Sunidhi Chauhan

Sunidhi Chauhan (pronounced ; born Nidhi Chauhan, 14 August 1983) is an Indian playback singer.

Known for her versatile singing style, Chauhan possesses a high Octave vocal range, and has the ability to reach lower octaves and dropping notes with transition.

She has received several awards including two Filmfare Awards.

Sunidhi Chauhan was born on 14 August 1983, in New Delhi, India into a Rajput family.

Her father, Dushyant Kumar Chauhan, who is from Uttar Pradesh, is a theatre personality at the Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra.

Her mother, a homemaker, influenced Chauhan to pursue a career in music.

She also has a younger sister.

At the age of four, Chauhan started performing at competitions and local gatherings, subsequently convinced by her father's friends to take singing seriously.

During that time, she was doing live shows and trained herself with "regular riyaaz by listening to cassettes and CDs of popular numbers".

She did her studies from Greenway Modern School and used to stay with her family members in Dilshad Garden, Delhi.

She discontinued her studies right after schooling to pursue a career in the music industry.

She said: "I quit because I did not feel like studying. I made the decision to pursue my dream as a singer and I don't regret it one bit".

When actress Tabassum spotted her, she made her sing live in her show Tabassum Hit Parade and asked her family to shift to Mumbai.

She then introduced Chauhan to Kalyanji Virji Shah and Anandji Virji Shah.

Upon meeting, Kalyanji changed her name from Nidhi to Sunidhi as he felt that it is a lucky name.

When she was 11, her dad quit his job and brought her to Mumbai.

Initially, the family had financial difficulties in adjusting life to the city.

After that she worked in Kalyanji's academy for few years and became the lead singer in his "Little Wonders" troupe.

She was then offered with many shows, though her father insisted on singing for films.

In 1995, Chauhan performed at the 40th Filmfare Awards with the group "Little Wonders", when late music director Aadesh Shrivastava heard her and recorded her voice for the film, Shastra.

She made her career debut at the age of eleven, with the song "Ladki Deewani Dekho" from the film, alongside Udit Narayan.

During the year, she won the first singing reality show on DD National titled Meri Awaz Suno, where she was honoured with the "Lata Mangeshkar Trophy" for the best female singer of India.

Besides, she recorded her first solo album, Aira Gaira Nathu Khaira which was ultimately promoted as a children's album.

Chauhan then realised her "limitations" and got formal training in classical singing from Gautam Mukherjee.

For the next two years, she worked as a background vocalist.

Chauhan met singer Sonu Nigam, who recommended her to Sandeep Chowta.

Born in Delhi, she began performing at local gatherings at the age of 5 and made her career debut at the age of 13, with the film Shastra (1996).

During the year, she won the first singing reality show titled Meri Awaz Suno and rose to prominence after recording "Ruki Ruki Si Zindagi" from Mast (1999).

It won her Filmfare RD Burman Award for New Music Talent and was nominated for the Best Female Playback Singer.

She is known for her versatility as a vocalist.

Her second breakthrough was released in 2000, with the song "Mehboob Mere" from Fiza, for which she received another Filmfare nomination.

Sunidhi received her third Filmfare nomination with the song "Dhoom Machale" from Dhoom (2004) followed by two more nominations during the next year for "Kaisi Paheli" and "Deedar De" from Parineeta and Dus (2005).

In 2006, she was bestowed with her first Filmfare award for her rendition of the song "Beedi" from Omkara and further two nominations for "Soniye" from Aksar and "Aashiqui Main" from 36 China Town.

The following year, Chauhan recorded the title song of Aaja Nachle (2007) and "Sajnaaji Vaari", both critically and commercially well received.

Chauhan received her twelfth Filmfare nomination with "Chor Bazaari" of Love Aaj Kal (2009) preceded by "Dance Pe Chance" from Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (2008).

In 2010, she received her second Filmfare award with the item song "Sheila Ki Jawani" (2010) and was nominated for international styled carnival song "Udi" from Guzaarish (2010).

The year marked her International singing debut, where she was featured in an alternate version of the song "Heartbeat" by Enrique Iglesias.

Apart from playback singing, Chauhan has appeared as a judge on several television reality shows and she also appears in music videos.

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

She has appeared four times in Forbes Celebrity 100 of India (2012–2015).