artistsfaqs.com

A Curated Pool of India’s finest Entertainers & Performing Artists across live industry!

[artistsfaqs]

Neha Kakkar

#Singer #Performer

Neha Kakkar is one of the finest and emerging Indian playback singer. She is a multi talented girl as she is also a superb dancer and actress too. She is a very fine performer and rocks the stage with her amazing talent of singing and dancing. She also earned the title of Rock Star and Indian Shakira from her fans and followers. She is very much popular these days, therefore, people are very much curious to know about her favorite singer Neha Kakkar biography in detail. She has won the hearts of her fans with her amazing and superb stage performances. She is the powerhouse of talent as she has an ultimate combination of dancing and singing. She has around millions of fans on social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook who wants to know each and every single detail related to her. Neha Kakkar favorite actor is Shahrukh Khan.

Neha Kakkar is a versatile Bollywood singer and her sister Sonu Kakkar is the real inspiration for her. No one can imagine that a little girl who sang Bhajans in Jagraatas will be a future pop star of India. Her singing is totally different from her childhood times and she can sing any song of different genres. She started her career by participating in a singing reality show “Indian Idol 2” in 2006. At that time, she was in 11th standard. Neha Kakkar Indian Idol 2 performances were praised by everyone. But unfortunately, she did not win the title of Indian Idol 2 and eliminated from this singing reality show at 10th position.

Neha Kakkar launched her album “Neha – The Rock Star” in 2008. This was Neha Kakkar first albums and the music was composed by Meet brothers. At that time, people also started making gossips on Neha Kakkar love affairs as she got so much fame from her debut album. Neha Kakkar debut album has 8 different songs and she has sung a solo English song in this album. Continue reading this article to know more about Neha Kakkar Bollywood songs list in detail. She also participated in “Comedy Circus Ke Taansen” on Sony TV.

Singer Neha Kakkar started her singing career in Bollywood movies from the “Jail” movie in 2009. She has sung “Bareilly Ke Bazaar Mein Remix” song in this movie. This was Neha Kakkar first Bollywood song. She has sung the title track of the movie “Blue (theme)” in 2009. She has also done playback singing with Sukhwinder Singh in a song “Hai Rama” for the film “Meerabai Not Out” in 2009. She has sung the title track of popular television serial “Na Aana Is Des Laado” on Colors in the same year.

After one year, singer Neha Kakkar has sung a song “Woh Ek Pal” for the movie “Not a Love Story” in 2011. Then the year 2012 brought a lot of success for her. Neha Kakkar Party Da Mood song was on everyone’s tongue in 2012. It was a Punjabi song. Neha Kakkar and Tony Kakkar have sung this song very beautifully.

Then she sang a super-hit and blockbuster song “Second Hand Jawani” with Miss Pooja for “Cocktail” movie in 2012. She became very much popular with this song. There were different publishers which published Neha Kakkar hot pics on the front page of their magazines and there was also a buzz in the B-town that Neha Kakkar was dating with someone at that time. Later, she has sung a song “SRK Anthem” in 2012. SRK loved this song and also thanked her. “Shahrukh Khan Anthem” by Neha Kakkar was getting a superb response on YouTube.

[artistsfaqs]

Manj Musik

#Singer #Performer

Manjeet Singh Ral better known by his stage-name Manj Musik, is an Indian singer, songwriter and music producer. He was the former lead vocalist and music composer for the Punjabi music group RDB which he formed with his two brothers, Surjeet Singh and Kuljeet Ral in 1997.

He later split from the group, and went on to produce solo singles. He has also begun to produce music in Bollywood, and has worked with established actors such as Saif Ali Khan, Shahrukh Khan and Akshay Kumar amongst others.

He started his musical journey with RDB group singing at the gurudwara, he used to assist his father with his brothers in performing in front of the community at their local gurudwara. This give him a great understanding of musical creativity. He actually got involved in music because of his brother Kuljeet Ral (Kuli Paji). He used to sit day and night and watch his brother messing with software and machines.

[artistsfaqs]

Monali Thakur

#Singer #Performer

Monali Thakur comes from a musical family, her father Shakti Thakur, Bengali, renowned Bengali singer and her sister Mehuli Thakur is also a playback singer. She was trained in Hindustani classical music underPandit Jagdish Prasad and Pandit Ajoy Chakraborty. She has learnt hip-hop and Bharatanatyam and is also a trained Salsa dancer.

Thakur got her start by singing in school and college competitions and performing at local functions, and received the Best Playback Singer award at the Anandalok Awards for the serial Sri Ramkrishnawhen she was 14. She rose to popularity after placing ninth in Indian Idol 2.

