Neeti Mohan

Neeti Mohan Sharma (born 18 November 1979) is an Indian singer.

She sings mainly in Hindi and Tamil films, but has also sung songs in Marathi, Telugu, Kannada, Bengali, Punjabi and English.

Born in Delhi, she was one of the winners of the Channel V's reality show Popstars, subsequently being chosen for Aasma, with other winners of the show.

In 2003, Mohan was one of the winners of Channel V's reality television show Popstars, subsequently being chosen for Aasma—a pop group formed with the other winners of the show—where she got the chance to perform with Bryan Adams.

Insisted by Deepak Gattani, who manages A. R. Rahman's concert tours, While she was assisting Lobo, he suggested Mohan to Imtiaz Ali to be featured in a supporting role in his film, Socha Na Tha (2005), while Lobo was working as the choreographer in the film.

Mohan's sister Shakti was performing as a dancer at a A. R. Rahman show for New Year's Eve in 2006.

Shakti had called Mohan right before the show and Mohan had wished to speak to Rahman but didn't get a chance.

Instead she told her sister that one day she would be performing with Rahman and six months later, Mohan was singing with him.

Mohan had previously met Rahman's manager when she was part of the group Aasma and in 2007, Mohan bumped into him again when he was coming out of the cinema.

It was at this chance meeting Mohan learned Rahman and his team were auditioning new voices for his US tour.

She recorded a vocal audition, singing "Maya Maya" from the film Guru among other songs.

After 3 weeks, Mohan got a call from Rahman's manager informing her that Rahman liked her voice and she was picked for the tour.

In 2009, Mohan participated in the Star Plus show Music Ka Maha Muqqabla, where she was part of the winning team "Shankar's Rockstars" led by Shankar Mahadevan.

She rose to prominence after recording "Ishq Wala Love" for Student of the Year (2012), ultimately winning the Filmfare R. D. Burman Award for New Music Talent and was nominated for the Best Female Playback Singer for "Jiya Re" from Jab Tak Hai Jaan (2012).

Mohan made her Bollywood debut with the Vishal–Shekhar-composed Student of the Year (2012), where she performed the soft-ballad "Ishq Wala Love", along with Salim Merchant and Shekhar Ravjiani.

She was next heard in the peppy track "Jiya Re" from Jab Tak Hai Jaan which was composed by A. R. Rahman.

Mohan believed that Rahman called her for recording the song, since she has shown "a lot of spirit" in the shows she did with him, and the song features a girl—played by Anushka Sharma—enacting the song "very spunky".

Koimoi's Shivi mentioned that Mohan's "refreshing voice delivers the track with lot of enthusiasm and variations".

Though "Ishq Wala Love" was released earlier, Mohan's first recorded Hindi song was "Jiya Re".

both songs were declared chartbusters upon release.

Her rendition of six jazz tracks in the soundtrack album of Amit Trivedi's Bombay Velvet (2015) received positive review from music critics.

The following year, she received her second nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer for the song "Sau Aasmaan" from Baar Baar Dekho (2016).

In that year, Mohan appeared as a coach in the 1st season of The Voice India Kids and the second season of The Voice India.

Besides her career in music, she has also been involved in various charities and social causes.

Neeti Mohan was born in Delhi.

Her father, Brij Mohan Sharma, is a government officer and her mother, Kusum, is a homemaker.

Neeti Mohan is the eldest of four sisters; Shakti Mohan, Mukti Mohan and Kriti Mohan.

Mohan began learning music at the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya.

During the time, she was involved in dramatics and dancing; considering singing as a "serious hobby".

During her school days, Mohan was part of the school band, and participated in Delhi Republic Day parade for five years in a row.

Convinced by her father, Mohan participated in many extra-curricular activities during her school; singing, dancing, performing in the band and theatre.

She was adjudged best cadet in the National Cadet Corps of India and represented India as Youth Exchange Programme cadet.

Later, she learnt music formally at the Bhatkhande Music Institute and continued training in Mumbai with Rajashree Pathak, for five years.

Apart from training in singing, Mohan studied dancing with her two sisters.

She trained in Bharata Natyam and Kathak under the supervision of Ashley Lobo.

Besides training kids to dance, Mohan worked as an instructor there.

Mohan graduated in philosophy from Miranda House, University of Delhi.

She tied the knot with actor Nihaar Pandya on 15 February 2019.

The couple announced their first pregnancy on 15 February 2021 on their second wedding anniversary

In a candid interview with TV host Amin Dhillon that has gone viral with over 400K views, Mohan shared the untold story on how A. R. Rahman discovered her.