Neeti Mohan Sharma (born 18 November 1979) is an Indian singer. She sings mainly in Hindi language films, but has also sung in Marathi language, Telugu language, Tamil language, Kannada, Bengali language, Punjabi language and English. Born in Delhi, she was one of the winners of the Channel V's reality show Popstars, subsequently being chosen for Aasma, with other winners of the show. She rose to prominence after recording "Ishq Wala Love" for Student of the Year (2012), ultimately winning the Filmfare R. D. Burman Award for New Music Talent and was nominated for the Best Female Playback Singer for "Jiya Re" from Jab Tak Hai Jaan (2012).
Her rendition of six jazz tracks in the soundtrack album of Amit Trivedi's Bombay Velvet (2015) received positive review from music critics. The following year, she received her second nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer for the song "Sau Aasmaan" from Baar Baar Dekho (2016). In that year, Mohan appeared as a coach in the 1st season of The Voice India Kids and the second season of The Voice India. Besides her career in music, she has also been involved in various charities and social causes.
During her school days, Mohan was part of the school band, and participated in Delhi Republic Day parade for five years in a row. Convinced by her father, Mohan participated in many extra-curricular activities during her school: singing, dancing, performing in the band and theatre. She was adjudged best cadet in the National Cadet Corps of India and represented India as Youth Exchange Programme cadet. Later, she learnt music formally at the Bhatkhande Music Institute and continued training in Mumbai with Rajashree Pathak for five years. Apart from training in singing, Mohan studied dancing with her two sisters. She trained in Bharata Natyam and Kathak under the supervision of Ashley Lobo. Besides training kids to dance, Mohan worked as an instructor there. Mohan graduated in philosophy from Miranda House, University of Delhi.
In 2003, Mohan was one of the winners of Channel V's reality television show Popstars, subsequently being chosen for Aasma—a pop group formed with the other winners of the show—where she got the chance to perform with Bryan Adams, insisted by Deepak Gattani, who manages A. R. Rahman's concert tours. While she was assisting Lobo, he suggested Mohan to Imtiaz Ali for a supporting role in his film, Socha Na Tha (2005), while Lobo was working as the choreographer in the film. In 2009, Mohan participated in the Star Plus show Music Ka Maha Muqqabla, where she was part of the winning team "Shankar's Rockstars" led by Shankar Mahadevan. She married actor Nihaar Pandya on 15 February 2019. The couple announced their first pregnancy on 15 February 2021 on their second wedding anniversary, and she later gave birth to a boy.
In an interview with TV host Amin Dhillon that had over 400K views, Mohan shared the untold story on how A. R. Rahman discovered her. Mohan's sister Shakti was performing as a dancer at a A. R. Rahman show for New Year's Eve in 2006. Shakti had called Mohan right before the show and Mohan had wished to speak to Rahman but didn't get a chance. Instead she told her sister that one day she would be performing with Rahman and six months later, Mohan was singing with him. Mohan had previously met Rahman's manager when she was part of the group Aasma and in 2007, Mohan bumped into him again when he was coming out of the cinema. It was at this chance meeting Mohan learned Rahman and his team were auditioning new voices for his US tour. She recorded a vocal audition, singing "Maya Maya" from the film Guru among other songs. After 3 weeks, Mohan got a call from Rahman's manager informing her that Rahman liked her voice and she was picked for the tour.
The following year, Mohan lent her voice for Ayushmann Khurrana's Punjabi track, "Saadi Galli Aaja", co-composed, co-written and co-sung by Khurana. Since Mohan does not speak Punjabi, she had to learn to pronounce the words before recording the song. Koimoi stated that Mohan "mesmerizes" the listeners in the unplugged version of the song, with her "husky voice". Mohan performed the track "Kashmir Main Tu Kanyakumari" for the Vishal–Shekhar composed Chennai Express, along with Sunidhi Chauhan and Arijit Singh. Besides, she worked with Vishal–Shekhar for two other projects; Gippi and Gori Tere Pyaar Mein, where she recorded "Dil Kaagzi" for the former and "Naina" for the latter. While Mohan and Rashid Ali were performing in a Rahman's concert show, he came up with the idea to bring a duet between the two, since "both shares similar vocal texture". Hence, she did playback for Sonam Kapoor in Raanjhanaa (2013) in the song "Nazar Laaye". Mohan had to bring the "softness" in her voice to match the "definite attitude" in Kapoor's persona for her character.