She had to struggle a lot hard even after Indian Idol to get a strong foothold in the music industry. Finally, she got an offer to sing for music director Pritam Chakraborty to sing two songs for the Bollywood film Race in 2008 – "Khwab Dekhe (Sexy lady)" and "Zara Zara Touch Me". She was originally scheduled for only one song, but her first recording impressed the film's directors Abbas – Mustan enough for them to book her a second. "Zara Zara Touch Me" was enormously successful, becoming the fourth-most-played song on Indian radio during the first half of 2008. She also got nominated for an IIFA Award for Best Female Playback and an Apsara Award for Best Female Playback Singer for the song "Zara Zara Touch Me".

She was a judge in the Bengali music reality show Bengali Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Li'l Champs for two years. She also appeared in the Bengali show Key Hobe Biggest Fan and was part of Coke Studio.

Monali won Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer for song 'Sawaar Loon' from the film 'Lootera' for year 2013 ( on 24 January 2014)

[artistsfaqs]

Sixto Rodriguez

#International #Band

Sixto Diaz Rodriguez is a Mexican-American folk musician, born on July 10, 1942 in Detroit, Michigan. In most of his songs he takes a political stance on the cruelties facing the inner city poor.

In 1966 he released the single entitled “I’ll Slip Away” through the small record label Impact. He did not produce anything for another three years until he was signed with Sussex Records. Rodriguez recorded two albums with Sussex- Cold Fact in 1970, and Coming from Reality in 1971. But after mixed reviews and low album sales he was dropped from the label, which later folded in 1975.

Sixto registered and ran for city council in Detroit. The county spelled his name wrong on the ballot. After failing to make an impact in North America, he gave up his career as a musician. However, although he was relatively unknown in his home country, by the mid-’70s his albums were starting to gain airplay in South Africa, New Zealand and Australia.

After imported copies of his Sussex albums ran dry, an Australian record label, Blue Goose Music, bought the Australian rights to his back catalogue in the mid-’70s. The label released his two studio albums plus a compilation album “At His Best” (featuring unreleased recordings from 1976 “Can’t Get Away”, “I’ll Slip Away, and “Street Boy”). Unbeknownst to Rodriguez, it went platinum in South Africa, where he achieved cult status. South Africa at one stage was the major disk-press interest supplying his music to the rest of the world.

With a new buzz around Rodriguez, in 1979 he toured Australia with the Mark Gillespie Band as support. Two shows from the tour were later released on the Australian-only album Alive—the title being a play on the rumours caused by his public obscurity that he had died years ago. After the ’79 tour, he returned to Australia for a final tour in 1981 with Midnight Oil before quietly slipping back into normal life, gaining a degree in philosophy while working as a demolition man. He earned a bachelor of arts in philosophy from Wayne State University’s Monteith College in 1981.

In 1991, both of his albums were released on CD in South Africa for the first time. His fame in South Africa was completely unknown to him, until 1998 when his eldest daughter came across the website dedicated to him. In 1998, he played his first South African tour, playing six concerts in front of thousands of fans. A documentary about the tour “Dead Men Don’t Tour: Rodriguez in South Africa 1998″ was screened on SABC TV in 2001. Later he played Sweden before returning to South Africa in 2001 and 2005.

Rodriguez’s albums Cold Fact and Coming from Reality were re-released by Light in the Attic Records in 2009. Rodriguez appeared as a musical guest on the Late Show With David Letterman on August 14, 2012. Also in mid-August 2012, CNN aired a feature story with interview of Rodriguez discussing his life and career resurgence.

On September 3, 2012, Labor Day in the United States, journalist Stephen Robert Morselaunched a Change.org petition to have Rodriguez awarded a Kennedy Center Honor.

In 2012, the Sundance Film Festival hosted the premiere of the documentary film Searching for Sugar Man, from Swedish director Malik Bendjelloul, detailing the efforts of two South African fans to see if his rumored death was true—and if not, to discover what had become of him. The Simon Chinn- and John Battsek-produced documentary went on to win the World Cinema Special Jury Prize and the Audience Award, World Cinema Documentary. In February, 2012, the film played at the True/False Documentary Film festival in Columbia, Missouri and director Malik Bendjelloui was in attendance and did an extended Q & A after the film. The film opened the 2012 Traverse City Film Festival on July 31. The film opened in New York and Los Angeles on July 27, 2012. It is also screened as part of cinema programs in some European music festivals during the summer of 2012, including the Way Out West festival in August, where Rodriguez is also scheduled to perform. In July 2012 he performed at the Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island.

The Searching for Sugar Man soundtrack features a compilation of Rodriguez tracks from his Cold Fact and Coming from Reality albums. The album was released on July 24, 2012.

On January 13, 2013, Searching for Sugar Man was nominated for and, on February 24, 2013, won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 85th Academy Awards

[artistsfaqs]

Donn Bhat + Passenger Revelator

#Band

Donn Bhat is a genre-defying, live experimental electronica producer and composer. He has been a known face and name in the Indian independent music scene since the release of his debut album in 2006.

