Ankit Tiwari
Ankit Tiwari is an Indian playback singer, music director, composer. His career began upon meeting Pradeep Sarkar where he got a chance to work on jingles and started composing background music for television programmes. Subsequently, he was offered to compose music for Do Dooni Chaar and Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster, where he started his singing career with the song he composed for the later.
In 2014, he collaborated with Mohit Suri for Ek Villain, where he give fabulous music & also he sung "Galliyan". For the track he received another two nominations in Filmfare Awards winning the Best Male Playback Singer Award He also recorded the song "O Yara" for the Pakistani film, Bin Roye.
Life and career
1986–2007: Early life
Ankit born in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. His parents own a music :wikt:troupe|troupe in Kanpur called "Raju Suman and Party" which performs at religious convocations. His mother is a devotional singer. Though his parents wanted him to complete his studies first, his inclination towards music led them to decide on training him professionally. He trained in classical music from Vinod Kumar Dwivedi before training in piano, Dhrupad and Western vocals. He instituted at and won several local music competitions during the time. He used to work as a production head at a radio station in Gwalior, before he moved to Mumbai in December 2007 along with his brother Ankur Tiwari.2008–12: Beginnings and early releases
In Mumbai, Ankit Tiwari met Pradeep Sarkar who was working on a film at that time. Though the film got shelved, Sarkar gave him, along with other musicians, a chance to work on jingles. It was then he composed a couple of background scores for the television programmes. Tiwari met Habib Faisal, who offered him to compose the music for his directorial debut film Do Dooni Chaar which was then released in 2010. Later for producer Tigmanshu Dhulia he composed the theme song of Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster. With this film, Ankit Tiwari made his singing debut where he rendered the song "Saheb Bada Hathila" along with Vipin Aneja.2013
In 2012, Ankit Tiwari narrated the song "Sunn Raha Hai" to Mahesh Bhatt and Mohit Suri, the director of the film Aashiqui 2. The song was also recorded in his voice and the female-version was rendered by Shreya Ghoshal. Apart from receiving critical acclaim, the song fetched Tiwari with multiple awards and nominations. He shared his first Filmfare Award as the Best Music Director along with Mithoon and Jeet Gannguli. The team received the Best Music Director Award from other ceremonies including IIFA Awards and Zee Cine Awards. Apart from music direction, Tiwari received his second nomination in Filmfare Awards as the Best Male Playback Singer. As his second release of the year, Tiwari collaborated with Sachin Gupta—marking his first song to the tunes of another composer—for the song "Aag Ka Dariya" from Issaq.2014 began with the film Dee Saturday Night, where two of his songs, "Falsafa Mera Falsafa" and "Jhatak Ke Nacho" went mostly unnoticed with the music listeners. He then performed the track "Kaisa Hai Dard Mera" which was composed by Ismail Darbar for Subhash Ghai's . Ankit Tiwari composed two tracks for the film Samrat & Co., titled "Sawaalon Mein" and a party song "Tequila Wakila" where both are rendered by Shreya Ghoshal. During the year, he performed three tracks for two of Himesh Reshammiya's films, The Xposé and Action Jackson. His rendition for the song "Sheeshe Ka Samundar" from the former received critical acclaim, while "Punjabi Mast" and "Dhoom Dhaam" from the latter received negative response from critics. In July 2014, a duet with Tulsi Kumar titled "Kuch Toh Hua Hai" was released included in the film Singham Returns. The year ended with "Dil Darbadar" from PK. Apart from all the songs released during the year, the most successful track was "Galliyan" from Ek Villain. The song was a critical and commercial success; Mohar Basu from Koimoi described the song as "the most attractive song of the album" stating "Tiwari's music and voice adds the required finesse in this song and what he has made darn great!". The song fetched him several awards for the Best Male Playback Singer including from Filmfare, Star Guild and Stardust Awards. Subsequently, he received his fourth nomination in Filmfare as the Best Music Director Award at 60th Britannia Filmfare Awards. In the year, Ankit Tiwari made his debut in a Kannada film with the song "Nillu Nillu" from Dil Rangeela composed by Arjun Janya.
Tiwari composed and sung the song "Katra Katra" along with Prakriti Kakar for the film Alone. They again collaborated for the song "Bheegh Loon" from Khamoshiyan. He then composed three tracks for the film Roy, "Tu Hai Ki Nahi", "Yaara Re" which is rendered by KK and "Boond Boond" performed by Tiwari himself. The unplugged version of "Tu Hai Ki Nahi" was performed by Tulsi Kumar, along with the original received mixed reactions from critics though infusion of the whistle's tune was appreciated.
