumental)6:178Thappa Thappi Chhuppa Chhuppi6:20, both of which were reasonably successful. He is also known for contributing the song "Anjaani Raahon Mein" to the album Meri Jaan Hindustan, which commemorated 50 years of Indian independence in the year 1997. The video was directed by Mani Shankar, and features him as a young rural man working in a foreign country, with a longing to go back home, and his joy of actually returning to a place he loved. When asked about the video, he once said "The video of 'Anjaani Raahon Mein' was a beautiful story in itself. It was done straight from the heart and it is very special to me."

Bollywood career

Ali debuted in Bollywood with the song "Nasha Nasha" in the movie Dushman Duniya Ka. After that he sang "Ek Pal Ka Jeena" and "Na Tum Jaano Na Hum", featured in Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai (2000). He received the 2001 Filmfare Award for Best Male Playback Singer for "Ek Pal Ka Jeena" song. He was nominated for the Best Playback Singer Male for "Aa Bhi Jaa", featured in Sur at the 48th Filmfare Awards, but lost to Sonu Nigam. He has lent his voice to playback singing in films such as Sur – The Melody of Life (2002), Bachna Ae Haseeno (2008), Anjaana Anjaani (2010) and Tamasha (2015).

Playback singing career

Lucky Ali started his playback singing career with the song "Walking All Alone" from the film Ek Baap Chhe Bete in 1978. This film stars Mehmood Ali and his six sons. Ali's second song was "Nasha Nasha" from the film Dushman Duniya Ka, which starred his brother Manzoor Ali in the lead role. The film was directed by their father Mehmood.
He has worked with composers such as A.R Rahman, Vishal Bhardwaj, Vishal–Shekhar, Mikey McCleary, Prashant Pillai, Varun Ahuja and Rajiv Bhalla.

Acting career

As the nephew of Meena Kumari and son of Mehmood, Lucky Ali did not lack the requisites to make his debut as an actor. He first appeared in Chote Nawab ("The Little Prince") in 1962, directed by Mehmood. He acted in a few films in the 1970s and 1980s such as Yehi Hai Zindagi (1977), Hamare Tumhare (1979) and Shyam Benegal's Trikaal (1985). He also acted in the television series Bharat Ek Khoj, directed by Shyam Benegal. After a long break from acting, he returned in Sanjay Gupta's Kaante (2002), in which he acted alongside leading stars Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Kumar Gaurav and Suniel Shetty. Ali also acted in the TV serial Zara Hatke. In 2002, he acted in the Hindi musical Sur-The Melody of Life playing a complex role.