Reena Bhardwaj is a British singer, songwriter and recording artist best known for her collaborations with

A. R. Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967), also known by the initialism ARR, is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and philanthropist known for his works in Indian cinem ...

and

Nitin Sawhney Nitin Sawhney (; born 1964) is a British musician, producer and composer. A recipient of the Ivor Novello Lifetime Achievement award in 2017, among multiple international awards throughout his career. Sawhney's work combines Asian and other ...

. Versatile to genre and language, her repertoire includes a variety of Indian Traditional, Bollywood, World and Popular styles sung in various Indian languages (Hindi, Punjabi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu) and English.

Early years and education

Reena Bhardwaj was born and raised in London. From a very young age she displayed an intrinsic flair for the Indian arts, especially music and dance. She trained in the North Indian Classical Dance form

Kathak ''Kathak'' is one of the eight major forms of Classical Indian dance, Indian classical dance. Its origin is attributed to the traveling bards in ancient northern India known as ''Kathakar'' ("storyteller"), who communicated stories from the ...

and started performing on stage from the age of 9. During her teens, focus shifted to singing and she began to impress audiences as she sang complex compositions effortlessly. It was her natural vocal talent that eventually drew the attention of some of the world's leading pioneers of music, both in India and the UK. An avid academic, Reena Bhardwaj chose to pursue a professional career in

Business Management Business administration is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. Overview The administration of a business includes the performance o ...

, while continuing to develop her musical interests on the side. She won a sponsorship on the Windsor Fellowship Management program and went on to graduate with Bachelor's and master's degrees from the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

. She briefly worked in corporate marketing and communications in the City of London.

Musical career

Reena describes her musical career as a "turn of fate" which came about while pursuing her master's degree at the

, when she received an unexpected call from her most favourite Indian Composer,

AR Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967), also known by the initialism ARR, is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and philanthropist known for his works in Indian cinema ...

. With Rahman, she recorded her debut song, "Yeh Rishta" for the Bollywood film soundtrack '' Meenaxi: A Tale of Three Cities'' directed by MF Hussain, which catapulted her from the world of academics to the top of the Indian Music charts. She became the first British Asian Artist to be nominated for a Zee Cine Award for Best Playback Singer and the

MTV Immies The MTV Immies are held every year with an aim to award the best talents in the Indian music industry. In 2005 The Immies supported relief for the quake victims of India and Pakistan. Also, proceeds from donor passes were given to the Prime M ...

Award for Best New Talent of 2004. Next she sang "Baba Kichhu Tha", a Tamil romantic duet with one of South India's most revered playback singers,

S. P. Balasubrahmanyam Sripathi Panditaradhyula Balasubrahmanyam (4 June 1946 – 25 September 2020), commonly known as SPB or Balu, was an Indian playback singer, television presenter, actor, music composer, dubbing artist, and film producer. He is widely regarde ...

for the

Rajinikanth Shivaji Rao Gaikwad (born 12 December 1950), known professionally as Rajinikanth, is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. In a career spanning over five decades, he has done 170 films that includes films in Tamil, Hindi, ...

and

Manisha Koirala Manisha Koirala (; born 16 August 1970) is a Nepali people, Nepalese actress who works in Cinema of India, Indian films, predominantly in Hindi and Tamil language, Tamil. Born to the politically prominent Koirala family, she is the daughter of ...

starrer '' Baba''. Reena has featured on a number of

’s

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

and Tamil/Telugu film soundtracks including '' Mangal Pandey: The Rising'', ''

Sakkarakatti ''Sakkarakatti'' () is a 2008 Indian Tamil-language musical romantic comedy film written and directed by Kala Prabhu and produced by his father, Kalaipuli S. Dhanu. It featured debutant Shanthanu Bhagyaraj, the son of veteran actor-director K. ...

'' and most recently she sang the beautiful song '' Khilli Re'' for the

Mani Ratnam Gopalaratnam Subramaniam (born 2 June 1956), known professionally as Mani Ratnam, is an Indian film director, film producer and screenwriter who predominantly works in Tamil cinema and a few Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada films. H ...