Artistry
Composition
Ankit Tiwari stated that he wants to explore different genres given the right opportunity, though it shouldn't be vulgar and should hold meaning. Satyajit from Glamsham called his second composed song "Saheb Bada Hatila" from Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster a "rock-musical" arrangement. In his next composition "Sunn Raha Hai", the male version features electronic distortion guitar, zitar and drums while the female version is supported by instruments like ghatam, flute, santoor and acoustic guitar. The variance in composition was particularly applauded by critics.In 2014, Tiwari composed "Tequila Wakila" which lies in Spanish style musical background settings of bass, drums, saxophone, trumpets and guitar while "Sawalon Mein" from the same film has a mysterious type semi-philosophical composition which is decorated with haunting piano notes and bell sounds in the background. Rajiv Vijayakar from Bollywood Hungama mentioned that Tiwari seems to be "evolving into a composer with a decent range". In the composition of the song "Galliyan" it transforms from "being slow-paced, to quickly accelerating into heavy rock music and then settling into soothing traditional Indian-themed sounds", while the unplugged version dominantly uses the acoustic guitar alongside piano. However, for his next song "Kuch Toh Hua Hai", Surabhi Redkar for Koimoi commented; "Experimentation wise, the song shows no novelty as the musical arrangements are not peculiarly impressive". According to reviewers, his last song released in 2014, "Dil Darbadar" has a huge "Galliyan" hangover and "doesn't actually fit into the scheme of things". In September 2014, Tiwari said; "People usually call me for love songs or songs of separation, which I love composing. But I don't want to restrict myself to a particular genre".
"Katra Katra" from 2015 had a similar faith with "Dil Darbadar" as the musical arrangements of both the song are similar to his earlier ventures. Redkar noted; "If only Tiwari could come up with something new the only problem is that it all sounds the same". His next was a passionate and intense composition, "Bheegh Loon" which fits with the erotic thriller mood of the film. In "Tu Hai Ki Nahin" from Roy Tiwari used minimal musical arrangements mainly focusing on vocals and incorporate a whistle—first time he has used whistle as an instrument—which according to music listeners "sounds brilliant and has high recall value", while the next two tracks "Boond Boond" and "Yaara Re" were called "experimental" in terms of arrangement.
Influences
Tiwari named the singers like KK, Puerto Rican and Ricky Martin as his idols. He picked Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan as one of his inspiration and dedicated a song to him from one of his composition at MTV Unplugged 4 – Episode 06. Among the actors, Tiwari expressed his desire to dub for Shah Rukh Khan and Ranbir Kapoor.Popular singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan mentioned that he likes Tiwari's singing along with Arijit Singh's.
Voice and rendition
