Artist Birtday :	06/06/1988 (Age 36)
Born In :	Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, India
Occupation(s) :	Singer
Genres :	Pop,Filmi

Neha Kakkar Biography:

Neha Kakkar  is an Indian playback singer. She began performing at religious events at the age of four and participated in the second season of the singing reality show, Indian Idol, in which she was eliminated early. Neha Kakkar made her Bollywood debut as a chorus singer in the film Meerabai Not Out. She rose to prominence upon the release of the dance track “Second Hand Jawani” from Cocktail which was followed by several other popular party songs including “Sunny Sunny” from Yaariyan and “London Thumakda” from Queen.

Afterwards, she mostly performed party tracks like “Aao Raja” from Gabbar Is Back, “Tu Isaq Mera” from Hate Story 3, “Humne Pee Rakhi Hai” from Sanam Re and “Kar Gayi Chull” from Kapoor & Sons. She proved her versatility in musical range with the release of “Mile Ho Tum” from Fever which topped the list of most-viewed Bollywood songs on YouTube. Neha Kakkar then released several chart-busters which made into the same list, including “Aankh Maarey” from Simmba, “Dilbar” from Satyameva Jayate , “Badri Ki Dulhania” from Badrinath Ki Dulhania, “Cheez Badi” from Machine, “Kala Chashma” for the film Baar Baar Dekho and the private single “Nikle Currant”, all of which crossed over six hundred million views. Similarly, “Dilbar” marks the first Indian song to reach number three spot on the Billboard YouTube Music Chart.

Neha Kakkar Singer:

Early Life:

Neha Kakkar was born on 6 June 1988 in Rishikesh, Uttarakhand. She is the younger sister of playback singer Sonu Kakkar and singer-composer Tony Kakkar. During the early days, her father, Rishikesh used to sell samosa outside a college for a living while her mother Niti Kakkar was a homemaker. In the city, Kakkar shared a rented single room house with her whole family, in which they used to sleep and simultaneously convert to a kitchen by putting a table.

In the early 90s, Kakkar along with her family moved to Delhi, in order to try her luck in singing. At that time, the family was reeling under a financial crisis. Hoping to “contribute” to the family, Kakkar, at the age of four, started performing at local gatherings and religious event with her siblings which she credited for “boosting” her self-confidence. “I only sang bhajans from four to sixteen years. I would attend four to five jagrans in a day, which became my training ground”. Having music talent at home, she never felt the need to get any formal training in singing. In 2004, she moved to Mumbai with her brother, Tony Kakkar.

In 2006, at the age of sixteen, Neha Kakkar auditioned for the second season of Indian Idol where she got eliminated early in the show. Being the youngest participant, she was naturally “pampered” on the sets, and recalls that the show gave her “great memories and fame”. Commenting on her short-journey, she said, “I feel, whatever happens, happens for a reason. I am just glad the way my journey worked out. It has been a tremendous learning experience”. According to her, people “appreciated my voice saying that you sing well but nobody ever told me that I am a great singer”. Hence, determined to prove that she can sing well, Kakkar worked on “polishing” her voice afterwards.

Career:

Neha Kakkar anticipated that her participation in Indian Idol and the association with her brother, Tony Kakkar, fueled her career into playback singing. However, five years post Indian Idol, Kakkar failed to gather any work in Bollywood films which she believes was due to her “negligence in pleading the music directors and producers, unlike the rest of participants from the show”. Hence, she became more occupied with the concerts and event performances that took her “across the world”. According to her, during this phase she started getting recognised and people started referring her as the “Jai Mata Di girl”.

In 2008, she launched her debut album Neha Kakkar The Rockstar with music by Meet Bros in which she performed some romantic songs. During the time, she recorded for a music album, Romeo Juliet composed by her brother, Tony Kakkar. The song “Mohabbat Hai” from the album received limited recognition from the listeners which resulted in the offer to render her first Kotak Mahindra jingle, “Mera Jaisa Koi Mere Zindagi Main Aaye”.

A year later, a friend of Kakkar called her from the studio of composer Sandesh Shandilya, who was looking for a new voice to record the song “Hai Rama” from Meerabai Not Out (2008). The following year, she was featured in an A.R. Rahman’s composition, the theme song of Blue (2009) where she provided the chorus vocals for the song. She then lent her voice for the title track of the Hindi-language soap operaNa Aana Is Des Laado (2009) which holds a special place in her heart, as the “song was a touching experience since it focused on women”.

