Versatile Odia singer Mohammed Sikandar Alam was born on 27th July 1939 at Routrapur of Baialishi Mouzaa in Cuttack district. Born in a wealthy Muslim family, his father Md. Sayeed Alam was an IPS officer and mother Sahara Khatun a house wife. Sikandar had spent his early childhood at his village, and then he re-located at Cuttack with his parents and finished his Matriculation from Christ Collegiate School. After completion of his Intermediate in Science from Stewart College, Cuttack, Alam joined the famous Ghandharva Mahavidyalaya as a student of Hindustani Classical Music (vocal) and awarded Sangeet Visharad under the tutelage of Pandit Govind Chandra Palushkar and Ustad Kundala Adinarayan Rao.
Sikandar married to Naima who, her self is a trained singer and approved AIR artist and blessed with two very gifted daughters Sofia (one of the most celebrity cine artists of Odisha) and Nazia (a promising classical singer).
In addition to this he was a Govt. Servant and retired as Film Officer in Directorate of Agriculture and Food Production, Govt of Odisha.
He died at a private hospital at Bhubaneswar following a brief illness
He was 71 and survived by his wife and two daughters.
Alam had been admitted to the hospital with complaints of chest pain and ulcer on August 5 and he passed away .
Known for his devotional songs dedicated to the Hindu god Jagannath, Alam sang in more than 50 Odiafilms, many devotional albums as well as Hindi ghazals.
He who started his career by performing for All India Radio (AIR) at the age of 18, ably demonstrated his versatility by presenting a wide range of songs starting from Bhajanas to romantic songs with equal intensity and depth.
Recipient of many awards and honours, Alam churned out all time hits in films like Laxmi, Amada Bata, Adina Megha, Manika Jodi, Mamata, Suryamukhi and Puja.
0
