Sunidhi Chauhan (born 14 August 1983) is an Indian playback singer. Born in Delhi, she began performing in 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).

Sunidhi Chauhan was born on 14 August 1983, in New Delhi, India. 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.

Some of this article’s listed sources may not be reliable. Please help this article by looking for better, more reliable sources. Unreliable citations may be challenged or deleted.  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. During the time, Chowta was working as the music director for Ram Gopal Varma’s film Mast (1999). Within two weeks time, Chauhan was signed to lend her voice for the film’s song where she recorded the title track along with “Ruki Ruki Si Zindagi” and “Suna Tha”. For the song “Ruki Ruki Si”, she won the RD Burman award, at the Annual Filmfare awards, and was nominated for the Best Female Playback Singer, at the same ceremony. By the end of the year, she worked with Anand–Milind for Jaanwar and with Shrivastava for two films: Dahek and Bade Dilwala.

Chauhan’s second breakthrough was released in 2000, where she collaborated with composer-singer Anu Malik, for the song “Mehboob Mere” from Fiza which was picturised on Sushmita Sen. She considered the track that came to her the “most naturally”, as recording of the song was completed in 15 minutes. Chauhan received another Filmfare nomination for Best Female Playback Singer for “Mehboob Mere”. She was also heard in Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy-composed folksy flavoured “Bumbro” from Mission Kashmir, which was promoted from being a “background song into the foreground” because of “its beauty”. The director of the film, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, wanted an innocent voice for the song when he roped Chauhan to sing for Preity Zinta. According to Chopra, “Chauhan could sound very girlish. So she sang the song with that slightly broken voice.”