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 influential singers of India. She has recorded songs for films and albums in various Indian and foreign languages, receiving 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, and started her formal training in classical music when she was six years old. At 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 in Berhampore, Murshidabad, West Bengal into a Bengali family. 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, organized 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 composer Kalyanji for 18 months and continued her classical music training with 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.
Career Ghoshal's first recording was "Ganraj Rangi Nachto", which is a cover version of a Marathi song originally sung by Lata Mangeshkar. Her first studio album was Bendhechhi Beena, which was released on 1 January 1998, with 14 tracks. Some of her earlier albums are O Tota Pakhi Re, Ekti Katha (1999), and Mukhor Porag (2000). Ghoshal recorded Bengali studio album Rupasi Raate (2002). Ghoshal recorded devotional songs in albums like Banomali Re (2002), and later, Krishna Bina Ache Ke (2007).
2002–2004: Playback singing debut and breakthrough Ghoshal caught the attention of director Sanjay Leela Bhansali when she participated in the 75th children's special episode of Sa Re Ga Ma. Bhansali's mother, Leela Bhansali was watching the show and during Ghoshal's performance, she called him to watch her performance, after which he decided to give her a chance in his next film. According to Bhansali, Ghoshal's voice had the innocence needed for the character of Paro in Devdas (2002).
In 2000, Bhansali and music director Ismail Darbar offered her the opportunity to be the voice of Paro, the lead female character of Devdas, who was portrayed by Aishwarya Rai. Ghoshal sang five songs in the film, namely, "Silsila Ye Chaahat Ka", "Bairi Piya", "Chalak Chalak", "Morey Piya", and "Dola Re Dola", with established singers such as Kavita Krishnamurthy, Udit Narayan, Vinod Rathod, KK, and Jaspinder Narula. She was sixteen when she recorded the first song for the film, "Bairi Piya" with Udit Narayan. Her Higher Secondary Examinations were nearing that time and she would take her books and notebooks to the studio to study during downtime. "Bairi Piya" was an instant success and topped the charts. The film garnered her first Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer for "Dola Re" (shared with Kavita Krishnamurthy) and a National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer for "Bairi Piya". Her performance also won her the Filmfare RD Burman Award for New Music Talent.
In a 2025 interview with Filmfare, Ghoshal revealed that she had received multiple offers from other filmmakers before Devdas was released, but she declined them all to honor her verbal commitment to Bhansali. She stated, "Had I sung for all these people, I wouldn't have been in *Devdas*, I'm sure about that" She was an immediate success and was called by various other Indian film industries for recording songs in her voice. Ghoshal was next heard in Darbar-composed Desh Devi, where she performed three tracks for the film.
After rendering traditional semi-classical songs for her previous ventures, Ghoshal performed two seductive numbers for M. M. Kreem's Jism, which prevented her from being stereotyped. According to Ghoshal, "Jaadu Hai Nasha Hai" and "Chalo Tumko Lekar Chale" from the film "made everyone look at [her] in a new light", opening the doors to a "versatile image". She was awarded with another Filmfare trophy for Best Female Playback Singer for the song "Jaadu Hai Nasha Hai". She thereupon worked with Anu Malik, where she performed the female version of "Aye Meri Zindagi", "Seena Pada" and "Aai Jo Teri Yaad", along with the bhajan-styled "Har Taraf". In addition to providing vocals for "Har Taraf", Ghoshal also made her first on-screen appearance in Saaya, as the school girl singing the song. Apart from Inteha, Ghoshal provided vocals for Malik in two other films, Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. and LOC: Kargil, where she recorded the song "Chann Chann" for the former and "Pyaar Bhara Geet" for the latter, along with Sonu Nigam. Besides, Ghoshal made her first collaboration with Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy by performing the female version of the song "Tu Hi Bata Zindagi". Calling her singing "effortless" in the song, The Hindu mentioned that she was "able to impart the required emotions" for the song.