Since the beginning of his musical career, Donn Bhat’s music has been featured on various platforms, including the MTV television series Bring On The Night. In 2011, he was featured as the BBC artist of the month on the Bobby Friction show aired in the UK. His versatile musical abilities have also seen him compose music for popular Bollywood films, including a song for the film Vicky Donor, Mar Jaiyan.

In October 2014, Donn Bhat released his sophomore album, Passenger Revelator, an 11-track record that features collaborations with various musicians. These include Baul singer Malabika Brahma, for the song 107, and the electronic musician and vocalist Ashhar Farooqui, aka Toymob who sings the song Stars Align, which became a huge hit and has received much radio play since its release in 2013.

Donn Bhat followed up the release of Passenger Revelator with his first-ever music video, for the song Disco Disco. The video was selected for the Music Video category at the prestigious SXSW Festival.

After releasing his music online for years, in 2013 Donn Bhat put together a band to take his music live with an extended setup. He has played innumerable gigs across the country and won a number of fans in the process. In June 2015 he took his performance internationally where he performed in Reunion Island and then later at Glastonbury, one of the most prestigious music festivals in the world.

He is currently recording his upcoming EP titled ‘Connected’ which is due for release in early October 2015.

[artistsfaqs]

Zulfiqar Khan Sabri

#Singer #Performer #Ghazal

Zulfiqar Khan Sabri, one of the finest ghazal singer, has a silken voice drenched with the sweetness and true to the swaras. Zulfiqar got the best ghazal singer, sufi singer award in Oasis Bitts Pilani in 1987. He delivered enumerous amount of shows, Ghazal Nights, and solo concerts.He performed for various Corporate clients such as Swardhorar, Airtel, Hindustan Times. Zulfikar Ahmed Khan,  shows true and amazingly powerful colors of his ustad. Ustad Abdul Aziz, grandson of late Shri Bade Ghulam Ali Khan- one of the main exponest of the Patiala Gharana. And 2nd Ustaad Fareed Ahmed Khan from Kirana Gharana learning to classical music thumri and Ghazal.  His ecstatic love for music was encouraged by his family, specially his elder brother. And Mother he has sung and has grown up listening to Indian Classical music and ghazals of Mehandi Hassan Saheb and Jagjit Singh Ji. Being a passionate listener he never missed an opportunity to listen and learn from ghazals and sufiana songs.

[artistsfaqs]

Papon

#Singer #Performer

Papon (ANGARAAG MAHANTA) - a multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer and singer has become one of the most recognizable-and-sought-after voices in India. While rooted in folk, Papon has a wide variety of influences and considered to be an extremely versatile artist.

Papon was born to a set of brilliant musicians of Assam and was introduced to music and its intricacies at a very early age. His mother ARCHANA MAHANTA and father Late KHAGEN MAHANTA were two very popular and respected musicians of the region. Coming from a musically attuned family, Music has always been in his blood. His inspirations came from the wide array of sound that he has been exposed to – i.e. from the traditional Folk songs of Eastern India to Ghazals to new-age Electronica.

His initial training has been in Indian classical and traditional music (devotional and folk) from Assam. His innovative experiments are rich with ambient electronica, acoustic folk, electro ghazals to classical sounds. Blessed with a voice that’s smooth and soulful at the same time, Papon has managed to carve a niche for himself as a versatile singer and composer. He can easily switch fromfolk music to ghazals to electronica and it’s no surprise that he’s a name to reckon with in the music scene in India.

Coke Studio India

Papon’s popularity and legend grew after his appearances on all three seasons of Coke Studio India. Considered the find of Coke Studio India Season 1, Papon left an indelible impression on music fans as a composer in Season 2 and 3. In Season 2, Papon sang for highly acclaimed British Asian music composer Nitin Sawhney and received rave reviews for his performance. Season 3 saw Papon emerge as a force to reckon with in the indie sphere when his compositions quickly became popular hits. Papon is also a producer of Coke Studio@MTV season 4 for 2015.

Papon’s composition ‘Tauba’ with singer Benny Dayal has 5 lacs plus views on YouTube and was one of the most popular songs from Season 3. Having been involved in all three seasons of the show, Papon have grown with Coke Studio @ MTV initiative.

Collaborations

Papon’s long-standing collaboration with pioneering producers Midival Punditz have led to songs he’s co-composed like Har Ek Baat and Naina Laagey finding their way to Bollywood film Soundtrack. Papon has collaborated with renowned composer-multi instrumentalist Karsh Kale on the trackAbsence for Karsh’s fifth studio album Cinema. With Sushmit Sen (of Indian Ocean) he has collaborated on the track The Voyage on his first solo album Depths of The Ocean. Papon also has collaborated with percussionist Bickram Ghosh and rising Scottish singer-songwriter Rachel Sermanni, over a project called Troikala rooted in contemporary folk and an initiative of The British Council, India; they’ve performed in India, in the UK (South Bank Center, London) and in Celtic Connections, Glasgow, 2014).