Tiwari's early two releases "Sunn Raha Hai" and "Aag Ka Dariya" represent his "young energetic and strong vocals" which was well received by the critics. "Kaisa Hai Dard Mera", despite with the similar pattern has a semi classical touch in his rendition. His one of the most successful venture "Galliyan" provided Tiwari with a high vocal range which was particularly appraised in the song though Bollywood Hungama wrote that he sings the track in a "gimmicky tenor that sounds fake". His voice and rendition was criticised in "Dil Darbadar" where IBNLive wrote; "Tiwari's choice to distort vocals using the Auto-tune software takes away the charm and rawness of a plaintive melody like "Dil Darbadar".Controversies
On 9 May 2014, Tiwari was arrested for allegedly raping his girlfriend, while his brother was booked on complaint of making threats to her life. However, the complainant failed to support the prosecution version during the trial due to lack of evidence against him and his brother. On April 2017, both Tiwari and his brother were acquitted from all charges by the Mumbai Sessions Court..Personal life
Ankit Tiwari married Pallavi Shukla as per Hindu rituals in Kanpur on 23 February 2018. Ankit and Pallavi had an arranged marriage as both first met on the recommendation of Ankit's grandmother. He was blessed with a baby girl on 28 December 2018.Discography
As music director
| Year | Film | Song | Co-Singer | Writer | Note/Co-Composer |
| 2010 | Do Dooni Chaar | All Songs | Shankar Mahadevan, Sunidhi Chauhan, Vishal Dadlani, Rakesh Pandit, Krishna, Meet Bros Anjjan | with Meet Bros Anjjan | |
| 2011 | Sai Ki Tasveer | ||||
| 2011 | Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster | "Saheb Bada Hathila" | Vipin Aneja, | Jaidev Kumar, Mukhtar Sahota, Abhishek Ray, Sumit Bhatia, Amit Sial, Anuj Garg | |
| 2013 | Aashiqui 2 | "Sun Raha Hai" | Sandeep Nath | Mithoon, Jeet Gannguli | |
| 2013 | Aashiqui 2 | "Sun Raha Hai " | Shreya Ghoshal | Sandeep Nath | Mithoon, Jeet Gannguli |
| 2014 | Samrat & Co | "Tequila Wakila" | Shreya Ghoshal | Mithoon | Mithoon |
| 2014 | Samrat & Co | "Samrat & Co" | Benny Dayal | Mithoon | Mithoon |
| 2014 | Samrat & Co | "Sawaloon Mein" | Shreya Ghoshal | Mithoon | Mithoon |
| 2014 | Ek Villain | "Galliyan" | Manoj Muntashir | Mithoon, Soch | |
| 2014 | Ek Villain | "Galliyan " | Shraddha Kapoor | Manoj Muntashir | Mithoon, Soch |
| 2014 | Singham Returns | "Kuch To Hua Hai" | Tulsi Kumar | Sandeep Nath, Abhyendra Kumar Upadhyay | Meet Bros Anjjan, Jeet Gannguli, Yo Yo Honey Singh |
| 2014 | PK | "Dil Darbadar" | Manoj Muntashir | Shantanu Moitra, Ajay-Atul | |
| 2015 | Alone | Katra Katra" | Prakriti Kakar | Abhyendra Kumar Upadhyay | Mithoon, Jeet Gannguli, Raghav Sachar |
| 2015 | Khamoshiyan | "Bheegh Loon" | Prakriti Kakar | Abhyendra Kumar Upadhyay | Jeet Gannguli, Bobby-Imran, Naved Jafar, Randeep Mukherjee |
| 2015 | Khamoshiyan | "Bheegh Loon " | Prakriti Kakar | Abhyendra Kumar Upadhyay | Jeet Gannguli, Bobby-Imran, Naved Jafar, Randeep Mukherjee |
| 2015 | Khamoshiyan | "Bheegh Loon " | Abhyendra Kumar Upadhyay | Jeet Gannguli, Bobby-Imran, Naved Jafar, Randeep Mukherjee | |
| 2015 | Roy | "Tu Hai Ki Nahi" | Abhyendra Kumar Upadhyay | Amaal Mallik, Meet Bros Anjjan | |
| 2015 | Roy | "Boond Boond" | Abhyendra Kumar Upadhyay | Amaal Mallik, Meet Bros Anjjan | |
| 2015 | Roy | "Yaara Re" | KK | Sandeep Nath | Amaal Mallik, Meet Bros Anjjan |
| 2015 | Roy | "Tu Hai Ki Nahi " | Tulsi Kumar | Abhyendra Kumar Upadhyay | Amaal Mallik, Meet Bros Anjjan |
| 2015 | Mr X | "Tu Jo Hain" | Manoj Muntashir | Jeet Gannguli | |
| 2015 | Mr X | "Alif Se" | Neeti Mohan | Abhyendra Kumar Upadhyay | Jeet Gannguli |
| 2015 | Mr X | "Saad Sukhrana" | Abhyendra Kumar Upadhyay | Jeet Gannguli | |
