Monali Thakur | |
|---|---|
 Thakur at an event in 2014 | |
| Born | (1985-11-03)3 November 1985 (age 39) Calcutta (now Kolkata),West Bengal, India |
| Alma mater | St. Xavier's College, Kolkata |
| Occupations |
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| Spouse | |
| Father | Shakti Thakur |
| Musical career | |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 2006–present |
| Labels | |
Musical artist | |
Monali Thakur (born 3 November 1985) is an Indian playback singer. She is the recipient of several awards including aNational Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer for the song "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage" from the filmDum Laga Ke Haisha (2015) and aFilmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer for the song "Sawaar Loon" from the filmLootera (2013). She was a judge of Zee TV's singing reality showSa Re Ga Ma Pa L'il Champs 2014. She was also an "expert" on Colors TV'sRising Star for two consecutive seasons.[1]
Thakur was born on 3 November 1985 in aBengali Brahmin family inCalcutta (now Kolkata).[2][3] Her fatherShakti Thakur was a professional singer and actor in Bengali film industry and her sister Mehuli Thakur is a playback singer in Bengal.[4] She has learnthip-hop andBharatanatyam and is also a trainedsalsa dancer.[5][6]
An alumnus ofThe Future Foundation School andSt. Xavier's College, Kolkata,[7] Thakur started singing in school and college competitions and performing at local functions.[8]
In 1999, she sang the first song of her career in the filmChena Chena under the musical direction ofAnupam Dutta and penned byPulak Bandyopadhyay. It was a Bengali children song titled "Choi Choi Choi Tipi Tipi". The same year, she recorded the title track of Bengali serialShri Ramkrishna. She received the Best Playback Singer Award atAnandalok Awards for it when she was 14.[9] She rose to popularity after placing ninth inIndian Idol 2.[10]
She had to struggle even afterIndian Idol to get a strong foothold in the music industry. She got an offer from music directorPritam Chakraborty to sing two songs for the Bollywood filmRace in 2008 – "Khwab Dekhe" (Sexy Lady) and "Zara Zara Touch Me".[10] Monali's first large format live concert was at Powai Sarvajanin Durgotsav in 2011.[citation needed]
Monali started her career in 2000 with the song 'Sundar Kato Sundar' from the Bengali movieSajoni Aamar Sohag, sung along withKavita Krishnamurti,Goutam Ghose and Pratik Choudhary. In 2005, she participated in the singing reality showIndian Idol, She was eliminated very early and stood at 9th position. About her experience withIndian Idol, which ran for up to six months, Thakur said that she was mostly nervous the entire time. "I would get severe anxiety attacks while singing on stage and I wish I had more fun at the time". However, she opened up about the impact of participating in and winning these shows: "You win good money and it gives you face value but you can only capitalise it for no more than a couple of months. The real war starts afterwards once you start working bit by bit".[11]
Post-Indian Idol, Thakur made her singing debut with the song "Kabool Kar Le" in the 2006 filmJaan-E-Mann, composed byAnu Malik; who was also one of the judges inIndian Idol. In 2008, Thakur rose to prominence with the songs "Zara Zara Touch Me" and "Khwab Dekhe (Sexy Lady)" in the filmRace, composed byPritam. Thakur considers the former of the songs to be her first real breakthrough. 'Zara Zara Touch Me' was originally the only song that Thakur was scheduled for, but her first recording impressed the film's directorsAbbas–Mustan enough for them to book her a second song. According to her: "Ramesh ji and Kumar ji [the producers of Race] had signed me up for an album for Tips at a time independent albums had become extinct, but they liked my voice, and Pritam got me to sing for a scratch recording. Abbas-Mustan [the directors] liked it, and that is how I got the other song, Khwab Dekhe, too".[4][11] "Zara Zara Touch Me" was enormously successful, becoming the fourth-most-played song on Indian radio during the first half of 2008.[12] Joginder Tuteja ofBollywood Hungama picked it along with "Pehli Nazar Mein" as the biggest hits of the album and praised the song calling it "fresh, naughty and seductive".[13] "Zara Zara Touch Me" became one of the year's biggest chartbusters.[11] She also got nominated for anIIFA Award for Best Female Playback and anApsara Award for Best Female Playback Singer for the song "Zara Zara Touch Me". That year, she collaborated with Pritam once again for the song "Meow", sung along withSuzanne D'Mello for the filmGolmaal Returns. Also, she performed the title track ofEkhane Aakash Neel, which is an official Bengali remake of the Hindi seriesSanjivani, which aired onStarPlus. In 2009, her first song was "Khudaya Khair" fromBillu, which she sang along withSoham Chakrabarty. The song received mixed reviews from critics but Thakur was praised for her vocals.[14] Her other songs that year included "Do Dil Hai Janwa", "Hai Junoon (Remix)" and some Bengali tracks like 2 songs, 'Prithibi Onek Boro' and 'Kalke Jilam Jajaber' inLove and 3 songs inDujone.