Bollywood

In the last couple of years, Papon has quickly carved a niche for himself in the world of playback singing. Papon’s first few tracks in Bollywood were Har Ek Baat and Naina Laagey, the ones he had collaborated with Midival Punditz, for film Soundtrack(2011). He has also sung tracks like Jiyein Kyun for the film Dum Maaro Dum (2011) and Zindagi Aisi Waisi for I Am Kalam(2011).His rendition of Kyon in Anurag Basu-directed Barfi! (2012) won him applause and accolades alike. 2013 has seen Papon add more hits to his name like Kaun Mera in Special 26 (2013) and Maula Sun Le Re and Khud Se from the John Abraham-starrer Madras Café (2013).  In Laxmi - movie by Nagesh Kukunoor, Papon has sung the song Sun Re Baavli. In the movie Bobby Jassos Papon sang a duet with Shreya Ghosal. The most recent ones are in the movies Happy Ending, Baby, Hawaizaada, Dum Laga Ke Haisa, Humari Adhuri Kahani, Bajrangi Bhaijaan etc.

Papon hasn’t restricted himself to just Hindi playback singing…he sang for a Tamil movie – Hey forVanakkam Chennai(2013) – and also in Marathi and Bangla movies –a duet with Shreya Ghoshal for a film called Buno Haansh, Jonaki in Lorai etc.

TV Shows

Papon featured on the critically acclaimed original TV series The Dewarists – Season Icollaborating with music icon Rabbi Shergill over the track Khule Da Rabb in 2011. In the Dewarist Season II, Papon was again invited to collaborate with Karsh Kale, Carl Barat from Britain, Scottish musician Ross Ainslie and guitarist Warren Mendonsa from India in December 2012. In 2014, Dewarist 4, Papon has sung the song composed by Shantanu Moitra. Papon has composed the title track/ theme song for the programme MTV Roadies (Season10, 2013). He was featured in Indian Idol Junior this year to encourage a young singer by singing along…the same young singer won the Indian Idol Junior 2013 title. For Big Boss Bangla final (2013) on ETV Bangla, Papon has produced and performed a song with Kartik Das Baul and Anushree.

In 2014, Papon produced a full episode of MTV Unplugged

Music Albums

Papon released his debut Hindi album The Story So Far in 2012 through Times Music. Papon has seven Assamese albums to his name – two original albums Jonaaki Raati (2004), Sinaki Osinaaki (2009) and five folk albums - Rong Phool (2008), Gomseng (2010), Phoolseng (2011) which are all Bihu albums and as well as a Holi album Phagunar Gaan (2010). He has released his latest album, Kirili (2014) inspired by the festivities of Bihu.

Awards

“The Story So far” album was released by TIMES Music in Jan 2012 and won the GIMA in the Best POP Album category, 2012. Papon has received two awards at the JD Rock Awards, 2013 -‘Best Male Vocalist’ and ‘Best Song’ for the feisty folk track Boitha Maro Re from his acclaimed debut Hindi album ‘The Story So Far”. In GIMA 2015, Papon again won the Best POP Album for his episode of CokeStudio Season3 songs

Papon was declared the best male singer award in the ‘Prag Cine awards’ 2012, for the title songRamdhenu in the Assamese movie Raamdhenu. In 2015 Prag Cine Awards, Papon is awarded the Global Icon Award.

At the prestigious IIFA, 2014 at Tampa Bay, Florida, USA, Papon also performed as a singer with music director Pritam’s troupe.

Papon and the East India Company (EIC)

In 2007, Papon formed his folk-fusion band “Papon and The East India Company”.

Along with Papon, the band consists of a Bassist, a Guitarist, a Drummer, a World Percussionist and a Keyboardist.

The band has performed live almost at all the music festivals in India, namely the SAARC Bands Festival in New Delhi, the Eastwind Festival, the Kovalam Literary Festival, the October Fest in Bangalore & Hyd, NH7 Weekender in Pune, Bangalore, Kol & Delhi, Sulafest – Nashik, MAD Fest Ooty, Windsong – Goa, STORM fest Coorg & Bangalore, Kasauli Rhythm & Blues Festival etc…

Papon & The EIC also performed at the du WORLD MUSIC FESTIVAL in Dubai. The festival saw performances from Italian singer-song writer/ multi instrumentalist classical soloist Andrea Bocelli, GRAMMY Winner Natalia Cole, Australian Jazz Fusion Guitarist Frank Gambale, famous American rock band Guns & Roses and also Indian bands as Raghu Dixit, Soulmate etc.

In Jan 2014, Papon & the EIC performed 3 live performances at the prestigious Celtic Connections, Glasgow, Scotland.

