Neha Kakkar

Every child from a middle-class family dreams of getting successful, but very few of them have the power to make them true. Neha Kakkar, a very popular Bollywood singer, is one of these magical names of India. Neha started her career at a very small age as a religious singer. She is the first Indian singer to win YouTube Diamond Award, and she was featured on the Indian Forbes Celebrity list twice.

A quick view of Neha Kakkar

• Date of Birth- 6^th June 1988 (current age 33)
• Place of Birth- Rishikesh, India
• Parent's name- Rishikesh Kakkar, Niti Kakkar
• Profession- Singer
• Languages- Hindi, English, Marathi, and Punjabi
• Spouse name- Rohan Preet Singh (married in 2020)
• Siblings- Sonu Kakkar (elder sister) and Toni Kakkar (elder brother)
• Nickname- Nehu, Selfie queen
• Height- 4'9 (1.48 cm)
• Popular songs and albums- Second Hand Jawani (Cocktail), Jaddo Ki Jhappi (Ramaiya Vastavaiya), Dhating Naach( Phata Poster Nikla Hero), Sunny Sunny (yaariyan), Manali Trance ( The Shaukeens), Dilbar (Satyameva Jayate), London Thumakada(Queen) and many more.

Early Life

Neha was born on 6^th June 1988 at Rishikesh in Uttrakhand. She is the youngest child of the Kakkar family. Her mom Niti Kakkar and dad, Rishikesh Kakkar, shifted to Delhi in the early 90s with her elder Sister Sonu Kakkar and elder brother Tony Kakkar.Both sisters used to sing Bhajan (devotional songs of Hindus) in religious ceremonies from a very young age. Neha was just 4yr old kid when she started singing bhajans professionally.Atthe young age of 16, Neha and her brother Tonyshifted to Mumbai in 2004.

Her Career

At the age of 18, Neha auditioned for Indian Idol and got selected, but she was eliminated from the show at the very beginning of the show. In 2008, she also released her first album, "Neha- the rock star," directed by Meet Bros Anjaan. This wasn't a massive hit but was yet helped her in getting work in Bollywood. The same year Neha worked with her brother Tony on a music album named Romeo Juliet and made her signing Bollywood debut with Sukhwinder Singh in the song "Hai Rama" from Meerabai Not Out (2008).

Neha also got a chance to work with A.R. Rahman next year on the theme song of "Blue". Later she sang a song on the T.V. show "Na Anna Iss Desh Laado" 2009. In 2010, Neha made her debut on the screen as an artist, "Isi Life Mein", which was directed by Vidhi Kasliwal. In the movie, she plays a role of a college student. In the same year, she also sang songs in Kannada and Telugu with Music Director Sandeep Chowta. She sang a song in the Kannada film "Thamassu" and "NaduBaare" song with MasterSaleem.

She also tried her hand at comedy with Kapil Sharma and Ali Asgar. In the same year, her song "Second hand Jawani" from the movie Cocktail was a huge hit and got mixed reviews from critics. In 2012, she sang the song "S.R.K. Anthem" as a tribute to the King of Bollywood "Shahrukh Khan".

Neha Kakkar was in controversy while releasing her song "Bottle Khol" in the movie "Prague" when the Central Board of Film Certificate objected to the song, stating the lyrics full ofthe song were full of doublemeanings. In 2013, she sang a song of Ramaiya Vastavaiya, "Jaddo Ki Jhappi", which was a super hit. Then she sang "Dhating Naach" in the moviePhata Poster Nikla Hero, starredby Shahid Kapoor and Elena D'cruz; unfortunately, the movie didn't perform well at the box office, but the song made its craze among people.

In 2014, Neha was already a popular singer and this year worked as a bonus in her hit career. She started an amazing year with "Yaariyan", in which she gave her voice to the song "Sunny Sunny" alongside Yo Yo Honey Singh, and then again in the same year, she and Yo-Yo gave their voice to another song, "Manali Trance" from the movie the Shaukeens. Neha sang her First song with Amit Trivedi in the same year for the Kangana Ranaut starrer Movie "Queen," which was labeled as "London Thumakada". This was a super hit songand is still part of Weddings and Indian functions even after so many years. The Kakkar sibling trios (Sonu, Neha, and Tony) gave a tribute to their mom on the occasion of "Mother Day" and got a popular response from the Indian public and critics in 2014.