Mohan's first release of 2014 was the Sohail Sen-composed "Tune Maari Entriyaan" in Gunday. Sung along with Bappi Lahiri, Vishal Dadlani and KK, the song was a critical and commercial success, being placed at position 8 in " The Times of India Radio Mirchi Top 10 songs" of the year. Moreover, Mohan along with Aditi Singh Sharma performed an electronic dance music styled "Pinacolada" from Darr @ The Mall, marketed as the first Goth subculture Bollywood song. Mohan collaborated again with Khurrana in Raghu Dixit's "Khamakhaan" from Bewakoofiyaan, where The Indian Express affirmed that the song is "owned by Mohan from the moment she breathes into it in the beginning without any instruments". Apart from rendering Sajid–Wajid's "Galat Baat Hai" from Main Tera Hero, for which Rajiv Vijayakar of Bollywood Hungama considered Mohan's vocals "spirited", she lent to voice for "Kambal Ke Neeche" from the Ismail Darbar-composed Kaanchi. Mohan described the latter as a "family song" since it features two of her sisters; Shakti Mohan and Mukti Mohan in the video.
During the year, Mohan worked with Himesh Reshammiya for four films; The Xposé, Humshakals, Kick and Action Jackson. Aishwarya from Koimoi felt that Mohan's talent was "misused" in the songs "Catch Me If You Can" and "Dard Dilo Ke" from The Xposé. Similar sentiments were echoed for the songs "Caller Tune" and "Look Into My Eyes" from Humshakals, where Aishwarya stated, "Mohan did not show any variation that fans know she is capable of, as far as this album is concerned". However, "Tu Hi Tu" from Kick was critically acclaimed; Devesh Sharma from Filmfare wrote: "Mohan brings a young girl's yearning in her breezy rendition and makes her version a winner too". Besides, Mohan collaborated with Jeet Gannguli for the first time with the song "Darbadar" from CityLights. Producer of the film, Mukesh Bhatt wanted a "young Asha Bhosle", hence she had to "fix" her "tone and projection" for the song. Likewise, Mohan was roped in by Vishal–Shekhar for Bang Bang! and Happy New Year, where the title track for the former and "India Waale" for the latter were commercially successful. Besides, Mohan provided backing vocals for the track "Makhna", featuring Sukhwinder Singh in the Rahman-composed American film Million Dollar Arm.
During the year, she teamed up with Ankit Tiwari for "Aalif Se" in Mr. X and worked with Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy for "Sarfira" in Katti Batti, where R. M. Vijayakar from India-West stated that "Mohan stand out as the best thing in the film's soundtrack". She collaborated with Rahman for the Tamil song "Mersalaayitten" included in the soundtrack of I, performed along with Anirudh Ravichander. According to International Business Times, Mohan "chips in" by rendering the title word in a "porsche" way. Later the year, Mohan was roped in to perform the song "Neeyum Nannum" from Naanum Rowdy Dhaan which was composed and co-sung by Ravichander. She earned her first nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer – Tamil for the song. Besides she performed a low-pitch song "Kohila" from Ko 2, co-sung and composed by Leon James. She was then heard in a Himesh Reshammiya's composition; "Tod Tadaiyya" from Prem Ratan Dhan Payo. The last release of the year featured Mohan in an Amaal Mallik composition; a recreation of the song "Tumhe Apna Banane Ka" from Sadak (1991). Included in the album Hate Story 3, she performed the song along with Armaan Malik. Applauding Mohan's rendition of the song, composer Mallik noted; "I made her sing completely baritone with. I made her sing like a sensuous goddess. She evoked a voice she never knew she had". On International Women's Day, she released her single "Udne De" which was composed, sung and co-written by herself, as a dedication to all women in the wake of the Nirbhaya incident.
The following year, Mohan collaborated with Reshammiya in two other films; Sanam Teri Kasam and Teraa Surroor. "Haal-E-Dil" from the former received acclaim from critics. India West praised Mohan in their review of the music album; "Her resonant timber moves to soothing and back to haunting in an instant with enviable skill". She garnered her second Filmfare nomination for Best Female Playback Singer for the song "Sau Aasmaan" from Baar Baar Dekho. Composed by Mallik, the song was critically appreciated while Suanshu Khurana in her review wrote: "Mohan sing it in a voice we haven’t heard before—slightly operatic and falsetto singing". Apart from singing songs for films, Mohan performed alongside Mohit Chauhan in a music video of the TV show Yeh Hai Aashiqui and the duo was featured in some of the episodes in the series as musical narrators. She was also part of the music reality show The Voice India Kids as one of the mentors, along with Shaan and Shekhar Ravjiani. In the year end, she served as a coach in the second season of the Indian reality talent show The Voice.
