Shilpa Rao (born Apeksha Rao; 11 April 1984) is an Indian playback singer known for her versatile and unconventional vocal style, deeply rooted in Hindustani classical music. She primarily records in the Hindi, Telugu, and Tamil languages. Raised in Jamshedpur, Rao completed her postgraduate studies in applied statistics in Mumbai before embarking on a professional career in music. After initial training under her father, S. Venkat Rao, and the renowned classical musician Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan, she made her Bollywood debut in 2007 with the song "Tose Naina" (also known as "Javeda Zindagi") from the film Anwar, composed by Mithoon.
Rao rose to widespread prominence with the release of "Woh Ajnabee" from The Train (2007) and "Khuda Jaane" from Bachna Ae Haseeno (2008), the latter of which earned her a nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer. The following year, she collaborated with Ilaiyaraaja for Paa (2009), where she performed the song "Mudi Mudi Ittefaq Se" which earned her a second Filmfare nomination in the same category. In 2012, Rao teamed up with A. R. Rahman for the song "Ishq Shava" for Yash Chopra's swan song Jab Tak Hai Jaan, followed by Pritam's "Malang" from Dhoom 3 (2013) and Vishal–Shekhar's "Meherbaan" from Bang Bang! (2014). Rao's collaborations with Amit Trivedi were also acclaimed with songs such as "Manmarziyaan" from Lootera (2013) receiving particular praise. She was the final Indian singer to perform in Coke Studio Pakistan with the song "Paar Chanaa De" (2016) and received praise for singing the song "Aaj Jaane Ki Zid Na Karo" from the deluxe edition of the Ae Dil Hai Mushkil soundtrack (2016)."Ghungroo" from War (2019; Hindi), "Besharam Rang" from Pathaan (2023; Hindi), "Kaavaalaa" from Jailer (2023; Tamil), "Chaleya" from Jawan (2023; Hindi) and "Chuttamalle" from Devara: Part 1 (2024; Telugu) were her most commercially successful songs.Rao is particularly known in the media for trying new styles in her songs and singing for different genres. Rao, who considers her father as her biggest inspiration in the music career, has supported charitable organisations for a number of causes.
Early life Shilpa Rao was born on 11 April 1984 in Jamshedpur, India into a Telugu family and a native of Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh. Rao was initially named as Apeksha Rao but later changed to Shilpa Rao. According to her, she relates to the name Shilpa more, since the name has "to do with art". She started singing while she was a kid, tutored and instructed by her father, S Venkat Rao, who holds a degree in music. He taught Rao to understand the "nuances" of different ragas: "His method of teaching was casual and at the same time very effective because it was designed to pique my interest". For her education, Rao went to Little Flower School and Loyola School, Jamshedpur, where she was part of the choir group in school. In 1997, she visited to Mumbai along with her family, to do a postgraduate diploma in statistics from the University of Mumbai.
Rao was motivated to be a singer upon meeting with Hariharan, at the age of 13, and commenced training under Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan, insisted by Hariharan. Initially, she found herself struggling in "finding references" and meeting music composers since she was not "so active" in social networking media during the time. About her early days in the city, Rao said: "Jamshedpur is home for me but Mumbai with the people, the place, the pace everything has made a more patient person and a more hardworking artist I could ever be". In 2001 she began performing live with Hariharan at different venues, subsequently winning a national-level talent hunt in New Delhi. Shankar Mahadevan–one of the judges in the contest–asked her to settle in Mumbai.
In 2004, she shifted to Mumbai and completed Post Graduation in Applied Statistics from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai. Mahadevan gave Rao few contacts of people who helped her in getting to sing jingles. Rao mentioned that singing jingles was "perhaps the best way" to start in Mumbai as it helped her making the best contacts in the studios. She worked as a jingle singer for three years and established a life of her own. She sang songs for products such as Cadbury's Munch, Sunsilk, Anchor Gel and No Marks.
Career 2007–08: Career beginnings and Bachna Ae Haseeno While Rao was studying at college, she met with Mithoon, who called her for recording of the song "Tose Naina" from Anwar (2007). Considering the song as her "most innocent rendition" she had done, Rao said, "This song is extremely close to my heart and has taught me what thrill and gratitude of music is and can be". Though Rao credits "Tose Naina" as her career debut song, the soundtrack of the film Ek Ajnabee (2005) has a semi-instrumental track titled "Stranger On The Prowl" which has Rao's alap incorporated within it. She collaborated with Mithoon in two other projects during the year; Aggar and The Train. Though "Sehra" from the former met with negative reactions from music critics, both "Woh Ajnabee" and "Teri Tamanna" from the latter were well received; Raja Sen from Rediff.com praising Rao's "strong vocals" in particular. While shooting for Salaam-e-Ishq, music composer Shankar Mahadevan from the trio Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy suggested Rao's name to director Nikhil Advani, thus landing the song "Saiyaan Re". Sukanya Verma who praised Rao's "perfectly impish delivery" of the song wrote: "Despite Mahadevan's dynamic presence, [Rao], to watch out for, is never once intimidated". She again teamed up with Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy for the Hindi version of the track "All For One" from the soundtrack of High School Musical 2.