Aishwarya Rai Aishwarya Rai Bachchan (; Rai; born 1 November 1973) is an Indian actress who is primarily known for her work in Hindi and Tamil language, Tamil films. Rai won the Miss World 1994 pageant and later established herself as one of the most-popu ...

and

Abhishek Bachchan Abhishek Bachchan (; born 5 February 1976) is an Indian actor and film producer known for his work in Hindi films. Part of the Bachchan family, he is the son of actors Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan. From 2012 to 2016, Bachchan appeared in ...

starrer, Raavan, also by Rahman. Reena's has been a regular collaborator with British Asian Composer/Producer

, an association that began with her soulful rendition of the epic Indian poem "Heer" by

Waris Shah Pir Waris Shah ( ; 1722 1798) was an 18th-century Punjabi Muslims, Punjabi Muslim Sufi poet of the Chishti order, known popularly for his contribution to Punjabi literature. He is primarily known as the author of the ''Heer Ranjha'' love ...

for Sawhney's 2003 album ''Human'' (V2). She went on to co-write the popular song "Mausam" for Sawhney's 2006 album ''Philtre'' (V2) alongside memorable performances on "Koyal – Songbird" and "The Search". She appears again on Sawhney's ''

London Undersound ''London Undersound'' is the eighth studio album by British musician Nitin Sawhney. It was released on , by Cooking Vinyl. It includes collaborations with Paul McCartney, Natty, Imogen Heap, Reena Bhardwaj, Ojos de Brujo, Anoushka Shankar, Tin ...

'' in which she expresses her feelings about growing up in London by co-writing the track "Ek Jaan" and sings alongside Sir Paul McCartney in "My Soul". Reena has toured extensively with Sawhney and his band and has performed at some of the world's most culturally elite venues including the

Glastonbury Festival The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts (commonly referred to as simply Glastonbury Festival, known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts held near Pilton, Somerset, England, in most su ...

WOMAD WOMAD ( ; World of Music, Arts and Dance) is an international arts festival. The central aim of WOMAD is to celebrate the world's many forms of music, arts and dance. History WOMAD was founded in 1980 by English rock musician Peter Gabriel, w ...

in Taormina (Sicily),

Jazz Café The Jazz Cafe is a music venue in Camden Town, London. It opened in 1990 on the former premises of a branch of Barclays Bank and has had several owners throughout its history as a music venue. The venue holds 450 people across both floors. ...

The Barbican Centre The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London, England, and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and ...

, The

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London, England. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a G ...

The Roundhouse The Roundhouse is a performing arts and concert venue at the Grade II* listed former railway engine shed in Chalk Farm, London, England. The building was erected in 1846–1847 by the London & North Western Railway as a roundhouse, a circ ...

for the

BBC Electric Proms The BBC Radio 2 Electric Proms (formerly the BBC Electric Proms) was an October pop music festival in London run by the BBC for five years, 2006–2010. On 31 January 2011, the BBC announced that the event would be discontinued with immediate ...

in 2008. One of her most notable performances was The

BBC Proms The BBC Proms is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in central London. Robert Newman founded The Proms in 1895. Since 1927, the ...

2007 at

The Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...

where she appeared alongside

Natacha Atlas Natacha Atlas (, , ; born 20 March 1964) is an Egyptian-Belgian singer known for her fusion of Arabic and Western music, particularly hip-hop. She once termed her music "'' cha'abi moderne''" (modern folk music). Her music has been influenced by ...

, &

Anoushka Shankar Anoushka Hemangini Shankar (born 9 June 1981) is a British-American sitar player and musician of Indian descent, as well as occasional writer. She performs across multiple genres and styles—Indian classical, classical and contemporary, acoust ...

. She has also lent her voice to Sawhney's film scores, including

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

’s ''Second Generation'',

Bharat Bala Bharath Bala is an Indian film director, screenwriter and film producer based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Career Bharat Bala produced the acclaimed album ''Vande Mataram (album), Vande Mataram'' and the ''Jana Gana Mana Video.'' He heads BharatBal ...

Production's ''Hari Om'', and the 1929 Silent Indian Classic,

A Throw of Dice ''A Throw of Dice'' (''Prapancha Pash'') is a 1929 silent film by German-born director Franz Osten, based on an episode from the Indian epic ''Mahabharata''. Plot summary The movie is about two kings vying for the love of a hermit's daughter, t ...

by Franz Osten, which premiered with the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

and subsequently performed with national orchestras in the Netherlands, Italy, New Zealand, US and Canada. She has collaborated with the UK's biggest dance duo Basement Jaxx,

Basement Jaxx Basement Jaxx are an English electronic music duo consisting of Felix Buxton (born 30 April 1970) and Simon Ratcliffe (born 28 November 1969). The pair got their name from the regular club night they held in Brixton, London, UK. They first ros ...

