Sophie Choudry (born 8 February 1982) is a British singer and actress based in India. She has been active primarily in

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

-language films and is also a former

MTV India MTV is an Indian pay television channel specialising in music, reality and youth culture programming. It was launched in 1996 as the Indian version of the original American network and is owned by JioStar, under a license agreement with Par ...

VJ and occasional model, and television presenter.

Early life

Sophie Choudry was born in Manchester and brought up in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Her father was a major fan of

Sophia Loren Sofia Costanza Brigida Villani Scicolone (; born 20 September 1934), known professionally as Sophia Loren ( , ), is an Italian actress, active in her native country and the United States. With a career spanning over 70 years, she is one of the ...

and hence her birthname is "Sophia", however she now goes by the name "Sophie". She has an elder brother. Choudry studied at

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 ...

, graduating in

European politics The politics of Europe deals with the continually evolving politics within the continent of Europe. It is a topic far more detailed than other continents due to a number of factors including the long history of nation states in the region as ...

and French and is also a gold medalist from the

London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) is a drama school located in Hammersmith, London. Founded in 1861, it is the oldest specialist drama school in the British Isles and a founding member of the Federation of Drama Schools. In ...

. Furthermore, she studied for nearly two years at the "Sciences Po" in Paris, France. BollySpice reports, that while still studying, Choudry became a VJ for Zee UK. She took a few classes in

Indian classical dance Indian classical dance, or ''Shastriya Nritya'', is an umbrella term for different regionally-specific Indian classical dance traditions, rooted in predominantly Hindu musical theatre performance,, Quote: All of the dances considered to be part ...

Bharatnatyam ''Bharatanatyam'' is a Indian classical dance form that came from Tamil Nadu, India. It is a classical dance form recognized by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, and expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas of Hinduism and Jain ...

, which she learnt in London for four years as well as Western dances like

salsa Salsa most often refers to: * Salsa (food), a variety of sauces used as condiments * Salsa music, a popular style of Latin American music * Salsa (dance), a Latin dance associated with Salsa music Salsa or SALSA may also refer to: Arts and ent ...

. She is also well trained in

Western classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

, which she learnt for three years in the UK from Helena Shenel, as well as in

Indian classical music Indian classical music is the art music, classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It is generally described using terms like ''Shastriya Sangeet'' and ''Marg Sangeet''. It has two major traditions: the North Indian classical music known as ...

, which she learnt from Pandit Ashkaran Sharma.

Career

Music

Choudry began her singing career. When she was 12 years old, her talent was discovered by noted music director

Biddu Biddu Appaiah (born 8 February 1945) is a British-Indian singer-songwriter, composer, and music producer who composed and produced many worldwide hit records during a career spanning five decades. Considered one of the pioneers of disco, Euro ...

, who launched her musical career. She, at first, lent her voice as a

backup singer A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

to playback singers like

Shweta Shetty Shweta Shetty (also known as Shwetaa in nickname) is an Indian-born German pop singer known for her albums and for her contributions to Bollywood film soundtracks. Life and career Shetty's album, ''Johnny Joker'', was a success. She was awarde ...

and

Alisha Chinai Alisha Chinai (born 18 March 1965) is an Indian pop singer known for her Indi-pop albums as well as playback singing in Hindi cinema. She began her singing career with the album ''Jadoo'' in 1985, and by the 1990s she had become known as the ' ...

. In 2000, Choudry started her career as a pop singer with her

all-female band An all-female band is a musical ensemble, musical group in popular music that is exclusively composed of female musicians. This is distinct from a girl group, in which the female members are solely vocalists, though this terminology is not universa ...

"Sansara" with a song which Choudry herself wrote ("Yeh Dil Sun Raha Hai"). After their second hit “Habibi” the band separated and Choudry started her solo singing career, donning the videos "Habibi" and "Le Le Mera Dil" in 2002. Her latest single 'Aaj Naiyo Sauna' Choudry then moved to

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

in 2003, becoming a VJ for

and hosting the popular show ''MTV Loveline'', which eventually gained her popularity. Less than one year on, Sophie returned with her newest offering, “Sophie and Dr Love”. Her version of the song “Mera Babu Chail Chabila” became a chartbuster. She followed it up with what went on to become her biggest hit album “Babylove”. According to Choudry, she listened to over 400 songs to come up with her perfect 12. Songs on this album include "Ek Pardesi Mera Dil Le Gaya", "Jadugar Saiyaan", "Zuby Zuby", "Dil Ke Armaan", "Ghar Aaya Mera Pardesi", and "Bachke Rehna Re Baba". In December 2009, Choudry launched her album '' Sound of Sophie'', which had no remixes, but only original numbers. The launch of this album marked her association with the

Indian fashion India is a country with an History of clothing in the Indian subcontinent, ancient clothing design tradition, yet an emerging fashion industry. Though a handful of designers existed prior to the 1980s, the late 1980s and the 1990s saw a spurt of ...

bran
MADAME
who hired her as their first

brand ambassador A brand ambassador (sometimes also called a corporate ambassador) is a person paid by an organization or company to represent its brand in a positive light, helping to increase brand awareness and sales. The brand ambassador is meant to embody the ...

