Gohar Karnataki

Gohar Karnataki, popularly known as Miss Gohar of Bijapur, is a renowned singer and actress of the 1930s. She was born in 1908 into a middle-class family to a tabla player, Hussain Khan, in Bilagi, district of Bagalkot, Karnataka. Gohar is the sister of the famous singer Amirbai Karnataki Amirbai Karnataki was an Indian actress and singer >> Read More... . As Bilagi was near the borders of Maharastra, she was well-versed in Marathi, which greatly benefitted her professional journey. Also, being from a family of artists, she was a member of a Drama Company named Vanivilas Natak Mandali. Nilkanth Panchakasri Buwa was her classical music teacher. She also performed on various songs written by the Great Mansurs Brothers and learned harmonium from them.

Chaphekar, a Marathi singer-actor, took her to Bombay, and it was only then she advanced far in her career. She acted in various prominent Marathi and Hindi films, Kala Bhoot (1937), Ras Vilas (1932), Gol Nishan (1936), Hawai Khatola (1946), Graduate (1936), and also composed her songs, Amar Hai Prem ki Shakti, He Ambike Jagadambe, Do Din ka Jag Man me Basa hai and many more.

Gohar was attracted to Bal Gandharva Bal Gandharva is an Indian Playback Singer and a S >> Read More... , a famous Marathi artist known for his roles as female characters in Marathi plays, and had always wanted to work with him. She also learned his school of singing and used them in Eklavya style. In 1937, she met him for the first time. They started working together, and soon both fell in love with each other. She joined his Natak Mandali in 1938. Together, they nourished their art, took it to remote villages by performing at concerts, and got married in 1951 after the death of Bal Gandharva's first wife in 1940. Later, Gohar died in 1964.