, renowned percussion king

Trilok Gurtu Trilok Gurtu (born 30 October 1951) is an Indian percussionist and composer whose work has blended the music of India with jazz fusion and world music. He has worked with Terje Rypdal, Gary Moore, John McLaughlin, Jan Garbarek, Joe Zawinu ...

Talvin Singh Talvin Singh OBE (born 1970) is a British musician, producer, and composer. A tabla player, he is known for creating an innovative fusion of Indian classical music with drum and bass. Singh is generally considered involved with an electronica ...

and award-winning British Songwriter Guy Chambers. Her songs feature on various compilation CDs (

Ministry of Sound Ministry of Sound or Ministry of Sound Group is a multimedia entertainment business based in London with a nightclub, shared workspace and private members' club, worldwide events operation, music publisher (popular music), music publishing busin ...

’s, ''Angel Beach''; Pathaan's ''Indian Sunset'') and Sony Legacy's 2009 Compilation CD ''The Best of AR Rahman''.

Discography

“Baba Kichchu", Music:

A R Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967), also known by the initialism ARR, is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and philanthropist known for his works in Indian cinema ...

, Film: '' Baba'' (2002)
“Tak Dheen" Music:

A R Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967), also known by the initialism ARR, is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and philanthropist known for his works in Indian cinema ...

, ''

Bombay Dreams ''Bombay Dreams'' is a Bollywood-themed musical, with music by A. R. Rahman, lyrics by Don Black and the book by Meera Syal and Thomas Meehan, originally produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber. The London production opened in 2002 and ran for two ...

'' (2003)
“Heer", Nitin Sawhney, ''Human'' (2003)
“Falling" Aqualung &

, ''Human'' (2003)
“ Yeh Rishta", Music:

A R Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967), also known by the initialism ARR, is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and philanthropist known for his works in Indian cinema ...

, Film: '' Meenaxi: A Tale of Three Cities'' (2004)
“Mausam", co-written with

, ''Philtre'' (2005)
“Koyal (Songbird)",

, ''Philtre'' (2005)
“The Search",

, ''Philtre'' (2005)
“Dead Man",

, ''Philtre'' (2005)
“Sandesa",

& The

, Film: Franz_Osten's ''

'' (2005)
“Everybody",

, ''Crazy Itch Radio'' (2005)
“Main Vari Vari", Music:

A R Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967), also known by the initialism ARR, is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and philanthropist known for his works in Indian cinema ...

, Film: '' Mangal Pandey: The Rising'' (2006)
“Naan Epodhu", Music:

A R Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967), also known by the initialism ARR, is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and philanthropist known for his works in Indian cinema ...

, Film: ''

'' (2008)
“My Soul",

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

, ''

'' (2008)
“Ek Jaan", co-written with

, ''

'' (2008)
” Khilli Re", Music:

A R Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967), also known by the initialism ARR, is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and philanthropist known for his works in Indian cinema ...

, Film: '' Raavan'' (2010)
“Puli Gharshana", Music:

A R Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967), also known by the initialism ARR, is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and philanthropist known for his works in Indian cinema ...

, Film: '' Komaram Puli'' (2010)
Other film soundtracks and compilations in which Reena features: ''The Best of A R Rahman'', Sony Legacy (2009)
''Aaoji: Classic Sufi Hits'', Sony Music (2009)
''Life Goes On'' Music: Soumik Dutta, Storm Glass Productions (2009)
''In the Mind of Nitin Sawhney'', District 6 (2007)
''Angel Beach'',

(2005)
''American Daylight'',

Amaan Ali Khan Amaan Ali Bangash (born 1977) is an Indian classical musician who plays the sarod. He is the son of Amjad Ali Khan and often performs with his younger brother Ayaan Ali Bangash, with whom he hosted the music talent show ''Sa Re Ga Ma Pa''. In ...

(2005)
Frank Osten's ''

'',

& The

(2005)
''Hari Om'' Film Score: Nitin Sawhney,

Productions (2004)
''Second Generation'', Film Score: Nitin Sawhney,

(2003)
''Indian Sunset'' DJ Pathaan (2003)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhardwaj, Reena Living people English pop singers Singers from London British Asian musicians English people of Indian descent Alumni of the London School of Economics Bollywood playback singers Tamil playback singers Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century English women singers