2015, a year full of so many successes, was waiting for her.The year started with "Ek Do Teen Char" from Ek Paheli Leela,which was a hit. In the same year, she gave hits like Naughty No.1 (from the movie Barkha), Daru Peeke Nachna (from Ek Paheeli Leela), and Tu Isaq Mera (from Hate Story 3). She also sang and featured in Shilpa Shetty's music video "Wedding Da Season" and ended her year with a hit song "Tukur Tukur" with Sidharth Mahadevan, Arijit Singh, Kanika Kapoor from Multi starrer(Shahrukh Khan, Varun Dhawan, Kriti Sanon and Kajol) movie "Dilwale" which went popular and was liked by young generation especially.

Neha and her brother started 2016 with a super hit song, "Mile HoTumHumKo", from the movieFever. This became the most viewed song on YouTube that Year and was liked by the audience and critics. After this, she got two more amazing super popular songs, "Kala Chashma" from Baar Baar Dekho, filmed byKatrina Kaif and Sidharth Malhotra, and "Humne Pee Rakhi Hai", "Akaad Bakkad" from Sanam Re. She has also sung some remakes of super hit songs that year, such as "Kar Gayi Chul" remake of Haryanvi Track "Chul" for the movieKapoor and Sons, "Maahi ve" for Wajah Tum Ho, which was recreated from Kaante Movie track "Maahi ve" and "O Jaaniya" for Force 2 which was taken from a super hit track "Kaate nahi katte" of 1987's Movie Mr. India.

In 2017, Neha was again ready to shine as collaborating with Tanishq Bagchi made her voice part of every Indian Party, and she gave back-to-back party hits. She started her year with "Badri Ki Dulhaniya"from themovie Badrinath Ki Dulhaniyawith Monali Thakur, Dev Negi, and Ikka Singh. This song had some similarities to the song "Chalat Musafir" of the 1966's movie Teesri Kasam. The same year she sang one morepopular retro remake, "Cheez Badi", for the movie Machine. This song was picked from Mohramovie's song "Tu Cheez Badi Hai MastMast," released in 1994. Both songs got very popular, and she came up with another party hit, "Main Tera Boyfriend", with Arijit singing for Sushant Singh Rajpoot's movie Raabta. This song was also a remake of the Punjabi pop song "Na Na Na Na". The trend of a remake didn't stop here, and she sang another remake of two very popular Hindi songs, "Chalti Hai Kya" and "Ounchi Hai Building," from the movie Judwa with Dev Negi and Anu Malik for Judwa 2 (remake of the same movie).

In the same year, she was seen in the T.V. reality show "Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Lil Champs" with Himesh Reshammiya and Javed Ali as a Judge for the show's sixth season. She ended her year with another remake of a popular song, "Mehbooba", originally sung by Mohammad Rafi for Dharamendra's movie "Dharam Veer" and reused in Fukrey Returns and was the honor of any Indian Singer to sing. The year might end, but the trend of the remake wasn't over, and she started her New Year by launching a popular track with Yo Yo Honey Singh, "Chote Chote Peg," for the movie Sonu ke Tittu Ki Sweety, taken from the song "Tottey Tootey Ho Gya" (used in 2000 in the movie Bitchoo). She also got a chance to recreate the song "Ashiq Banaya Aapne" in the movie Hate story 4, which was originally sung by the Indian versatile singer Shreya Ghoshal and famousmusicdirector and singer Himesh Reshammiya in the movie Ashiq Banaya Aapne. She also becamea judge on the singing reality show "Indian Idol" with Anu Malik and Vishal Dadlani the same year; she got trolled as "Cry Baby" because she was so emotional and cried on the show on many occasions. Still, The viewers also lovedthat they got a chance to see her on the show again and again. Her YouTube boomed when she sang "Dilbar" in the movie Satyamev Jayate and "Ankh Marey" in Simba. Both songs were remakes of already very popular party songs and, again, within no time, became the most viewed songs on YouTube and gave Neha new records in a very short period. Not only remakes, but she has also sung "Dholida" in Loveyatri, "Bhangra Da Sajda" in Veere ki Weeding, and ended her year with "Gali Gali" for a Hindi version of Telegu Film K.G.F. Chapter- 1. These songs performed very well, and Neha had a very well end to 2018.