In 2010, she sang the song "Dilrubaon Ke Jalwe" in the filmDulha Mil Gaya withAmit Kumar. Shot onShah Rukh Khan andSushmita Sen, the song met with positive reviews whereBollywood Hungama praised her diverse vocals in comparison to her previous songs.[15] Next, she sang a solo track 'Ishq Mein' inPrince. The song was praised where critics called it upbeat and her vocals seductive.[16] That year, she also sang 'Anjaana Anjaani Ki Kahani' fromAnjaana Anjaani, composed byVishal–Shekhar along with the whole album received huge critical acclaim.[17][18] Her Bengali songs that year included releases such as 'It's Only Pyaar', 'O Yaara Ve', 'Bol Na Aar' fromDui Prithibi, 3 Tracks inKellafate, and more.
In 2011, she sang songs like 'Naina', 'Ayo Manaye Jashn', 'Tik Tuk' fromRascals, 'Give it up' fromUnited Six, 'Haal-e-dil' fromBbuddah... Hoga Terra Baap composed byVishal–Shekhar, co-sung withAmitabh Bachchan. She also lend her voice to 3 songs, 'Ke Se', 'O Shona Eshona' and 'Mon Banjara' to 2011 Bengali filmFighter.
In 2012, she sang 'Tu Mohabbat Hai' fromTere Naal Love Ho Gaya withAtif Aslam, composed bySachin–Jigar, the song received critical acclaim.[19] Apart from other songs that year, she sang 'Aga Bai' along withShalmali Kholgade from the movieAiyyaa. The song composed byAmit Trivedi was a hit and had favourable reviews whereFilmfare called it a 'Fast-paced Disco Number'.[20] About the song she said: "I was feeling incomplete at the time as I had so much to offer, So, I would complain to Amit [Trivedi], saying what was the point of doing riyaaz [practice] for 10-12 hours if I cannot use it. Then, he asked me to sing a thumri in Aga Bai, parts of which had already been sung by Shalmali Kholgade".[11] Among others, She also Sang a Bengali Track 'Shadow Tales' in the filmAparajita Tumi. Composed byShantanu Moitra, the song was appreciated by critics.[21]
In 2013, Thakur sang "Sawaar Loon", composed byAmit Trivedi from the filmLootera. The song met with highly positive reviews,Filmfare wrote, "Monali Thakur instills sugar in our ears, the '50s orchestration, coupled with the perfect pitch of the singer manages to take you back to a bygone era",[22] while Mohar Basu of Koimoi wrote, "A romantic ballad out of the 50s, the song sung by Monali Thakur is astonishingly wonderful. Thakur's heart melting voice is gripping and Amit Trivedi's tunes andAmitabh Bhattacharya's heart wrenching lyrics skillfully weaves a wonderful tapestry of music that we can call sheer finesse. The playful drift of Thakur's voice, is abundant in naivety making the song soulfully innocent".[23] The song won her firstFilmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer.[24][25]
Her next releases that year were 'Hip Hop Pammi' fromRamaiya Vastavaiya sung withMika Singh, 'Muh Meetha Kara De' fromRabba Main Kya Karoon, 'Laila' fromNasha. Also, she sang the title track ofI Don't Luv U along with Neuman Pinto, the singer's voice was praised, though the song was not.[26] 'Raghupati Raghav' fromKrrish 3 was her next release, co-sung withNeeraj Shridhar and composed byRajesh Roshan, the song received praise where singers were applauded for their energetic vocals.[27] Her The following releases that year were 2 tracks from the movieI, Me Aur Main, 'Darbadar' in which she collaborated again withSachin–Jigar and 'Meri Jaaniye' performed alongsideShaan. while the former, a classical touch song, the latter is a romantic number with a western touch. Both of them were well appreciated by critics where, Suparna Thombare of 'Bollywood Life' stated about 'Darbadar' that "The ektara, clap sounds and Monali Thakur's silken voice lead you into this Sufi number that slowly zooms into a high energy song. Monali gets the chance to sing a semi-classical number for the first time and she truly shines,[28] Joginder Tuteja ofBollywood Hungama stated about 'Meri Jaaniye' "It is good to see Monali wear a different hat for this one and step into a Western avtar".[29] She performed a female solo 'Laila' inNasha, composed by musical duoSangeet-Siddharth, the song was well received and called a sweet one.[30] That year also, she sang some Bengali tracks.
