Sunidhi Chauhan – the dashing singer of bollywood.
Born in 1983, Sunidhi Chauhan got a break in the film Shastra with the song “ladki diwani”. She amazed the viewers with her dashing style of singing in the film Mast, with the song “ruki ruki yeh zindagi”. It never matched with any of the traditional singers and composers found a female voice who could improvise for any type of song.
She sang the English song “reach out” in the Opening Ceremony of 2006 Asian Games at Doha, Qatar. She had always being given challenging songs which did not require sweetness to that extent but related to the folk effect or the intoxicating effect or had rural appeal. She was excellent in her performance in the film Chameli with the song “sajna ve sajna”.
With passage of time composers used her in westernized creations like the one in the film Dhoom 2. Her song “crazy kiya re” had both the strength of the voice and also the punch required in the intonation to bring out the appeal of the lyrics in the song. She sang for all the leading actresses of bollywood films in her short career including Aishwarya Rai, Kareena Kapoor, Rani Mukherjee and others.
All the songs she sang in the film Dhoom 2, including the song “dhoom machale” picturised on Aishwarya Rai became super hits. Her song in the film Parineeta was also challenging, the song “kaisi paheli zindagani”. She had displayed the type of songs being sung in Pubs in Park Street in Kolkata like Moulin Rouge, where bar singers used to entertain the local people in the late 18th century.
She started getting different types of awards from 2004, including Star Screen award for best female playback singer in 2004 for the song “sajna ve sajna” in the film Chameli. In 2005, she got the IIFA award for the best playback singer for the song “dhoom machale” in the film Dhoom 2. In 2006, she got the Star Screen award for the best female playback singer for the song “beedi jalaile” in the film Omkara. She also the filmfare award for the best female playback singer also for the same song.
She had become an automatic choice for challenging songs for all the leading composers of bollywood films. Shankar Ehsaan Loy had used her in the song “dharak dharak” in the film Bunty Aur Babli, picturised on Rani Mukherjee. Her hit songs include “deedar de” from the film Dus, “”ishq samundar” from Kaante, “”cash meri aankhon me” from the film Cash, “chaliya” in the film Tashan, “Race sansonki” in the film Race, “Lucky Boy” in the film Bacchna Ay Haseeno. The list can go on.
Sunidhi Chauhan had increased the variety of bollywood songs in the last few years and had created her identity in the list of successful female singers like Alka Yagnik, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Shreya Ghoshal, Alisha Chinoy, and others. The listeners expect her to continue the good work and experiment with her voice even more in the future.