| 2016 | Airlift | "Dil Cheez Tujhe Dedi" | Arijit Singh | Kumaar | Amaal Mallik |
| 2016 | Ishq Junoon | "Tu Hi Mera Raab Hai" | Sukriti Kakar | Sanjeev Chaturvedi | Jeet Gannguli, Vardan Singh, Anjjan Bhattacharya, Sanjeev-Darshan |
| 2016 | Rustom | "Tay Hain" | Manoj Muntashir | Jeet Gannguli, Arko Pravo Mukherjee, Raghav Sachar | |
| 2016 | Rustom | "Jab Tum Hote Ho" | Shreya Ghoshal | Manoj Muntashir | Jeet Gannguli, Arko Pravo Mukherjee, Raghav Sachar |
| 2016 | Rocky Handsome | "Alfazoon Ki Tarah" | Abhyendra Kumar Upadhyay | Bombay Rockers, Sunny Bawra, Inder Bawra | |
| 2016 | Rocky Handsome | "Alfazoon Ki Tarah " | Shreya Ghoshal, John Abraham | Abhyendra Kumar Upadhyay | Bombay Rockers, Sunny Bawra, Inder Bawra |
| 2016 | Baaghi | "Agar Tu Hota" | Abhyendra Kumar Upadhyay | Meet Bros, Amaal Mallik, Manj Musik | |
| 2016 | Junooniyat | "Ishq Di Laat" | Tulsi Kumar | Manoj Muntashir | Meet Bros, Jeet Gannguli |
| 2016 | Tum Bin II | "Teri Fariyaad" | Jagjit Singh, Rekha Bhardwaj | Shakeel Azmi, Faaiz Anwar | Original by: Nikhil-Vinay |
| 2016 | Tum Bin II | "Teri Fariyaad " | Jagjit Singh, Rekha Bhardwaj | Shakeel Azmi, Faaiz Anwar | Original by: Nikhil-Vinay |
| 2016 | Tum Bin II | "Ishq Mubarak" | Shubhashu Kesharwani | Manoj Muntashir | |
| 2016 | Tum Bin II | "Ishq Mubarak " | Arijit Singh, Zack Knight | Manoj Muntashir | |
| 2016 | Tum Bin II | "Dekh Lena" | Tulsi Kumar | Manoj Muntashir | |
| 2016 | Tum Bin II | "Dekh Lena " | Tulsi Kumar | Manoj Muntashir | |
| 2016 | Tum Bin II | "Tum Bin" | Manoj Muntashir | ||
| 2016 | Tum Bin II | "Dil Nawaziyaan" | Arko Pravo Mukherjee, Payal Dev | Manoj Muntashir | |
| 2016 | Tum Bin II | "Masta" | Vishal Dadlani, Neeti Mohan | Manoj Muntashir | |
| 2016 | Tum Bin II | "Ki Kariye Nachna Aaonda Nahin" | Neha Kakkar, Raftaar, Hardy Sandhu | Manoj Muntashir | |
| 2016 | Tum Bin II | "Jager Bomb" | Dwayne Bravo, Harshi Mad | Manoj Muntashir | |
| 2016 | Beiimaan Love | "Pyaar De" | Abhyendra Kumar Upadhyay | Manj Musik, Raghav Sachar, Sanjeev-Darshan, Asad Khan | |
| 2017 | Baadshaho | "Piya More" | Mika Singh, Neeti Mohan | Manoj Muntashir | Tanishk Bagchi, Kabir Cafe, Abhijit Vaghani |
| 2018 | Aiyaary | "Yaad Hai" | Palak Muchhal | Manoj Muntashir | Rochak Kohli |
| 2018 | FryDay | "Bade Choten" | Mika Singh | Anurag Bhomia | Millind Gaba, Roshin-Kaizad, Gunwant Sen |
| 2018 | Kashi in Search of Ganga | "Wo Rishta" | Deepali Sathe | Abhyendra Kumar Upadhyay | Vipin Patwa, Raj Ashoo, DJ Emenes |
| 2018 | Kashi in Search of Ganga | "Wo Rishta " | Deepali Sathe | Abhyendra Kumar Upadhyay | Vipin Patwa, Raj Ashoo, DJ Emenes |
| 2018 | Kashi in Search of Ganga | "Betahasha" | Sonu Nigam, Palak Mucchal | Abhyendra Kumar Upadhyay | Vipin Patwa, Raj Ashoo, DJ Emenes |
| 2019 | Amavas | Bheege Bheege | Sunidhi Chauhan | Anurag Bhomia | Sanjeev-Darshan, Asad Khan, Abhijit Bhagani |
| 2019 | Prassthanam | Dil Dariyan | Deepali Sathe | Anurag Bhomia | Farhad Samji, Vikram Montrose |
| 2019 | Romeo Akbar Walter | Maa | Prince Dubey | Sohail Sen, Shabbir Ahmed, Raj Ashoo | |
| 2019 | Batla House | Rula Diya | Dhvani Bhanushali | Prince Dubey | Tanishk Bagchi, Rochak Kohli |
| 2020 | Malang | Phir Na Mile Kabhi | Prince Dubey | Mithoon, Asim Azhar, Ved Sharma, Adnan Dhol, The Fusion Project | |
| 2020 | Sadak 2 | Tumse Hi | Alia Bhatt | TBA | Jeet Gannguli, Rachita Arora, Sachet-Parampara |
| 2020 | - | - | - | - | - |