Shreya Ghoshal,Mumbai-Maharashtra

Shreya Ghoshal (born 12 March 1984) is an Indian singer. Noted for her wide vocal range and versatility, she is one of the most prolific and popular singers of India. She has recorded songs for films and albums in various Indian and foreign languages and received numerous accolades, including five National Film Awards, four Kerala State Film Awards, two Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, two BFJA Awards, seven Filmfare Awards and ten Filmfare Awards South.

Ghoshal began learning music at the age of four. At the age of six, she started her formal training in classical music. When she reached sixteen, she was noticed by filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s mother after she won the television singing reality show Sa Re Ga Ma. Following the success, she made her Bollywood playback singing debut with Bhansali’s romantic drama Devdas (2002) for which she received a National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer, a Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer, and a Filmfare RD Burman Award for New Music Talent.

Apart from playback singing, Ghoshal has appeared as a judge on several television reality shows and in music videos. She has been honoured by the state of Ohio in the United States, where Governor Ted Strickland declared 26 June 2010 as “Shreya Ghoshal Day”. In April 2013, she was honoured in London by the selected members of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. She has been featured five times in the Forbes list of the top 100 celebrities from India. In 2017, Ghoshal became the first Indian singer to have her wax figure displayed in the Indian wing of Madame Tussauds Museum in Delhi.

Early life
Shreya Ghoshal was born on 12 March 1984 to a Bengali Brahmin family in Berhampore, Murshidabad of West Bengal state. She grew up in Rawatbhata, a small town near Kota, Rajasthan. Her father, Bishwajit Ghoshal is an electrical engineer and works for the Nuclear Power Corporation of India, and her mother, Sarmistha Ghoshal, is a literature post-graduate. At the age of four, she started learning music. She has a younger brother, Soumyadeep Ghoshal who is also a musician.

Ghoshal completed her schooling up to eighth grade at the Atomic Energy Central School No.4 in Rawatbhata. In 1995, she won the All India Light Vocal Music Competition, New Delhi, organised by Sangam Kala Group, in Light Vocal group in sub-junior level. In 1997, when her father was transferred to the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, she was relocated to Mumbai, with her family and studied at the Atomic Energy Central School in Anushakti Nagar. She joined the Atomic Energy Junior College to study science. She dropped out from the junior college and enrolled at the SIES College of Arts, Science, and Commerce in Mumbai, where she took up arts with English as her major.

Ghoshal’s mother used to help her in rehearsals and accompany her on the Tanpura, starting with mostly Bengali songs. At the age of six, Ghoshal began receiving formal training in classical music. She trained with Late Kalyanji Bhai for 18 months and continued her classical music training with Late Mukta Bhide in Mumbai. Her first stage performance was at a club’s annual function. When she turned six, she started her lessons in Hindustani classical music. In 2000, at the age of sixteen, she participated and won the television music reality show Sa Re Ga Ma (now Sa Re Ga Ma Pa) on the channel Zee TV.