In July 2014, Papon and the EIC also have toured US and have performed 2 gigs in New Jersey and 1 gig in San Fransisco.

In Oct – Nov 2014, the band toured Europe performing 3 shows in The Netherlands (in Amsterdam, in Rotterdam & in The Hague at the closing of India-Holland festival,’14) and followed by a performance at the prestigious Dom Omladine, Belgrade, Serbia

Some of the other international festivals wherein they Papon had performed in the past are Paleomusic fest in Switzerland, Java Jazz  Festival in Jakarta, Oslo World Music Festival, Norway.

[artistsfaqs]

Vir Das Alien Chutney

#Band #Singer #Performer #Comedy

Vir Das' Alien Chutney is a comedy rock band from Mumbai, formed sometime around 2006. Fronted by comedian Vir Das (vocals), the band comprises Warren Mendonsa (Blackstratblues, Zero) on guitar, Sidd Coutto (Helga's Fun Castle, Zero, Tough on Tobacco) on drums, Kaizad Gherda (keyboards) and Gaurav Gupta (Tough on Tobacco, Ankur & The Ghalat Family) on bass. The group has performed sold-out shows across several venues in the country including Mumbai's Blue Frog, Delhi's Lodhi Gardens, India Habitat Center and on Star World's New Year Special R.I.P.ping the Decade with Vir Das. Alien Chutney is currently working on recording their debut live album BOM IN LIVE BAY, slated to release later this year. It is intended to be a high energy, comedy experience with strong musical chops.

Alien Chutney was a by-product of one of Vir Das’s comedy shows, ‘Walking on Broken Das’. Receiving favorable reviews for his attempt to combine and present comedy and music in his show, he decided to turn this into a full-fledged project. Today Alien Chutney regularly performs numerous shows around the country. Musically, the band creates and presents songs with bold lyrics in a variety of genres such as blues, punk, metal, pop and rock. They also indulge in improvisations, both in music and conversations among themselves and the audience. Their lyrical content takes a swing at a diverse range of topics, some of them controversial, but all in good spirit, of course.

[artistsfaqs]

Shaa'ir and Func

#Band

Labeled an Ambassador of “The New India”, Monica Sharma Dogra is a Maryland raised musician, daughter of Kashmiri immigrants, who grew up listening to Hindu devotional songs, ghazals, and the Bollywood hits of Lata Mangeshkar. After winning a competition at the age of 16, she debuted at Carnegie Hall and then went on to graduate from NYU’s prestigious music performance program – which catapulted her to appear in the New York Theatre Circuit doing both plays and musicals. She then found herself in India, while taking a sabbatical from recording a pop solo-project with Sony Music and Grammy Award winning Andre Bettes in New York City, best known for producing Madonna’s Immaculate Collection.

As a solo artist, Monica Sharma Dogra, whom fans also know as Shaa’ir, is a spoken word performer, singer, dancer, actor, as well as a clothing designer. She has been referred to by The Hindustan Times as the “Face of Indian Indie”, as well as been named People Magazine India’s 50 Most Beautiful, Elle Magazine India’s Woman of Tomorrow, and even managed to stretch as far as Maxim’s Hot 100.

[artistsfaqs]

Anushka Manchanda

#Singer #Performer

Discovered on one of the first and most explosive reality shows in India just before she turned 18, Anushka Manchanda is a brand of musician who is fiercely individualistic and ever evolving.

Born into a family who loves their rock and roll, she started playing the piano at a very early age. She was picked from thousands of girls across the country to be a part of VIVA, India’s most successful, all-girl band which sold over half a million copies of their first album. Her connect with the youth led Channel [V] to sign her on as a VJ, with whom she travelled all over the country shooting for and hosting music based shows. Her affair with television continued, and she won the second season of the celebrity version of Fear Factor-Khatron Ke Khiladi. Her love for motorcycles also led to her hosting Mtv’s Stuntmania.

Launched into the Bollywood playback scene with her first super hit song Golmaal, she was hailed as the voice of the new generation and has worked with the hottest music directors in the country from Vishal-Shekhar, Salim-Suleiman, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy to Jigar-Sachin, Pritam and Amit Trivedi.

She has always experimented with sound, and has collaborated with several Indian and international musicians, Djs and producers like Chicane, Akcent, Ma Faiza, Anish Sood, Nanok, Ashvin Mani Sharma and Ash Roy (previously Jalebee Cartel) and Mikey Mc Cleary and is also the voice behind advertisements for brands like Vodafone, Levis, Lakme, Sony, Nokia, Dove and Nivea, voicing the adverts with her unique husky texture and dubbing for jingles both.

Always on the list as one of the best dressed women in the country, fashion magazines and websites constantly write about her style. Described by the media as the rockstar of the nation, Anushka has built a very unique place for herself in the Indian entertainment scene. Having recently returned from New York post a course in music production, she is getting ready for her next musical phase.

