Let's look closely into Sunidhi Chauhan's life, who envisioned a dream to be a singer at the age of 4, fulfilled it, faced hurdles in her personal life, yet shone bright like a star.
Sunidhi Chauhan is one of the much-loved singers in India. The singer, who started her career at the mere age of four, left no stone unturned to win hearts with her amazing singing skills. Throughout her career, Sunidhi has lent her voice to more than 2000 songs, not only in Hindi but also in Marathi, Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, and Punjabi, among many others. Be it any genre of music, pop, rock, classical, or semi-classical, Sunidhi never failed to bless the ears of her fans with her melodious voice. Although the singer won much recognition for her professional front, her personal life was not a bed of roses, and there was a time when the diva's parents disowned her at the mere age of 18 for following her heart's path and getting married to a Muslim boy. So without further ado, let's have a sneak peek into Sunidhi's life.
It was back on August 14, 1983, when Sunidhi Chauhan was born in New Delhi into a Gujarati Rajput family. Sunidhi's father, Dushyant Kumar Chauhan, is a theatre personality at the famous cultural institution Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra. For those who don't know, it was Sunidhi's mom who influenced the diva to pursue her career in singing, while her father introduced her to the magic that lies in the world of music.
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Well, the diva proved her mettle in the same. Although not many details about Sunidhi's education are available in the media, as per several media reports, the diva started her schooling at Greenway Public School, Dilshad Garden. The singer left her education to pursue her dreams to be a singer. Once, in an interview, she said that she didn't feel like continuing with her studies and she wanted to become a singer.
When Sunidhi Chauhan was only four years old, she gave her performance as a singer at a local temple in her hometown, Delhi. Later to that, she started to perform at local gatherings and took part in several competitions. Upon witnessing Sunidhi's grasp over singing, her father's friends advised her to carry on with the same and take singing seriously. Not many know that Sunidhi didn't take any professional training at the beginning, and she used to do her riyaaz by listening to popular singers and their songs on the radio, cassettes and CDs.
While she was performing in Delhi, Sunidhi, whose name was 'Nidhi' back then, was noticed by the actress, Tabassum. The actress instantly understood Sunidhi's talent and gave her an opportunity to sing on her show, Tabassum Hit Parade. The actress even asked Sunidhi's family members to shift to Mumbai so that the latter could have more opportunities to showcase her talents. It was Sunidhi's father who listened to the same, and they all came to Mumbai so that the singer could achieve what she wanted in her life.
By then, Sunidhi was introduced to the famous Indian film musician duo, Kalyanji Virji Shah and Anandji Virji Shah, who named her 'Sunidhi' from 'Nidhi' as they thought it would be lucky for the singer. After shifting to Mumbai, Sunidhi's family faced a lot of financial difficulties. Later, the singer started working at Kalyanji's academy and became the lead singer of his Little Wonders troupe. During that time, Sunidhi bagged a lot of opportunities to work in several shows, but it was the singer's father who insisted that she would work as a playback singer in films.
When Sunidhi showcased her talents at the 40th Filmfare Awards with the group, Little Wonders, she got noticed by the director, Aadesh Shrivastava, and she bagged her first opportunity to work as a playback singer in the film, Shastra. The singer lent her voice to the song, Ladki Deewani Dekho, alongside Udit Narayan. After that, she bagged the winner's trophy at the reality show, Meri Awaz Suno. Alongside this, she also recorded her solo album, Aira Gaira Nathu Khaira. Following the same, the singer took training in classical singing from Gautam Mukherjee and continued to work as a background vocalist and lent her voice to famous songs of several Hindi films such as Gang, Veergati, Dahek, Bade Dilwala, and Raja Ki Aayegi Baraat among others.
Sunidhi Chauhan's first career breakthrough was back in 1999 when she mesmerised everyone with her sweet voice in the song, Ruki Ruki Si Zindagi in Ram Gopal Verma's film, Mast, for which she received the RD Burman award at the Annual Filmfare Awards. Her second memorable work was for the film, Fiza, wherein she lent her voice to the song, Mehboob Mere. There's no denying the fact that the singer continued to win hearts with her jaw-dropping singing talents, and she never had to look back. By the age of 19, Sunidhi worked as a playback singer in more than 300 songs. Sunidhi has worked with almost every leading singer, composer, and lyricist in India, and she was also hired by Microsoft to sing the Windows Vista Song.
Apart from riding high in her professional life, Sunidhi Chauhan grabbed a lot of limelight for her personal life. It was back in 2002 when Sunidhi got married to the choreographer-director, Bobby Khan. The ex-couple met through their professional journey, and soon after, they decided to get married. When Sunidhi got married to Bobby, he was 14 years older than her. However, tying the knot in an intercaste marriage was not well accepted by Sunidhi's family members, thereby creating a rift. The singer's parents found Sunidhi's match with Bobby 'unsuitable', and thus, they disowned the singer.
Well, it was only after the next year of Sunidhi's marriage with Bobby Khan that things started getting sour between the duo, and they parted ways and filed for a divorce. Later, Sunidhi got back to her parents and started to focus on her career.
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Although not many reasons for the issues in Bobby and Sunidhi's marital life are known, in an interview with Bollywood Bubble, the singer opened up about the same. The singer mentioned that whatever had happened in her life had helped her become a better person. The singer added that when she was in that dark phase of her life, she was still having a good time, but she knew that it was not the right place, and she had to come out. Sunidhi could be quoted as saying:
"I am only thankful to God for showing me, that too so early in life so much happened and it was all absolutely blissful. When I was in it, I was still having a good time because I knew I was in the wrong place. But I was enjoying that because I knew that wrong place was not going to be there for a longer time. I was going to get out of it. So, now that I am out of it, I have been out of it since many years, I don’t look back at that. But if at all, somebody speaks about it, then I am only looking at it as something that only helped me in turning into a better person.”
After ending her first marriage, Sunidhi Chauhan found love again in the arms of composer, Hitesh Sonik. The duo briefly dated for two years, after which they tied the knot in an intimate wedding ceremony in Mumbai in 2012. It was after six years of their marital bliss, that the duo welcomed their baby boy, Tegh.
In recent times, Sunidhi Chauhan has won hearts with her live concerts not just with her singing, but also with her top-notch dancing skills. After being a mom, it's a bit difficult for the mommies to juggle between professional and personal fronts, but for Sunidhi, it's been quite the opposite. In an interview, Sunidhi shared that her baby boy, Tegh brought a touch of sanity into her life. However, the postpartum physical transformation of the singer is simply praise-worthy. In an interview with the Hindustan Times, Sunidhi added that she had always wanted to become a singer and performer.
Talking about the recent add-on to her shows, which is her dance, the singer added that during the pandemic, she decided to go professional with dancing, and hence, she learned the same. The singer added that she couldn't even stand in heels, but now she can even dance while wearing them. Talking about her physical transformation, Sunidhi mentioned that she works out on a daily basis, which includes three days of cardio and another three days of weight training. She also added that she isn't on a diet, but she eats well, and it includes cheat days as well.
Well, Sunidhi Chauhan is truly an inspiration to many. From the age of 4, she envisioned a dream to be a singer, and she has lived through it. After all these years, her charisma has not at all diminished; rather, it has been shining brighter than ever.
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