In 2004, Ghoshal contributed to the soundtrack album of Thoda Tum Badlo Thoda Hum by performing four tracks, which were labelled with an "average" tag by Joginder Tuteja from Bollywood Hungama. However, he was "impressed" with Ghoshal's rendition from her songs in Khakee, where he affirmed that Ghoshal's voice suits Aishwarya Rai to the "core" and she "lends credibility to the entire song" in "Wada Raha". Besides, the two duets with Nigam; "Dil Dooba" and "Youn Hi Tum Mujhse", were equally favored by music critics. Further complimenting her vocals in the song "Hum Tumko Nigahon Mein" and "Soniye" from Garv, Tuteja asserted that Ghoshal's "vocals have started to suit the current breed of actresses better and better with each passing day". Apart from Dil Bechara Pyaar Ka Maara, Ghoshal worked with Nikhil–Vinay in other projects, by recording "Betab Dil Hai" from Phir Milenge, and "Woh Ho Tum" from Muskaan.
During the time, Nadeem–Shravan composed Tumsa Nahin Dekha: A Love Story was considered to be the biggest album for Ghoshal, as she sang all the numbers with an exception of one song. She performed a wide variety of songs—from a jazzy number to soft romantic tunes—in the album. According to Ghoshal, the album allowed her to "experiment with the entire range" of her "singing capabilities". Alt URL Besides, Ghoshal lent her voice for Malik, where she sang "Tumhe Jo Maine Dekha" and "Gori Gori" for Main Hoon Na apart from the title track. Mid-Day affirmed that Ghoshal provided "perfect accompaniment" for the track, while Rediff.com was "impressed with her rendition". The year marks her first collaboration with Rajesh Roshan and Pritam by singing the melodious track for the former composed "Saansein Ghulne Lagi" from Aetbaar and performing the track "Shikdum" from Dhoom, for the latter.
She debuted in the Tamil cinema through the song "Yen Chellam" in Vasanthabalan's film Album (2002), She made her Telugu debut for music director Mani Sharma in Okkadu (2003). She made her debut in Kannada cinema with the song "Krishna Nee Begane Baaro" in the movie Paris Pranaya (2003). Ghoshal debuted in Malayalam cinema through a studio album of composer Alphons Joseph and later gave voice to his song "Vida Parayukayano" from Big B (2007).
2005–2007: Established singer
Ghoshal was bestowed with her second National Film Award for her rendition of "Dheere Jalna" in Paheli, which she sang alongside Sonu Nigam. As claimed by Daily News and Analysis, the song "treads the fine balance between the classical and popular genre of Hindi film music". Barring the song "Dheere Jalna", Ghoshal was heard in two other tracks "Kangna Re" and "Minnat Kare", composed by M.M. Kreem. She provided vocals for Kreem in one of his another compositions: "Guzar Na Jaye" from Rog. With the film Parineeta, she made her first collaboration with Shantanu Moitra. She performed four tracks from the film alongside Sonu Nigam, which includes "Piyu Bole", "Kasto Mazza" and "Soona Man Ka Aangan". Thereupon, she worked for the soundtrack album of Yahaan, performing a soulful track "Naam Adaa Likhna", "Urzu Urzu Durkut" and a Punjabi track "Mele Chaliyan". Ghoshal's work in both the films was widely acclaimed, subsequently being nominated for the Filmfare Awards with the song "Piyu Bole". Reportedly, Ghoshal was selected to sing the female rendition of the track after being auditioned by many other artistes. In an interview, Moitra stated; "Pradeep wanted a little trill of laughter in the middle of the song and she did it effortlessly".
Along with "Piyu Bole", Ghoshal received another Filmfare nomination for her rendition of the song "Agar Tum Mil Jao" from Zeher. The song along with "Jaane Ja Jaane Ja" from the same film was acclaimed by music critics. Apart from providing supporting vocals for Himesh Reshammiya's "Aashiq Banaya Aapne", Ghoshal's voice had been used in some of his other compositions released during the year. However, while reviewing Malik-composed "Pehle Se", Bollywood Hungama wrote: "Ghoshal sang in a mature manner and did so well and once again she proved herself as a dependable playback singer". Similar sentiments were echoed for the song "Bolo To" from Shabd which was composed by Vishal–Shekhar.