An absolute livewire on stage, she leaves audiences gasping at her high energy performances. She has been known to perform night after night without the tiniest drop in her power packed presentation.

Now Anushka Manchanda finds herself in front of the camera in a new avatar as an actor. The upcoming film titled Angry Indian Goddesses directed by Pan Nalin premieres at the prestigious Toronto Film Festival 2015 and is getting ready for its India release.

Currently she travels the country and the world doing what she loves to do best.

[artistsfaqs]

Neeraj Sridhar

#SInger #Performer

Neeraj started working as a Bollywood playback singer in 2006 with the song "Tumko Dekha" for the film God Tussi Great Ho starring Salman Khan and Priyanka Chopra, although this film got released later. In the year 2006 his songs "Halke Halke" in Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd. and "Bhagam Bhaag" from Bhagam Bhaag were huge hits, which opened all the doors for him to be successful in Bollywood as well. The video of the song "Bhagam Bhaag" was the most expensive Bollywood video produced.[citation needed]

After this, Neeraj tasted a huge amount of continuous success in Bollywood. Right from the beginning of 2007, he delivered hits like "Ticket To Hollywood" (Jhoom Barabar Jhoom), "Heyy Babyy" (Heyy Babyy), "Ishq Subhanallah" (Mere Baap Pehle Aap), "Ishq Ka Kalma" (Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal), and the biggest of them all "Bhool Bhulaiyaa" (Bhool Bhulaiyaa), commonly known as "Hare Raam Hare Raam." This Akshay Kumar star song was the biggest hit of the year and was nominated for the Filmfare Awards with the songs "Ticket To Hollywood" and "Heyy Baby." Neeraj also co-wrote the song "Bhool Bhulaiya" with Sameer.

Success continued when Neeraj gave hit after hit. Soon he gained the experience of working with almost all the main Bollywood music directors. Till date he has worked with Sajid-Wajid, Salim-Sulaiman, Pritam, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Vishal-Shekhar, Nadeem-Shravan, Anu Malik, Sandesh Shandilya, Aashish Pandit, and many more. He has mostly worked with Pritam. Although he has never worked with Salim-Sulaiman on a Bollywood song, he worked with them for the song of the famous television reality show Khatron Ke Khiladi, the Indian version of Fear Factor.

In 2008, Neeraj had all of his songs superhits. He sang the following songs for their respective films: 'Race Saanson Ki', 'Race Is On My Mind' and 'Sexy Lady' (Race), 'Chandni Chowk To China' (Chandni Chowk To China), 'Love Mera Hit', and 'Rockin' And Reelin' (Billu), 'Vacancy' and 'Tha Karke' (Golmaal Returns), 'Aai Paapi' (Kismat Konnection), 'O Re Lakad' (Krazzy 4), 'Nobody Like You' (Mission Istanbul), 'Bas Ek King' and 'Talli Hua' (Singh Is Kinng), 'Sooni Sooni Raahein' and 'Main Ro Na Padoon' (Hum Phir Mile Na Mile), 'Pom Pom Pom' (Horn OK PLeasss), 'Samandar' (Mr. White Mr. Black), 'Khalbali' and 'Bhuri Bhuri' (Khalbali). This year he sang for a number of Bollywood actors, such as Saif Ali Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Ajay Devgn, and Shahid Kapur. Neeraj sang a Telugu song called 'Om Namaste Bolo' from the film Ready, starring Genelia D'Souza. Neeraj wrote and sang the songs 'Ae Aa o' (Billu), 'Vacancy' (Golmaal Returns), and 'Aayaare' (Kolkata Knight Riders- 2 Hot 2 Cool).

Neeraj sang songs like ' Pal Yeh Aane Wala Pal' (Dhoondte Reh Jaaoge), 'Aaja Mahi' (8 x 10 Tasveer), Prem Ki Naiyya' (Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani), 'You Are My Love' (All The Best), 'Bebo' and 'Beautiful Woman' (Do Knot Disturb), 'Tension Lene Ka Nahi' (Jugaad), 'Jashn Hai Josh Hai' (Kal Kissne Dekha), 'Lakh Lakh Nakhre' (Kambakkht Ishq), 'Twist', 'Chor Bazari', and 'Aahun Aahun' (Love Aaj Kal), 'Tum Mile' (Tum Mile), 'Shiri Farhad' (Dulha Mil Gaya), 'Pe Pe Pein' (Chance Pe Dance).

In the year 2010, Neeraj slowed down on working on Bollywood songs, due to his involvement in his own album. Neeraj sang 'Mera Jeena Hai Kya' (Aashayein), which is altogether a different kind of song from what he had done in the past. Another recent song of his is the song 'Kya' from the Emran Hashmi-starrer film Crook: It's Good To Be Bad. This is his most recent hit. Neeraj also sang the songs 'Ale' and 'Desi Kali' of the film Golmaal 3, and 'Ajab Leher' of the film Break Ke Baad, starring Imran Khan and Deepika Padukone.