Rao's first release of 2008 came with Raghav Sachar-composed remix version of "Gup Chup" from One Two Three, followed by "Ek Lau" from Aamir, composed by Amit Trivedi. According to Rao, "Ek Lau" was a song of "hope for many people for the 26/11 Mumbai attacks". She affirmed that the song will inspire people and picked "Ek Lau" as one of the "few compositions" that is "close" to her. Apart from rendering "Main Sajda" for Anu Malik in Good Luck!, she was heard in a "faint alaap" at the beginning of the song "Koi Na Jaane" from Hijack, along with KK. The duo also collaborated during the year, in Vishal–Shekhar's "Khuda Jaane" from Bachna Ae Haseeno. Rao, calling the song a "timeless classic", felt it was beautifully composed and written. She mentioned that she feels "fortunate to be a part" of the song. "Khuda Jaane" earned Rao her first nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer.
2009–12: Paa and Jab Tak Hai Jaan Rao, a friend of music composer Amit Trivedi, introduced him to Anurag Kashyap, director of the film Dev.D (2009) who was searching for a new composer with a "distinct vision" for his film. The song, "Dhol Yaara Dhol" from the soundtrack of the film was recorded three years ago, "free of cost". She was next heard in Piyush Mishra-composed Gulaal, where she performed the track "Aisi Sazaa". Sen from Rediff.com credited Rao's "distinctively dulcet tones" for making the song a memorable track. After recording "Manzaraat" from Sikandar, Rao performed the track "Mudi Mudi Ittefaq Se" for Ilaiyaraaja's Paa. She described the song as the "most difficult experience" and believed that lyrics and "musical bounces" in the song was a "test" in proving her versatility. The song garnered positive response from critics; Chandrima Pal from Rediff.com picked the track as the "most significant song of the album". The soundtrack album had another track titled "Udi Udi Ittefaq Se" by Rao, with slight variations in the arrangements and lyrics. "Mudi Mudi Ittefaq Se" garnered her second nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer. In 2010, Rao collaborated with Pritam for the first time, and performed "Ittefaq Tu Nahin" for Mallika and "Dil Le Jaa" for Toh Baat Pakki!. She again teamed up with Trivedi for Admissions Open and Vishal–Shekhar for Anjaana Anjaani. Though her previous releases during the year received mixed response from critics, "I Feel Good" and "Anjaana Anjaani" from the latter were positively received; Joginder Tuteja from Bollywood Hungama ascribed the "beauty of the songs" to Rao for holding fort and giving "good company" to her co-singers. She did playback for Bappi Lahiri in "Ankhiya Na Maar" of Apartment and performed two tracks for Lahore; Piyush Mishra's Sufi song "O Re Bande" and M.M. Kreem's Punjabi flavored "Rang De". The Times of India appraised the work of Rao in Lahore, since she tried performing different tracks within the same album. In the year, Rao made her Tamil music debut with the song "Oru Maalai Neram" from Yuvan Shankar Raja-composed Naan Mahaan Alla along with Javed Ali.
Rao's third collaboration with Pritam came along with the song "Allah Maaf Kare" from Desi Boyz (2011). She lent her voice for Trivedi in "Yeh Pal" from No One Killed Jessica, where NDTV noted that the song is "effectively voiced" by Rao. The year marks her first collaboration with Salim–Sulaiman, by recording "Jazba" from Ladies vs Ricky Bahl. During the year, she teamed up with Raghu Dixit as the composer and Ash King as the co-singer in "Uh-Oh Uh-Oh" from Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge. Rao collaborated with lyricist Neelesh Misra and composer Amartya Rahut and formed the Band Called Nine, which works for the traditional Indian craft of storytelling. During the year, they released their debut album, Rewind, consisting of songs and storytelling, put together with a narrative. Besides, Rao appeared in several TV series including MTV Unplugged and The Dewarists, where she performed acoustic versions for some of her previously released songs for the former and the song "I Believe" with Parikrama and Agnee for the latter. Rao considered MTV Unplugged "very challenging" to do since she had to create a totally different version of songs and "present it to people, who have heard it earlier and liked it".
After Ladies vs Ricky Bahl, Rao worked again with Salim–Sulaiman for "Jab Main Tumhare Saath Hun" from Jodi Breakers (2012). Tuteja reviewing the song from Bollywood Hungama perceived that she "deserves to be heard much more often". Apart from rendering "Yaariyaan" from Cocktail, Rao teamed up with Trivedi in two other films, Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu and English Vinglish. She received praise for her vocals in both films, particularly for "Aahatein" from the former, and the title track and "Gustakh Dil" from the latter; Jaspreet Pandohar from BBC Online regarded the title track as a "likeable listen" for Rao's "warm Hinglish" vocals. Tuteja complimenting the "charisma of her voice" in the song "Gustakh Dil" wrote: "Her voice carries a certain depth and edge to it that always makes one wonder why she isn't brought behind the mike far more often". The year concluded with Rao's collaboration with A. R. Rahman, by recording the track "Ishq Shava" from Jab Tak Hai Jaan, which was a fusion of Arabic and techno sounds. Shivi from Koimoi declared that the song proves Rao's versatility as a singer.
2013–present: Lootera and Coke Studio