Sapna Awasthi Singh is a

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

playback singer A playback singer, also known as a ghost singer, is a singer whose singing is pre-recorded for use in films. Playback singers record songs for soundtracks, and actors or actresses lip-sync the songs for cameras; the actual singer does not ap ...

best remembered for her " Chaiyya Chaiyya" from '' Dil Se..'' and "UP Bihar Lootne" from '' Shool'' (1999).

Early life and career

Sapna Awasthi started training in classical music at a young age and completed ''Sangeet Vishaarad'' in Bhatkhande Music Institute,

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and divisio ...

. She began singing for the radio when she was fifteen, before performing on stage. She received her first break in

from composer Sameer Sen. Awasthi is from Kumaon region of

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2007), is a States and union territories of India, state in the North India, northern part of India. It is often referred to as t ...

and relocated to

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

after singing songs in Krantiveer (1994). She has sung for prominent musicians like Nadeem–Shravan,

Anand–Milind Anand and Milind Srivastava are a duo of Indian film music composers. Born to composer Chitragupt, they have composed music for over 200 Bollywood films. The brothers debuted in 1984 with ''Ab Ayega Mazaa'' and had their major breakthrough with ...

Anu Malik Anwar Sardar "Anu" Malik (born 2 November 1960) is an Indian music composer, singer, music arranger and score composer. He is an Indian National Award and Filmfare Award winning musician, who primarily composes music for the Hindi film in ...

, A. R. Rahman,

Sandeep Chowta Sandeep Chowta is an Indian music director who primarily works in Bollywood and Telugu cinema. He is also the head of Columbia Records in India. He has also sung some of his songs. In 2003, he produced an anti substance abuse documentary, titl ...

and others. Her biggest hit to date, as is usually believed, is not her duet 'Chaiyya Chaiyya' (co-singer

Sukhvinder Singh Sukhwinder Singh (born 18 July 1971) is an internationally acclaimed Indian playback singer who primarily sings Bollywood songs. He is famous internationally for singing " Jai Ho" from the film ''Slumdog Millionaire'' which won an Academy Award ...

) for A. R. Rahman's ''

Dil Se ''Dil Se..'' () is a 1998 Indian Hindi-language romantic thriller film written and directed by Mani Ratnam, and produced by Ratnam, Ram Gopal Varma, and Shekhar Kapur. Set in the backdrop of Insurgency in Assam, the film stars Shah Rukh Khan an ...

'' (1998), but 'Pardesi Pardesi' (co-singers

Udit Narayan Udit is an Indian masculine given name that may refer to: * Udit Narayan, Bollywood playback singer *Udit Narayan (politician) (born 1960), Fijian politician of Indian descent *Udit Narayan Singh (1770–1835), Indian monarch * Udit Patel (born 19 ...

and

Alka Yagnik Alka, AlkA or ALKA may refer to: People * Alka Ajith (born c. 1997), Indian multilingual playback singer * Alka Amin (active from 2011), Indian television actress * Alka Balram Kshatriya, Indian politician, Member of the Parliament of India rep ...

) for Nadeem-Shravan's '' Raja Hindustani'' (1996).

Popular songs

*"Pratighat Ki Jwala" - Anjaam 1994 *"Banno Teri Ankhiyan Soorme" — '' Dushmani: A Violent Love Story'' (1995) *"Pardesi Pardesi" — '' Raja Hindustani'' (1996) *"UP Bihar Lootne" — '' Shool'' (1999) *"Shadi Karvado" — '' Jis Desh Mein Ganga Rehta Hai'' (2000) *"Bachke Tu Rehna Re" — '' Company'' (2002) *"Kabhi Bandhan Chhuda Liya" — '' Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam'' (2002) *" Chaiyya Chaiyya" — '' Dil Se..'' (1998) *"Sab Kuch Bhula Diya" — '' Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam'' (2002) *"Saajan Saajan" - '' Dil Ka Rishta'' (2003) *"Daroga Babu Re Dil Humra--30 Days,Lyrics -Sahil Sultanpiri.(2003) *"Kata Kata" — ''

Raavan Ravan, or Ravana(n), is the prime antagonist in the ancient Hindu epic ''Ramayana.'' Ravan, Raavan or Ravanan, may also refer to: Film and TV * ''Raavan'' (2022 film), Bengali action film * Ra.One, a 2011 Hindi-language film * Two Indian films si ...

'' (2010) *"Katiya Karoon" — ''

Rockstar Rock Star or Rockstar may refer to: Films * ''Rock Star'' (2001 film), an American film starring Mark Wahlberg * ''Rockstar'' (2011 film), an Indian Hindi-language film by Imtiaz Ali * ''Rockstar'' (2015 film), an Indian Malayalam-language fi ...

'' (2011) *"Sasure Ke Kaudy Lag Gaye" - '' Miss Tanakpur Haazir Ho'' *"Jo beech bajariya tune" (ansh (2002)"

Accolades

References

Indian women playback singers Singers from Mumbai Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 20th-century Indian women singers 20th-century Indian singers Women musicians from Maharashtra {{India-film-bio-stub