The unusual love story of Usha Uthup and Jani Chacko Uthup: How the singer met her second husband

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While Padma Bhushan awardee Usha Uthup is famous for her powerful singing, not much is known about her late husband Jani Chacko. In fact, few know that Jani Chacko was Usha Uthup’s second husband.

Jani Chacko was born in 1946 in Kottayam to a Syrian Christian family. After completing his schooling in Chennai, Jani moved to Calcutta for work, where, interestingly, he also met Usha for the first time. Jani Chacko worked at J.Thomas & Co., one of the oldest and largest tea auction houses in the world.

The love story of Usha Uthup and Jani Chacko

It was in 1969 that Usha met Jani Chacko for the first time while she was performing at Trincas, a nightclub in Kolkata. Usha was then married to Ramu, her first husband, who accompanied her to Kolkata for the performance. According to her authorized biography titled ‘The Queen of Indian Pop: The Authorised Biography of Usha Uthup’ by Vikas Kumar Jha, Usha first noticed Jani sitting at a nearby table while she was singing ‘A Taste of Honey’ by Herp Albert. That day, Ramu and Jani happened to get chatting and the next day, the two men met again for dinner. Interestingly, it was Jani who had invited Ramu to the meeting.

On the second day, Usha again performed at Trincas, where she noticed Jani; however, her then husband Ramu was not present. After the show, Jani offered to take Usha home – an offer she accepted. Jani and Usha did not speak much during this time, but when she came home and her husband Ramu saw that she had come with Jani, he was furious.

According to her biography, Ramu told Jani, “That’s enough, Mr. Uthup! You can go,” and Ramu closed the door. When he confronted Ramu about his behavior, “he screamed and burst into tears. ‘Do you know what Jani Uthup told me this afternoon in the Chinese restaurant? Jani said, ‘I don’t know about Usha and her feelings, but I love your wife.'” To this, Usha calmly replied that Jani had not told her that. When Ramu asked her if Usha also had feelings for Jani, the singer confessed, “Yes.”

In the following days, Ramu slowly grew distant from Usha and their five-year marriage gradually came to an end. At this point, Usha decided to separate from Ramu and marry Jani Chacko for love.

Usha and Jani Chacko Uthup’s family
Jani Chacko leaves behind his wife Usha and their children – daughter Anjali Uthup and son Sunny Uthup.

Remembering her father, Anjali paid a heartfelt tribute to him. She posted a picture of Jani Chacko Uthup on social media. Her post read, “Appa… gone too soon… but with such style as you lived… the most beautiful man in the world… we love you, you are a true gentleman and Lawrencian through and through and the best tea taster.”


Our sincere condolences go out to Usha Uthup and her family.