In 2017, Mohan recorded "Khoobsurat Star Parivaar" alongside Jubin Nautiyal. She also performed two songs for the web series titled "Mixtape" produced by music label T-Series. The fusion of "Dua" from Shangai and "Saware" from Phantom, performed along with Salim Merchant was received positively among critics. In spite of featuring in the single "Man Marziyan" she was heard in several tracks recorded for films. She was heard in an upbeat composition by Rahman, along with Arjun Chandy and Savithri R Prithvi for the soundtrack album Ok Jaanu. Titled "Jee Lein", it received mixed reviews from critics. She was next heard in the Chirantan Bhatt's composed romantic track "Bawra Mann" performed with Nautiyal. The song was originally recorded for Singh Is Bliing (2015), but used in the soundtrack album Jolly LLB 2 (2017), since it did not match with the theme of the former. Mohan collaborated with Pritam and Rochak Kohli for two albums; Jab Harry Met Sejal and Lucknow Central respectively, where she performed the song "Raula" with Diljit Dosanjh for the former. Additionally, she contributed to the music album of Baadshaho by performing a retro-contemporary fused item song "Piya More" with Mika Singh for an Ankit Tiwari-composition and also by recording the recreated version of "Keh Doon Tumhe" from Deewaar (1975). Titled "Socha Hai", it was removed from the film due to problems with music rights while "Piya More" was also altered slightly due to the legalities, since it does sounds "similar to what Tiwari has palmed off to another producer".
In 2017 December, she voiced both speaking and singing parts of Rapunzel in the Hindi dub of . In January 2019, she sang for the series T-series Electrofolk where she was seen alongside Payal Dev performing the track "Aaoge Jab". January 2019, Mohan released her single "Kithe reh gaya", which was shot in Amritsar and was her first video in which she herself danced. April 2019 saw her with two releases- "Aithey Aa" from the film Bharat and "First Class" from the film Kalank. She also recorded two T-series mixtapes one with Shekhar Ravjiani and one with Vishal Dadlani. In February 2020, she (along with Aparshakti Khurana & Shekhar Ravjiani) hosted the 12th edition of Mirchi Music Awards Ceremony . In November 2020, she voiced the character of ‘Queen Poppy’ from Hindi dubbed version of popular animated musical comedy ‘Trolls World Tour’. Neeti has sung three songs for the character of Poppy that have been sung by Anna Kendrick in the English version - Koi Geet Gao (romantic track), Iss Pal Ko Jio (peppy rock track) & Trolls Toh Karenge Fun (peppy title track).
Career
2012–14: Breakthrough with Student of the Year and Jab Tak Hai Jaan
2015–present: Bombay Velvet, Baar Baar Dekho and beyond
Artistry
Voice and musical style
Influence
Philanthropy
Discography
Filmography
Film
2005
!scope="row" Socha Na Tha Cameo appearance 2015
!scope="row" Bombay Velvet Bombay Velvet customer Cameo appearance
Television
Awards and achievements
Filmfare Awards 2013 R. D. Burman Award "Ishq Wala Love" Student of the Year "Jiya Re" Jab Tak Hai Jaan Best Female Playback Singer 2016 "Sau Aasman" Baar Baar Dekho Screen Awards 2013 Best Female Playback Singer "Jiya Re" Jab Tak Hai Jaan Stardust Awards 2016 Best Playback – Female "Sau Aasman" Baar Baar Dekho GiMA Awards 2015 Best Duet "Bang Bang"
(along with Benny Dayal)Bang Bang! 2016 "Tumhe Apna Banane Ka" (along with Armaan Malik) Hate Story 3 Mirchi Music Awards 2013 Upcoming Female Vocalist of The Year "Jiya Re" Jab Tak Hai Jaan 2018 Indie Pop Song of the Year "Man Marziyan" – 2019 Female Vocalist Of The Year "Nainowale Ne" Padmaavat Filmfare Awards South 2016 Best Female Playback Singer – Tamil "Neeyum Naanum" Naanum Rowdy Dhaan 2017 "Chella Kutti" Theri 2018 "Idhayame" Velaikkaran SIIMA 2016 Best Female Playback Singer "Neeyum Naanum" Naanum Rowdy Dhaan 2017 "Idhayame" Velaikkaran IIFA Utsavam 2017 Best Female Playback Singer – Tamil "Neeyam Naanum" Naanum Rowdy Dhaan Nick KCA 2017 Dabur Best Smile The Voice India Kids 2018 Best Female Singer "Naino Wale Ne" Padmaavat 2023 Best Female Singer "Meri Jaan" Gangubai Kathiawadi
See also
External links
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