In 2011, Neeraj sang song like 'Rab Sab Se Sona' (F.A.L.T.U), 'Character Dheela' (Ready), 'Full Volume', 'Pyaar Mein' from (Thank You), 'Rascals', 'Parda Nasheen' from (Rascals), 'Jhak Maar Ke' from (Desi Boyz).

He received wide recognition after performing at Hans Raj College Festival "Confluence 2011" on 4 February 2011.

In 2012 Neeraj sang songs like 'Papa Toh Band Bajaye' (Housefull-2), 'I'll do the talking (steal the night)' in Agent Vinod and 'Tumhi Ho Bandhu' (Cocktail).

On 20 December 2012 he performed in Hyderabad during Qualcomm's annual event Qutumbotsav. On 21 December 2012, he performed in Pune during Cybage's Annual Bash at Magarpatta city. On 8 February 2014, he performed in Noida during Amity University's annual fest AYF.

[artistsfaqs]

Shilpa Rao

#Singer #Performer

The playback singer Hariharan arranged for Rao to study under his music teacher, Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan. After performing with Shankar Mahadevan in concert, she moved to Mumbai on his advice.

Although she started her career singing advertising jingles, Rao soon moved on to film music. In 2006 she recorded the song "Tosey Naina Lagey" for the movie Anwar and "Saiyaan Re" for the film Salaam-e-Ishq: A Tribute to Love. She went on to perform songs in films like The Train ("Woh Ajnabee"), Aamir ("Ek Lau"), Dev D ("Dhol Yaara Dhol", "Ranjhana"), Gulal ("Aisi Saaza").She has sung one Tamil song in Naan Mahaan Alla ("Oru Maalai Neram") for Yuvan Shankar Raja.She recently appeared on Star World's popular TV series "The Dewarists" in collaboration with "Agnee" and "Parikrama". She has also sung some Bengali songs mostly with Jeet Ganguly. She also Sung a Song Bekaboo from the Serial Navya.

An article published in the Hindustan Times in 2009 described her as one of the most prominent singers in the "wave" of "young, little-known singers" then sweeping through Bollywood. She is also a part of band, Band Called Nine, with lyricist Neelesh Misra and composer Amartya Rahut, working with traditional Indian craft of Qissa Goi (storytelling).In 2011, the band released its debut album, Rewind, consisting of songs and storytelling, put together with a narrative.

In 2012, Rao sang 'Yaariyaan' for Cocktail.The song got critical success and went on to became a chart-buster eventually.She ended the year 2012 by working with Academy Award winner A. R. Rahman for the song 'Ishq Shava' in Yash Chopra's last film Jab Tak Hai Jaan. The song was received well by the critics and public. In 2013, Rao sang 'Malang' – Dhoom 3 which gave her critical success. The song went on to become a rage and then a chart-buster. She also sang "Manmarziyan" a beautiful track composed by Amit Trivedi for the film Lootera. Rao also appeared on Indian Idol Junior and sang along with contestant Akash Sharma.

The year 2014 was a successful year for Rao. Her song "Meherbaan" from Bang Bang! was a chartbuster and got critical acclaim. She also sang for the Indian television serial, Diya Aur Baati Hum. The track was a sad version of the title track which was sung by Kailash Kher and Shubha Mudgal.

[artistsfaqs]

KK

#Singer #Performer

His friend, lyricist Mehboob, introduced him to music director Ismail Darbar when the latter was looking for singers for Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. "He did a few rehearsals and said, `Is ladke ko le lo. Ye bade dil se gaata hai'. After that I never looked back," he recalls with a smile. 

