Shilpa Rao

Some Lesser Known Facts About Shilpa Rao

• Shilpa Rao is a well-known playback singer, who is known for working predominantly in the Bollywood music industry.

• At a very young age, her father began training her in music. She began singing at an early age.

  

• In 1997, she relocated with her family from Jamshedpur to Mumbai for studying in college.

• At the age of 13, she developed an interest in music after meeting the Indian singer Hariharan. She began her training under the Indian classical musician Ghulam Mustafa Khan.
  

  

  In 2001, she began performing with Hariharan at various music events. Later, she participated in a national-level talent hunt in New Delhi and won. Later, she met Shankar Mahadevan, an Indian musician, who helped her in getting chances to sing jingles. She sang jingles for many TV commercials including Cadbury’s Munch, Sunsilk, Anchor Gel, No Marks, and more.

• In 2008, she worked as a playback singer for the song ‘Khuda Jaane’ from the film ‘Bachna Ae Haseeno.’ The song became very popular and turned out to be her breakthrough song.

  

• In March 2010, she made an appearance on NDTV’s Greenathon, an action taken for supporting the investigation of poor electricity supply in rural villages and promoting eco-friendliness.

• In October 2011, she sang the song ‘Haseen Zindagi,’ composed by Sonu Nigam, with other singers including Teesha Nigam, Shruti Pathak, Shefali Alvares, and Akriti Kakkar for supporting a project which aids breast cancer awareness.

• In March 2012, she promoted independent music in India on the occasion of Seagram’s Fuel Music Day by performing live on ArtistAloud.com, which is a digital platform for independent content makers.

• In an interview, she talked about the artists she would like to collaborate and perform on stage with and said,
  

  I don’t know because I feel as much as I perform and I see other artists perform, it’s great for an artiste to do their thing on the stage. I’d rather sit in the audience and watch them perform, but yeah for collaborations, it is great. When you are collaborating on something, it’s great to be on stage together. That being said, I would love to collaborate with Sting and share the stage with him. I would also like to be on stage with Snarky Puppy, among others.” ^[3]Travel + Leisure

• Shilpa Rao is a movie buff and likes to watch romantic films. In an interview, while talking about this hobby of hers, she said,
  

  I am a movie buff. I watch films from all over the world. Language is not an issue. I follow French, and Polish films a lot. But it’s not like I am not into Bollywood and Hollywood. If the plot clicks my fancy, I can watch anything.” ^[4]Deccan Herald

• In February 2013, she made a contribution to a 12-hour telethon, Support My School, by Coca-Cola and NDTV to raise funds and reactivate 272 schools in India.

• In May 2013, she contributed to raising awareness about the consumption of tobacco and raising funds for cancer patients on the occasion of ‘World No Tobacco Day’ by performing at an event, along with singers like Aakriti Kakkar, Shweta Pandit, Mamta Sharma and others, which was focused on promoting awareness about effects of tobacco.

• In October 2014, she participated in a musical concert, which took place in Delhi, to raise funds for helping the people affected by the Assam floods. ^[5]The Times of India

• In 2015, she performed on stage at a fundraising musical event, ‘100 Pipers Play for a Cause,’ in Delhi to help people affected by the Nepal earthquake.

• In July 2015, she began a campaign, ‘I am 100% Bihar,’ for increasing the use of renewable energy in Bihar.

• She recorded the song ‘English Vinglish’ from the 2012 Bollywood film ‘English Vinglish.’ In 2013, she lent her voice to the song ‘Malang’ from the popular Bollywood film ‘Dhoom 3.’ In 2016, she lent her voice to the song ‘Bulleya’ from the Bollywood romantic film ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil,’ starring Ranbir Kapoor and Aishwarya Rai. She sang the title track of the 2019 romantic drama film ‘Kalank.’ In the same year, she lent her voice to the song ‘Ghungroo’ from the popular Bollywood action film ‘War,’ starring Hrithik Roshan. In 2022, she sang the song ‘Besharam Rang’ from the Bollywood film ‘Pathaan,’ starring Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone.

  

• Some popular hit songs sung by her include ‘Ishq Shava’ from the Bollywood film ‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan’ (2012), ‘Subhanallah’ from the Bollywood film ‘Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani’ (2013), ‘Meherbaan’ from the Bollywood film ‘Bang Bang!’ (2014), and more.

  

• In an interview, on being asked about how she practices singing, she replied,
  

  That is an ongoing process till you die. You cannot stop. You can practice by listening to music, keeping yourself updated with all the new kinds of music. There is a lot of experimentation with the vocals, sound design and music. ^[6]Rediff I do riyaaz for at least three hours a day. As a child, I used to do riyaaz for three hours at a stretch but later on one would be pressed for time. If you don39t sing for at least three hours a day, your voice turns harsh.” ^[7]Radio City

• She considers singer Sukhwinder Singh as her singer crush.

• Reportedly, she is sensitive to smell and does not eat strong-smelling fruits.

• She is allergic to dust and tries to stay away from dusty places.

• Reportedly, Shilpa Rao and her husband, Ritesh Krishnan, every year celebrate their new year in Amritsar, Punjab. ^[8]YouTube – SHOWSHA

• She is a nature lover, and she often plants trees.

  

• In 2016, she appeared in the 9th season of ‘Coke Studio’ Pakistan and performed the song ‘Paar Channa De.’

  

• In 2020, she featured on the song ‘Those Words’ from the album ‘Love Letter’ by composer and sitarist Anoushka Shankar. The album received a nomination for the ‘Best Global Music Album’ nomination at the 63rd Grammy Awards in 2021. Shilpa Rao received a certificate for being nominated for the 2021 Grammy Awards.

  

• In an interview, Shilpa Rao shared the memory of when she met Ritesh Krishnan for the first time. She said,
  

  We met three years ago on (music composer) Pritam’s USA tour. Ritesh seemed to be an affectionate person, and we started hanging out together. On the first day that I met him, I felt that he was a chilled-out guy, which was very attractive for me. We started travelling together in 2018, and did many shows across India.” ^[9]The Times of India

• In an interview, she revealed how Ritesh Krishnan proposed to her for marriage in Ladakh and said,
  

  In October 2019, we were at a monastery at the top of the mountains in Ladakh. Ritesh said, ‘Let’s get married’ and I said, ‘Yeah’. That was really a beautiful place to have this conversation. So, it wasn’t slipping a ring on my finger kind of a proposal or going down on one knee, but it was just being one with the world.” ^[10]The Times of India

• According to Shilpa Rao, her biggest critics are her father, her mother, and her brother.

• In 2020, she was featured on the cover of Filmfare magazine.

• In 2021, Shilpa Rao got married to Ritesh Krishnan in an intimate wedding ceremony. In an interview, on being asked about the reason behind getting married at home, she replied,
  

  Our parents are senior citizens and therefore we chose to do a simple registered wedding at home. We kept it simple, decorated the house with flowers and my brother’s wife did my mehendi. We formally registered the wedding at around 5 pm, and all my friends and family members from across the world joined in on a video call to see the ceremony.” ^[11]The Times of India

• In 2022, she appeared on the cover of LitGleam magazine.

  

• In 2022, she was featured on the cover of The Score magazine.
  

  

  In the interview for the magazine, she revealed that had she not become a singer, she would not be doing anything. She said,

  Music was not a career choice for a very long time in my life. I never thought of doing anything. I never thought I could do anything in my life, so I think it was a good thing, I looked at music more and that is something I love being around, as opposed to something that I need to do to get somewhere, so therefore it was something that I would do with my heart without any expectations or without any thinking of the returns that I would get from it.” ^[12]The Score magazine