He was reported by the Mumbai Mirror to be living on a very meager income obtained by singing in a night bar.
He is not in good terms with his half brother Arshad Warsi and half sister Asha Sachdeva. He stated that he was expecting the release of his latest album Tohfa.
In 2007 he admitted being in construction business. All the songs in the album were mesmerising so much so that one would sense the magic of Mohammad Rafi and appreciate Anwar's talent. In 2004 Anwar composed an album called Meri Aashiqui Se Pehle broadcast on popular RKB show of Sahara Channel. In an interview given to Hindustan Times in November 2007, he cite the rise of Kumar Sanu after the release of Aashiqui as the reason for his moving to the United States, where he gave music lessons and performed live shows to audiences in San Francisco and Los Angeles. In a career span stretching over thirty years, Anwar sang a variety of songs including filmi songs, classical songs and contemporary ghazals, bhajans, qawwali, and Sufi songs. He sang duets alongside playback singers Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle and Alka Yagnik, under music directors Khayyam, Laxmikant Pyarelal, Kalyanji Anandji, Bappi Lahiri, Anu Malik and Dilip Sen-Sameer Sen. Here onwards, for several years, Anwar was on a roll. Both the film and song were superhit hence Anwar started getting work and recognition. The songs "Teri Aankhon Ki Chahat", and "Humse Ka Bhool Hui", were picturised on famous actor Rajesh Khanna. In 1977, comedian Mehmood and music director Rajesh Roshan hired Anwar to sing for the film Janta Hawaldar. Indeed, the rendition of that song shows promise, but the film, flopped very badly at the box office and the songs also did not find traction with the audience. Music Director Kamal Rajasthani relates that during the recording sessions of the song "Kasme Hum Apno Jaan Ki" for this film, Mohammed Rafi was so impressed that he described Anwar as the one singer who could take his place after him. It was during one of those musical shows that Anwar was spotted by the music director Kamal Rajasthani, who gave him a chance to sing for his film Mere Gharib Nawaz.Īnwar made his debut as playback singer in the film Mere Gharib Nawaaz (1973) and the music director who gave him this break was Kamaal Rajasthani.
Anwar started singing Mohammad Rafi songs at various concerts. The young Anwar was classically trained by Ustad Abdul Rehman Khan, along with Mahendra Kapoor, the same teacher who was the preceptor of the legendary playback singer Mahendra Kapoor also. The half-siblings never lived together and are in fact estranged from each other. Apparently, their father was the same Ashiq Hussain but they were born to differet mothers. Anwar is a half-brother of actress Asha Sachdev and the actor Arshad Warsi. His father, Ashiq Hussain, was an accomplished sitar and harmonium player and an assistant music director to the musician Ghulam Haider. Anwar was born in Mumbai on 1 February 1949.