Karnail Rana

Early life and background

Rana was born on 30 April 1963 in Village Ghallaur in Kangra, Himachal Pradesh. He completed his schooling from Government High School, Ghallaur and then graduated from Government College, Dharamsala in music. His father, the late Ran Singh Rana, had served in the army and then ONGC whereas his mother, Indira Rana, was a housewife. Rana got early lessons in music from his family as his father was also interested in singing and he learned the basics in college. Rana recalls that when his family assembled on any occasion, they always enjoyed singing and playing various instruments .He had also been participating in various functions organised in school and college and winning appericiation and awards for his talent . He had participated in many programmes at all levels, including Nehru Yuva Kendra and the Inter State Folk Exchange Programme, and winning laurels . Earlier, he was interested in ghazal singing but one incident during an inter college function diverted his attention towards folk singing .Karnail Rana, though a participant in the competition was asked to give a guest performance also and he sang a folk song.

Career

After his debut album, he never looked back and went on to become an icon in Himachali folk singing. Rana's first cassette was titled Chambe Patne Do Bediyan in 1994. It made him a star in folk singing overnight. Since then, he has released more than 150 albums in association with T Series. His songs were famous not only in Himachal but also in Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh where most of Himachali also live. He has received awards from the organisation of Himachal and those formed by Himachalies living in other states, including Maharashtra and Punjab and other states. After serving in Nehru Yuva Kendra in 1987, Karnail Rana has been serving in Public Relations Department since 1988.

Discography

His songs like "ik joda soote da","Bhala sadhu jogiya","Ghare chuttiyan aija","Kaisa laga goriye" were huge hit. His bhajans like "Jogiya ve jogiya","Dhaulgiri parbat te","Fulaan di barkha layi babe ne" were famous in North India.