In 2010, Neha Kakkar made her movie debut with Sooraj Barjatya’s film Isi Life Mein…! (2010) in which she played the role of a college student. The film received negative reviews from critics and was a box office failure. The same year, she debuted in both the Kannada and Telugu music industry by performing a total of four tracks for Sandeep Chowta. She lent her voice for the title track of the Kannada film Thamassu and the song “Nodu Baare” alongside Master Saleem, which were appreciated by the reviewers from Bangalore Mirror and the former resulted in her only Filmfare Awards South nomination as the Best Female Playback Singer. Also, the same publication complimented Kakkar’s rendition in the song “Neeve Na Neeve Na” and “Jaaniya Jaane” from the Telugu film Kedi.

Neha Kakkar had a single Bollywood release in 2011, Sandeep Chowta-composed “Woh Ek Pal”, performed alongside Arijit Dutta, which lacked the needed coverage from the music listeners. She then made an appearance in the second season of Comedy Circus Ke Taansen alongside Kapil Sharma and Ali Asgar which she considered an “amazing experience” where the “atmosphere on the sets was positive and the jokes had us all cracking up. I particularly enjoyed it since I am bubbly and always smiling”. The following year, her collaboration with Pritam for the dance track “Second Hand Jawani” from Cocktail proved to be a major breakthrough for Kakkar. The song went to become popular among the music listeners, though it received mixed to negative reviews from critics, calling it a “distraction amidst rest of the album”. Besides, she got a “tremendous response” for her “Shah Rukh Khan Anthem” on YouTube, for which Shah Rukh Khan thanked her by saying he “loved the song”.

Artistry:

Voice:

Neha Kakkar possesses a contralto vocal range and has the ability to reach E5 note. Her voice has been described several times in the media as “distinct”, “unique”, “chirpy”, “seductive” and “partially nasal”. She did not take any formal vocal training. In an interview with The Indian Express she said, “The fact that I am not formally trained never really bothered me. There were times I knew it could have been a brownie point, had I been trained but it never pulled me back”. Believing that she needs to be distinctive to be noticed from the crowd of competition, she keeps “practicing by learning to sing songs that catch her fancy” since her voice is her “USP”.

Musical style:

Neha Kakkar’s music contains elements of pop, hip hop, and R&B. She admits that she has mostly performed dance numbers which she believes suits her voice the most and complements her energetic vibe, though she expressed her desire to experiment other genres including “soft romantic” songs. Also, she appreciates Sufi music and expresses her fondness over the music of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

Devansh Sharma of Firstpost applauded Kakkar’s “impressive range” where she can switch from a “Dilbar” to the romantic track “Nain Na Jodeen”. Similarly, The Times of India complimented her musical “diversity” where she “nails” the melodic song, Mile Ho Tum, to “perfection” with the different “intensity and passion” as compared to her energetic numbers”. The Asian Age notes that party songs have become almost synonymous with Kakkar and she should consider breaking away from the “mould”.

Public image:

Known for experimenting with her style and image, Neha Kakkar’s music and fashion sense are noted by the media. According to Republic World, she has an “impeccable taste” in fashion, and “whatever she wears becomes a trend” from her “outlandish outfits, voguish hairstyles or flawless makeup”. Neha feels her happy-go-lucky attitude reflects in her work too making her one of the most flamboyant singers today. “I am a very energetic. I have fun during shootings and on stage. If you do things from heart, it reaches out to people”.

In 2015, Neha Kakkar was noted as the “innovative brain” behind the selfie videos of several songs that got viral on YouTube, which she started in 2012 with the song “Botal Khol” from Prague. The trend which media attributed to her, was considered by her as “lively interaction with her fans” which have sound, actions and emotions. Rewarding her with the title “Expression Queen”, Aastha Banan from Mid Day wrote: “She sings looking into her phone, smiling sensuously and raising her eyebrows to the tune, emoting skillfully which helped her earn the title”.

She is credited as a “lively performer” on stage. In an interview with The Hindu she said, “People look at my expressions and gestures and the way I move on stage. If I am entertained by what I sing, it will entertain those around me”. Also, the media calls her an “emotional person” where she is seeing shedding tears a lot of times on the singing competition shows. During the shows and concert, Kakkar was often brutally trolled as a “cry baby” on social media for frequently crying on-screen, to which she admits that she is a “proud emotional girl” who does not wish to become “heartless” or “emotionless”.

Personal life:

Neha Kakkar and actor Himansh Kohli were in a romantic relationship since 2014. In September 2018, they officially announced their relationship on national television and revealed that they will tie the knot soon. However, three months later, the couple broke-up which was hinted by an emotional message she posted on Instagram. In an interview with Bombay Times she opened up about her life post the split and revealed how she regrets “making her personal life so public”. In August 2019, she shared an alarming post on Instagram about “depression” and “thinking of ending her life” after rumours of an affair with an Indian Idol contestant surfaced.

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