Shalmali Kholgade Indian Singer From Mumbai

Shalmali Kholgade is an Indian playback singer and songwriter, born on 31 January 1988 in Mumbai. She works mainly in Bollywood and has also recorded songs in Marathi, Bengali, Telugu and Tamil. Her breakthrough came in 2012 with the song "Pareshaan", which won her a Filmfare Award.

Early life

Kholgade began her music training at the age of eight with her mother, Uma Kholgade, who is an Indian classical singer and a theatre personality. She went on to perform professionally in Mumbai. In those early years she sang as a soloist with a Latvian troupe in a cabaret production called Bombaloo, and she worked as a backing vocalist on songs by Ali Zafar.

Career

In 2012 Kholgade made her debut as a lead vocalist in Hindi film music with "Pareshaan", composed by Amit Trivedi for the film Ishaqzaade. The song topped charts across India, and it brought her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer along with several other awards. She had two more hits that year: "Daaru Desi" from Cocktail and "Aga Bai" from Aiyyaa.

Her first song of 2013, "Lat Lag Gayee" from Race 2, stayed at the top of the charts for many weeks and became a regular in dance clubs. She followed it with "Balam Pichkari" from Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, which earned her several nominations, among them a second Filmfare nomination for Best Female Playback Singer. Other songs from the following years that drew praise include the title track of Shuddh Desi Romance, "Besharmi Ki Height" and "Shanivar Raati" from Main Tera Hero, "D Se Dance" from Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania and "Shayarana" from Daawat-E-Ishq. She also sang "Baby Ko Bass Pasand Hai" for the sports drama Sultan (2016). Songs of hers that received favourable notices from critics include "Chingam Chabake" from Gori Tere Pyaar Mein (2013), "Mohobbat Buri Bemari" from Bombay Velvet (2015), "Shakira" from Welcome to Karachi (2015) and "Naach Meri Jaan" from ABCD 2 (2015).

She has also sung for films in other languages. Her first regional song, "Raja Raja" from the 2013 Tamil film Naan Rajavaga Pogiren, was well received, and "Oday Oday" from the romantic film Raja Rani did well in southern India. Further regional songs include "Kala Koi Geli" for the Bengali film Proloy (2013), "Preminchaa" for the Telugu film Toofan (2013), "Maria" from the Bengali film Herogiri (2015), "Jil Jil Jil" for the Telugu film Jil (2015), and, in Marathi, "Tu Mila" from Timepass 2 and "Kangaroo" from Highway, both from 2015.

Away from film soundtracks, she released the single "Kalle Kalle" on Valentine's Day 2020, a song that celebrates being single. She has appeared on television as a judge: she sat on the audition panel of Sony Entertainment Television's Indian Idol Junior, and she judged the Marathi-language show Sur Nava Dhyas Nava on Colors Marathi. It was also announced that she would make her debut as a music composer with the Marathi film June.

Kholgade has acted as well. Her first film role was a supporting part in the Konkani-Marathi film Tu Maza Jeev, directed by Ranjan Singh and released on Maharashtra Day in 2009. The film did moderate business and got mixed reviews, though her performance was praised.

Recognition

Kholgade's best-known honour is the Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer, which she won for "Pareshaan". She has also received a Filmfare Award Marathi. Her song "Pareshaan" collected several other awards as well. Her second Filmfare nomination came for "Balam Pichkari".

Personal life

Kholgade married Farhan Shaikh, a mixing and mastering engineer, on 22 November 2021. Her YouTube channel had about 72,200 subscribers as of August 2025.