. She worked with well-known music composers such as

Rishi Rich Rishpal Singh Rekhi ( Punjabi: ਰਿਸ਼ਪਾਲ ਸਿੰਘ ਰੈਖੀ, born 30 June 1976), better known by his stage name Rishi Rich, is a British-Indian music producer based in London. He began his career in the Asian Underground sce ...

Bappi Lahiri Bappi Aparesh Lahiri (born Alokesh Aparesh Lahiri; 27 November 1952 – 15 February 2022), also known as Bappi Da, was an Indian singer, composer and record producer. He popularised the use of synthesised disco music in Indian music industry and ...

, Biddu and Gaurav Das Gupta in the album. Choudry has also participated in ''Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa'', Season 7.

Films

Sophie made her film debut with

David Dhawan David Dhawan (born Rajinder Dhawan; 16 August 1951) is an Indian director of Bollywood, Hindi films. A member of the List of Hindi film clans#Dhawan family, Dhawan family, he has directed over #Filmography, 42 films. The 1993 action thriller an ...

's ''

Shaadi No. 1 ''Shaadi No. 1'' () is a 2005 Indian Hindi-language comedy film directed by David Dhawan. The film stars Sanjay Dutt, Fardeen Khan, Zayed Khan, Sharman Joshi, Esha Deol, Ayesha Takia, Soha Ali Khan, Aarti Chabria, Riya Sen, and Sophie Chaudhar ...

'' in 2005. Her next release was ''

Pyaar Ke Side Effects ''Pyaar Ke Side Effects'' () is a 2006 Indian Hindi romantic comedy film. It was produced under the banner of Pritish Nandy communications and was written and directed by first time director Saket Chaudhary. Mallika Sherawat and Rahul Bose pl ...

'' (2006). In 2013, she appeared in an extended cameo in ''

Once Upon ay Time in Mumbai Dobaara! ''Once Upon ay Time in Mumbai Dobaara!'' (; ) is a 2013 Indian Hindi-language gangster film directed by Milan Luthria and produced by Ekta Kapoor and Shobha Kapoor. A sequel to 2010's ''Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai'', the film stars Akshay Kuma ...

'' and in a

dance number Dance Number (foaled March 28, 1979 in Kentucky) was an American Thoroughbred mare who retired having equaled or broken three track records for breeder and owner Ogden Phipps. Racing career Trained by U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee Angel ...

in ''

Shootout at Wadala ''Shootout at Wadala'' is a 2013 Indian Action film, action-crime film written and directed by Sanjay Gupta (director), Sanjay Gupta. The film stars Anil Kapoor, John Abraham, Manoj Bajpayee, Tusshar Kapoor, Kangana Ranaut and Sonu Sood. It is ...

''. In 2014, she appeared in another dance number in Telugu-language film '' 1: Nenokkadine''.

Other ventures

In December 2017, she launched a wellness company called Lifetox with her partners. They developed a fitness ayurvedic tea called Fittox and more products including Lifetox vitamins since then.

Filmography

* ''All films are in Hindi unless otherwise noted.''

TV appearances

*2014 ''

Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 7 Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 7 is the seventh season of the dance reality show, ''Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa''. It premiered on 7 June 2014 on Colors. The series was hosted by Ranvir Shorey and Drashti Dhami but later got replaced by Manish Paul. Madhuri Dixit, Ka ...

'' as contestant - Eliminated 12 week - 31 August 2014 *2014 '' Bigg Boss 8'' as contestant - Eliminated 4 week - 12 November 2014

Discography

* "Yeh Dil Sun Raha Hai" (2000) as part of Sansara * "Habibi" (2000) * "Le Le Mera Dil" (2002) * "Sophie & Dr. Love" (2003) * "Baby Love - Sophie" (2004) * "

Aap Jaisa Koi "Aap Jaisa Koi" () is a song from the 1979 soundtrack of the 1980 Indian film '' Qurbani''. It was the debut song of Pakistani singer Nazia Hassan, and was composed by British Indian producer Biddu. The song was featured in the film as an item n ...

" in ''Sweet Honey Mix'' (2004) * " Sound of Sophie" (2009) * "Hungama Ho Gaya" (2012) digital single * "Hungama Ho Gaya" (2013) compilation album * "Do You Know Baby" (2015) * "Aaj Naiyo Sauna" (2019) * “Gori Hai” (2022) * “Aaj main Nachna” (2022) * “Lips” (2024)

Awards

* 2001: UK Asian Pop Award for Best Female Newcomer * 2004: Lycra MTV Style Award for Most Stylish Female in Music * 2005: Bollywood Music Award for Best Female Pop Artist 2019, fit and fab icon 2023 Most stylish pop diva of the year , Bollywood Hungama 2024 Most stylish pop diva , pinkvilla 2024 Most stylish pop sensation of the year, bollywood Hungama

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Choudry, Sophie Living people 1982 births Actresses from Manchester Actresses in Hindi cinema Actresses in Tamil cinema Actresses in Telugu cinema Actresses in Hindi television Alumni of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art Alumni of the London School of Economics Bollywood playback singers British expatriate actresses in India British video jockeys English expatriates in India English film actresses English people of Indian descent English pop singers English television actresses Expatriate musicians in India British expatriate musicians Sciences Po alumni Singers from Manchester 21st-century English actresses 21st-century English singers 21st-century English women singers