In 2019, the remakes continued, and she started her year by recreating "Chamma Chamma" from China Gate, originally released in 1998 and again used in the movie "Fraud Saiyan". Then she sang "Coca Cola Tu" in the movie Luka Chupi which was originally sung and created by her brother Toni Kakkar. After this, she came up with another remake, "Hauli Hauli" for De De Pyar De and "Ek Toh Kum Zindagani" from Marjaavan. She also brought an album song, "Oh Humsafar", starting herself and her boyfriend (at that time) Himansh Kohli. Later she gave her voice to "Ki Honda Pyar" (movie- Jabariya Jodi), "The Hookup song" (Student of the Year 2), Dheeme Dheeme (Pati Patni Aur Wo), and the Romantic Song "Tu Hi Yaar Mera" (movie- Pati Patni Aur Wo).

In 2020, when Covid19 hit the world and all work went online, Neha still recorded many hit songs such as "Garmi" from Street dancer 3d, "Taroon ke Seher mein" (non-filmy song), "Jinke Liye" with Jaani and Bpraak, "Yaad Piya ki Aani" etc. In 2021, she released her first song as Video Director, "Peene Laage ho", sung by her Husband, Rohan Preet Singh. Also, she released many songs with her husband in the year 2020 and 2021, such as "Khayal Rakha kr", "Khad Tainu Main Dasa", "Nehu Da Vyah", "Ex Calling," etc. Neha also gave an amazing performance in 2021 in Dubai, UAE, for a Film Award Show.

Training, Voice, Music, and Inspiration

As a child, Neha always admired her sister's singing and made her inspiration; she followed her elder sister Sonu and became a popular Bollywood singer like her but a lot more popular than her.

Neha never took any vocal training, but she got amazing compliments from the critics. According to them, she is blessed with an amazing voice that is different, exclusive, seductive, and partly nasal voice. If we talk about music styles, she usually used to sing Pop, hip hop, and R&B. The uniqueness in her voice allows her to sing different versions and genres as both her party songs and romantic are equally liked by the Indian audience.

Neha's Personal Life

In Image, Neha with her Husband Rohan Preet singh

Young boys and girls love Neha as her songs area favorite to dance on stage. She is very active on social media, such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and her YouTube channel, and she also tries to interact with her fans and give them all the updates on her life and career. She is one of the most followed artists on Instagram and got a trophy from Instagram as the first Indian music artist to reach this milestone.

Neha got popular when she came into publicity because of her relationship with Bollywood Actor Himansh Kohli, but however this relationship didn't go well, and they both part their ways in 2018, after three months of officially announcing their relationship on national television. This breakup didn't go well, and Neha told about her depression to her fans on Instagram; for many months, Neha and Himansh's fans kept accusing each other on the social media platform. Later Neha got married to a Punjabi Singer,Rohanpreet Singh, in October 2020, at a gurudwara in Delhi. She announced her Roka ceremony on social media and gave the news to her Fans.

People and the media criticize Neha as a Cry baby because of many sad posts on social media, but she always takes her critics in a positive way. She appeared on Forbes's Top 100 Celebrity listmany times, and in 2020, she launched a Master Class for supporting new talent in India. Neha also has the title of SecondMostPopularIndian Female Singer on YouTube.

Awards

Neha got many awards in Bollywood; here is a list of all the awards she won to date-

• She got nominated for "Best Playback Singer- Kannada" for her song in Kannada Movie Thamassu at the 58^th Film fare Awards South in the Year 2011.
• In 2016, she got nominated for the BestDuo at the 3^rdT.C. Punjab Awards for the song "Pyar Te Jaguar" and Harshit Tomar.
• In 2017, she won "Best Vocalist Duo" with Gippy Grewal for "Patt Laienge" in the 4^thT.C. Punjab Awards.
• The same year she got nominated for her Bollywood song "Badri ki Dulhaniya" in the movie "Badrinath Ki Dulhaniya" for the 10^thMirchi Music Awards.
• Her song "Dilbar" (movie- Satyamev Jayate) won the award "Bollywood Song of the Year" at the Brit Asia TV Awards in 2018.
• In 2020, she won the Mirchi Social Media icon of the Year Award at the 15^th Mirchi Music Awards.

Neha is still working in Bollywood, and she is surely going to give many more hits and popular tracks in the future. She also appeared in many movies and shows and has a huge base of fans in several age groups, but this is not the end of her era as she will add many more new fans and achievements with her talent.