In the last few years, singer Narinder Chanchal has built quite a following among those who tune in to devotional channels. After invading living rooms with his piercingly emotional voice, philosophising on life and happiness through his music, the 60-year-old has come up with a coffee-table book The Midnight Singer (Tathastu Imprints).

The book is, you guessed it, about the life and times of Chanchal, now one of India’s most sought-after jagran singers. Replete with pictures of devotional concerts, it has Chanchal posing with Raj Kapoor, Lata Mangeshkar and assorted celebrities who called him to sing at religious functions. The book was recently released in Delhi by L K Advani and Rishi Kapoor.

“I’ve been singing since the age of eight. I started singing at weddings; jagrans followed much later,” says Chanchal. It was while singing at a Baisakhi festival in Punjab that Raj Kapoor heard him and offered him a song in Bobby — the heart-wrenching Beshak manzil masjid todo. The song was a superhit in 1973 and got Chanchal his only Filmfare Award. After Bobby, many doors opened for him in the film industry — he sang for Benaam, Roti Kapda aur Makaan and Asha. “I suddenly felt like a superstar but soon reality dawned,” says Chanchal, a tad wryly. “I could not live on one odd Bollywood song, no matter how popular it became.” He then started singing for jagrans — and soon became indispensable at the jagrans of politicians, actors and producers. Chanchal is rumoured to charge Rs 2 lakh per jagran.

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