Sunidhi Chauhan: Triumph of the prodigy!

Sunidhi Chauhan is the tomboy among Bollywood’s crooners. She is one of the lucky few to have realised their potential at an early age.

By Aravind Ramachandran
http://entertainment.in.msn.com/bollywood/article.aspx?cp-documentid=3071177

It was Kalyanji who introduced the eight-year-old girl on the 'Little Wonders' show, which featured promising young artistes of the day. Young Sunidhi ruled the stage with convincing renditions of songs from the Lata-Asha corpus. But, despite having taken the world of amateur music by storm at such a tender age, the proverbial city of dreams still refused to open its gates for Sunidhi Chauhan.

The conservative world of Hindi film music was reluctant to accept alternatives for the reigning queens. Talent hunts were still an incubatory concept. The first popular reality show of India, 'Meri Aawaz Suno', came on air in 1996, and TRP history was rewritten. Sunidhi won the contest and became a household name.

HMV offered the teenaged Sunidhi a chance to cut an album, as part of the winner's bouquet. 'Aira Gaira Nathu Khaira' hit the music stores, but sank without a trace. Sunidhi Chauhan still maintains that this failure “was only due to inappropriate marketing strategy”. Disappointments ranged from 'Shastra' to 'Samar', delaying her salvation.

Sunidhi Chauhan is now more than a star on the Bollywood firmament. Billed as the most versatile singer since Asha Bhonsle, her voice spells success on the charts. However, a quick glance at her 'track record' would betray a clear pattern: Hers has, so far, been a career built on “item numbers”.

Why should such a gifted singer be known as the ‘item crooner’ of Bollywood? How far has Sunidhi Chauhan been allowed to be truly 'versatile'?

The voice once censured as being too mature for her age is now definitive of the times. India can never forget that little girl who burst into tears on winning the 'Lata Mangeshkar Trophy' for the best female singer in India on 'Meri Aawaz Suno'. Innocence may have given way to stellar aura, but Sunidhi Chauhan still possesses that rare gift of connecting with her audience.

When Bollywood was reluctant to accept new faces and record new voices, Sunidhi Chauhan fought her way to the top. For her sheer grit, we coronate Sunidhi Aaj ka Fankaar.

Source: India Syndicate