In 2014, Thakur made her film debut withLakshmi dealing with the harsh realities of human trafficking and child prostitution, which continues behind closed curtains in rural areas of India. Directed byNagesh Kukunoor, the film did not perform well and received mixed reviews by critics but Thakur's performance was praised.[31] She won Best Actress Award at the South-Asian International Film Festival in Washington DC, making her the first Bollywood singer to have won.[32] That year, she also Collaborated withBappi Lahiri for the Bangla version of the song 'Tune Mari Entriyan' from the filmGunday. The song was a chartbuster in both Hindi and Bangla. Mitesh Saraf of 'Planet Bollywood' appreciated the song "Bappi Lahiri and Monali Thakur takes centre stage and both does really well in maintaining the entertainment quotient"[33] while,Rediff.com stated "Monali Thakur goes all out to make the best use of the platform provided to her. A chartbuster all the way".[34] She provided English Vocals in the song 'Love Me Thoda Aur' sung byArijit Singh for the filmYaariyan. During the year, she voiced for some other songs, 'Sweety' fromBobby Jasoos performed alongsideAishwarya Nigam and composed byShantanu Moitra, the song received mixed reviews,[35][36] the Title Track ofKarle Pyaar Karle co-sung withBenny Dayal, the reviews for the songs were fair.[37]
She was a judge in the Bengali music reality showBengali Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Li'l Champs for two years.[5][38] She also appeared in the Bengali showKey Hobe Biggest Fan[38] and was part ofCoke Studio.[39]
She began the new year with a song 'Turram Khan' inHawaizaada, co-sung byPapon andAyushmann Khurrana. 'Karthik' of Milliblog stated, "superbly led by Papon, till Ayushmann Khurrana and Monali Thakur interject later in the song with a lively melodic distraction".[40] After it, she sang 3 Bengali songs of which 2, 'Ure Geche' and 'Tumi Aashe Paashe' composed byIndraadip Dasgupta from the filmParbona Ami Chartey Tokey, 1 song 'Kono Ek Nilchee Pari' fromBlack.
This year turned out to be again very successful for her when she sang a semi-classical melody, 'Moh Moh Ke Dhaage', from the filmDum Laga Ke Haisha starringAyushmann Khurrana,Bhumi Pednekar and Composed byAnu Malik. A separate male version of the song is sung byPapon. According to her, "It doesn't happen often that in the world of EDMs and Hiphop Bollywood numbers one gets a chance to sing evergreen rich Indian melody, hence I can't thank Anu Ji enough to trust me as a singer with this beautiful song "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage", thus keeping a promise he made years back to me in a reality show where I was just a contestant".[41] The Song became a Chartbuster and was Highly appreciated by Audience as well as Critics.[41] Prateek Sur of 'Bollywood Life' commented, "Monali impresses with her melodic vocals".[42] The song won her several awards includingNational Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer at the63rd National Film Awards,[43][44]IIFA Award for Best Female Playback Singer at17th IIFA Awards.[45][46] Also, she was nominated forFilmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer for the same. The composer Anu Malik as well as lyricist of the songVarun Grover won several awards. Varun wonNational Film Award for Best Lyrics for it.[47] As of 2021, the lyrical video of the song has garnered more than 130 Million views on YouTube. On winning prestigious National Award, Thakur says, "This gives a lot of happiness when you know that you have won an award or for that matter that you have been nominated for your work. I realised the actual gravity of this award when I saw the reactions of family and friends".[43]
In 2018, Thakur appeared in theZee5 showLockdown along withMickey Singh which was produced byBadshah's production house Afterhours. They recreated two tracks, "Jiya Jale" and "Gur Nalon Ishq Meetha".[48][49] Apart from these Monali has also sung several super-hits like "Cham Cham" song from 2016 filmBaaghi, which has garnered more than 1 Billion views on YouTube as of January 2022 and The Title Track of 2018 film "Badrinath Ki Dulhania", which she sang along withNeha Kakkar,Dev Negi andIkka Singh, has been watched more than 800 Million times on Youtube as of January 2022. Thakur has also released her singles, "Tamanna" (2018), "Shy Mora Saiyaan" (2018), "O Re Naseeba" (2019), "Pani Pani Re" (2019), "Dugga Elo" (2019) and her latest Single is "Dil Ka Fitoor" (2020). In 2020 Thakur has sung 2 more singles: "Aaina" along with Ranajoy Bhattacharjee and "Elo Maa Dugga Thakur" along withSonu Nigam.
