Sunidhi Chauhan is an Indian playback singer, best known for her Hindi film songs in Bollywood. She has also recorded songs for Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Bengali, Assamese and Gujarati films and is credited with over 2000 songs.
Chauhan began to sing at the age of four and was discovered by a local TV anchor. She won recognition through a televised singing contest, Meri Awaz Suno, which she won, and made her entrance into playback singing with the Hindi film Shastra.
Her breakthrough was Ram Gopal Varma's film Mast, in which she sang the hit song, "Ruki Ruki Si Zindagi." She has been nominated for fourteen Filmfare Awards, winning it on three occasions. She has won two Star Screen Awards, two IIFA Awards and one Zee Cine Award.
Chauhan started her singing career as a child, giving her first performance at the age of four, in a local temple in Delhi. Thereafter, she began to participate in, and sing for, competitions and local gatherings. When local TV anchor, Tabassum, spotted her talent, her family shifted to Mumbai in a bid to further develop the young singer's skills, and Chauhan became the lead singer in Kalyanji's 'Little Wonders' troupe.
Chauhan has collaborated with Indian singers such as Alka Yagnik, Shaan, Udit Narayan, and is known for her popular pairing with Sukhwinder Singh. She is most often paired with singer Sonu Nigam, and with the successful female playback singer Shreya Ghoshal, whom many view as a stiff competition for Chauhan.
Lyricists she has worked with include Jaideep Sahni, Irshad Kamil, Gulzar, Sameer, Prasoon Joshi, Swanand Kirkire, the late Anand Bakshi and Javed Akhtar; music directors include Bappi Lahiri, A. R. Rahman, Ilaiyaraja, Yuvan, Himesh Reshammiya, Anu Malik, Jatin Lalit, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Pritam Chakraborty, Rajesh Roshan, Nadeem-Shravan, Anand-Milind, Vishal-Shekhar, M. M. Keeravani and others.
Chauhan is one of the few female singers of the present generation who have lent their voice for nearly every leading actress in the Indian entertainment industry, including Madhuri Dixit, Aishwarya Rai, Preity Zinta, Rani Mukerji, Kareena Kapoor, Bipasha Basu, Priyanka Chopra, Konkona Sen Sharma and more. She has also sung for actresses of yesteryear cinema, such as Rekha. She was the main singer who lent her voice for the comebacks of two leading Bollywood actresses: Kajol, in the movie Fanaa, and Madhuri Dixit, in Aaja Nachle.