KK broke through onto the Bollywood circuit with Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam back in 1999. The song was 'Tadap Tadap' and it established this young singer as a voice to watch out for. Now KK is yet another voice in the Indian film music scene. His distinctly clear voice and excellent throw has made him Pritam, Vishal-Shekhar and other music director's favorite. Also, according to many, he is the new voice of India in the sense that almost all struggling singers want his voice. It is not easy to believe that singer KK, who can render with equal expertise a wide range of songs, from the soft and sorrowful "Awarapan, banjarapan" (Jism) to the high-pitched "Tadap tadap ke" (Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam), from the naughty "O' hum dum suniyo re" (Sathiya), to the romantic number "Tu aashiqui hai" (Jhankar Beats) or ajab si (Om Shanti Om), is exceptionally shy, especially when it comes to speaking to the media. Hearing his vast range, it is tough to believe that he had no formal training .. And that despite his popularity he remains extremely humble. KK says sheepishly, "I have grown up listening to Kishore Da, Rafi Sahab, Lata ji, and have always been very fond of the likes of Billy Joel, Bryan Adams and Leslie Lewis. I would listen to them endlessly and try to sing like them. My voice is God's greatest gift to me. People would often ask me in my office when I first took my nine-to-five job as a marketing executive in Delhi, `What are you doing here? You should be rocking on the stage'. It was my wife who egged me on to chuck the job and take up singing seriously. The day I quit, I felt as if a big burden was off my shoulders," he narrates. After after four months of office work, he reached Mumbai in the mid '90s. "I got an offer for a jingle from UTV to begin with. Then within a few days, I was doing jingles in five to six languages." But before Bollywood happened to him, he teamed up with Leslie Lewis and released the single ' Pal'. . And Leslie Lewis, who has worked with most of India's once-thriving pop singers, is a fabulous composer. This tune, which brought these two together and the result was magic. 'Pyar Ke Pal' is a ballad but one that is nothing like what we hear from Indian filmi music. It's soft, heartbreaking and mostly it is a beautiful melody that instantly catches one's attention. About his grounded attitude, he says, "I never think I am a star. I am just a singer. And some people help me stay grounded. For instance, I recently met Pandit Jasraj on a flight. He instantly recognised me and said, `Aap to bahut achcha gaate hain. Maine apke bahut gaane sune hain'. I felt extremely humbled. If he can say this to me despite his stature, can I ever think of being arrogant? Similarly I met an old gentleman recently. He held my hand and said, `Beta, tum mujhe Kishore(Kumar) da ki yad dilate ho.' It was so touching. All such experiences keep me grounded."

[artistsfaqs]

Prateek Kuhad

#Band

With the release of his EP, Raat Raazi, in 2013, Delhi-based singer-songwriter Prateek Kuhad instantly established himself as one of the most promising artists in the Indian independent music scene. Written completely in Hindi, Raat Raazi released to critical acclaim and featured complex and nuanced guitar work.

Prateek, with his unique blend of minimal, folk arrangements and pop rock melodies, effortlessly captures life’s complexities in his songs. Having performed at venues across New York, Prague, New Orleans and India, he has played at festivals such as the Bacardi NH7 Weekender (2012, 2013), Ziro Festival (2014) and more. Live, Prateek perfectly recreates the warmth and vulnerability that are a signature on his recordings, using his folk-pop sensibilities to forge an infrangible connection with the audience. Prateek recently released his much awaited debut album titled, In Tokens & Charms, on 21st January 2015.

[artistsfaqs]

Supreet Bedi

#Media #TV #Anchor

Spontaneous and dynamic in nature and an educationalist by profession; Supreet’s passion lies in the field of anchoring. She believes that competition brings out the best in her and pageants/contests gave her an opportunity to hone her capabilities and fight her limitations. Anchoring Kuoni Hotspots, a travel show that highlights international destinations, Supreet has experienced a variety of cultures, explored breathtaking places and met interesting people. With the ability to think on her feet and binding audience and an appreciable international exposure, Supreet has had both corporate and commercial hosting experiences that comprised working with top artists and cheering large gatherings. 7 years of TV anchoring brought with it enriching moments of celebrity interviews and live hosting where she had the pleasure of interacting with the biggest of Bollywood/Hollywood Stars. She strongly believes that life isn’t about being who you are, instead it is about creating who you want to be.

[artistsfaqs]

Badshah

#Singer #Performer

Aditya Prateek Singh Sisodia, better known by his stage name Badshah,is an Indian rapper. He has performed with Yo Yo Honey Singh with whom he launched his first track in 2006,His music has been featured in Bollywood soundtracks for films such as the 2014 film Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania and Sonam Kapoor starrer Khoobsurat(2014). He has also collaborated with artists such as Gippy Grewal, Diljeet Dosanjh, Manj Musik, Raftaar and Aastha Gill among others. His track "DJ Waley Babu" received 7 million views within a month of its release on YouTube .

[artistsfaqs]

Vikram Sathaye

#Standup #Comedian

After 6½ years as a media executive with organizations like PMG, MTV and Metalight Films, my time with PowerPoint and Excel was over when I realized Yana Gupta’s post tax income was higher than the CEO’s of most multinational company’s which made me wonder why I had wasted time studying Warren Buffet and Phillip Kotler when I should have aspired to emulate the careers of Rakhi Sawant and Poonam Pandey instead

Unfortunately I did not have the fixed assets to be in that business so I thought becoming an item number in the world of cricket was the best available alternative…the rest as they say is history …

The 2006 CEAT Cricket Awards and that amateurish You Tube video gave me my 8 minutes of fame and turned me into a standup comedian … My repertoire now includes everything from sports, politics, current affairs, Bollywood, to popular culture and solutions for marital disputes

My acts are co-written by my fellow Geologist and ex MTV colleague Suhail Bagdadi, better known in political and spiritual circles as ‘Baba Baghdadi’