As a child, she appeared in aBengali television show,Aalokito ek Indu, in which she played the lead role Indubala.[50] It was followed by twotelefilms,[50] including Sudeshna Roy'sPhagune Agun, in which she was seen as Ruman.[9][51] She made her acting debut inRaja Sen's Bengali filmKrishnakanter Will,[52] in which she played Bhromor.[53] In 2014, she made her Bollywood debut inNagesh Kukunoor'sLakshmi.[54] The film is abouthuman trafficking andchild prostitution and Thakur plays a 15-year-old girl who gets trapped in it.[55] She was seen in a guest appearance as a Kashmiri Girl in 2014 filmPK. Thakur has also a played a cameo role in filmSecret Superstar released in 2017. She will be seen inAbbas Tyrewala's multistarrerMango.[56] She also acted in a short film titledJangle Bells along withNamit Das. The film came out on Christmas of 2015.[57]
Thakur married Maik Richter, a restaurateur based inSwitzerland, in 2017.[58][59] She met Richter during a backpacking trip to Switzerland – he was herAirbnb host. Thakur made the marriage public only in June 2020 after releasing her single "Dil Ka Fitoor", which features her along with Maik.[60]
| Monali Thakur discography | |
|---|---|
| Hindi songs | 71 |
| Non-film songs | 26 |
| Non-Hindi film songs | 50 |
| Total | 147 |
Thakur has sung numerous songs of different languages including Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, and Kannada.
| † | Denotes films that have not yet been released |
| Year | Film | Role | Language | Note | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Krishnakanter Will | Bhramar | Bengali | [61] | |
| 2014 | Lakshmi | Lakshmi | Hindi | [62][63][64] | |
| PK | Kashmiri girl | Hindi | Cameo | [65][66] | |
| 2015 | Debi | Lali | Bengali | Short film | [67] |
| Jangle Bells | Mitali | Hindi | Short film | [57] | |
| 2017 | Secret Superstar | Herself | Cameo | [68] | |
| 2024 | Dukaan | Diya |
| Year | Category | Song and film | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| National Film Awards | |||
| 2015 | Best Female Playback Singer | "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage" (Dum Laga Ke Haisha) | Won |
| Filmfare Awards | |||
| 2014 | Best Female Playback Singer | "Sawar Loon" (Lootera) | Won |
| 2016 | Best Female Playback Singer | "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage" (Dum Laga Ke Haisha) | Nominated |
| 2018 | Best Female Playback Singer | "Khol De Baahein" (Meri Pyaari Bindu) | Nominated |
| Screen Awards | |||
| 2014 | Best Female Playback Singer | "Sawar Loon" (Lootera) | Nominated |
| 2016 | Best Female Playback Singer | "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage" (Dum Laga Ke Haisha) | Won |
| International Indian Film Academy Awards | |||
| 2009 | Best Female Playback Singer | "Zara Zara Touch Me" (Race) | Nominated |
| 2014 | Best Female Playback Singer | "Sawar Loon" (Lootera) | Nominated |
| 2016 | Best Female Playback Singer | "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage" (Dum Laga Ke Haisha) | Won |
| Zee Cine Awards | |||
| 2014 | Best Playback Singer – Female | "Sawar Loon" (Lootera) | Nominated |
| 2016 | Best Female Playback Singer | "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage" (Dum Laga Ke Haisha) | Nominated |
| Times of India Film Awards | |||
| 2016 | Best Playback Singer – Female | "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage" (Dum Laga Ke Haisha) | Nominated |
| Global Indian Music Academy Awards | |||
| 2014 | Best Female Playback Singer | "Sawar Loon" (Lootera) | Nominated |
| 2016 | Best Female Playback Singer | "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage" (Dum Laga Ke Haisha) | Nominated |
| Mirchi Music Awards | |||
| 2011 | Upcoming Female Vocalist | "Aga bai"(Aiyaa) | Nominated[citation needed] |
| 2013 | Best Playback Singer -Female | "Sawar Loon" (Lootera) | Nominated[citation needed] |
| 2015 | Best Playback Singer – Female | "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage" (Dum Laga Ke Haisha) | Nominated[69] |
| 2017 | Best Playback Singer – Female | "Badri Ki Dulhania" (Badrinath Ki Dulhania) | Nominated[70] |
| Star Guild Awards | |||
| 2009 | Best Female Playback Singer | "Zara Zara Touch Me" (Race) | Nominated |
| 2014 | Best Playback Singer – Female | "Sawar Loon" (Lootera) | Nominated |
| 2016 | Best Female Playback Singer | "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage" (Dum Laga Ke Haisha) | Won |
| BIG Star Entertainment Awards | |||
| 2013 | Best Entertaining Singer Female | "Sawar loon" (Lootera) | Nominated |
| Stardust Awards | |||
| 2016 | Best Female Playback Singer | "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage" (Dum Laga Ke Haisha) | Nominated |
| Sony Mix Audience Music Awards | |||
| 2018 | Best Female Playback Singer | "Khol De Baahein" (Meri Pyaari Bindu) | Nominated |
| International | |
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| National | |
| Artists | |
