She then followed a strict diet and regularly went to gym or for jogging.
(meta data) TITLE: Birthday Special: Sunidhi Chauhan's journey from a singer to a rockstar TV judge : Celebrity, News - India Today 41 captures 11 Aug 2015 - 23 Jun 2022 About this capture COLLECTED BY Organization: Internet Archive These crawls are part of an effort to archive pages as they are created and archive the pages that they refer to. That way, as the pages that are referenced are changed or taken from the web, a link to the version that was live when the page was written will be preserved. Then the Internet Archive hopes that references to these archived pages will be put in place of a link that would be otherwise be broken, or a companion link to allow people to see what was originally intended by a page's authors. The goal is to fix all broken links on the web. Crawls of supported "No More 404" sites. Collection: GDELT A daily crawl of more than 200,000 home pages of news sites, including the pages linked from those home pages. Site list provided by The GDELT Project The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/web/20151113133250/http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/sunidhi-chauhan-talks-about-her-struggle-her-success-bad-marriage-marriage-with-hitesh-sonic-bollywood-career-her-father-and-fitness/1/456439.html Bihar Elections Snap Post NewsLifestyle Celebrity # Birthday Special: Sunidhi Chauhan's journey from a singer to a rockstar TV judge ## Sunidhi Chauhan's successful musical journey may appear to be a seamless series of ups, but the fact is, it has had her battle both known and unknown demons. Rene Verma /Good Housekeeping August 5, 2015 | UPDATED 11:42 IST #### Mail #### Print A+ A- I'm happiest when I'm singing, says Sunidhi Chauhan She sits gazing at the Juhu beach from her suite's big French window--a scene reminiscent of the classic Hindi movies from the 1970s. Apart from the occasional clink of the coffee mugs, there's just the sound of the makeup brushes being shuffled... a comfortable silence envelops the space. She lets the makeup artiste take her time. 'How do you manage to stay so calm?' I ask the "singing sensation". The 31-year-old self-made singer (yes, she has no formal training) looks at me in disbelief. 'Me?'--she exclaims--'Calm? Oh no... I'm hyper. There are like a million thoughts in my mind every second!' She could have fooled me. Sunidhi Chauhan is full of surprises. Just when you think that she's a reserved, no-nonsense kind of person, she cracks a joke or breaks into a song, just like that. Initially she appears shy and guarded, but opens up slowly; and on stage, we all know what an electrifying entertainer she is. For the most part, she's a seasoned singer who is in love with her art... and only too happy in her own company. At the same time, she's a natural in her bubbly persona in The Voice India, an ongoing singing reality show on television where she's one of the coaches. Sunidhi is equally at ease speaking in both Hindi and English. Her responses are pruned to perfection - not a word short, not a word extra. It's strange how she manages to be restrained yet expressive; measured yet lively. ## Sunidhi Chauhan is full of surprises. Just when you think that she's a reserved, no-nonsense kind of person, she cracks a joke or breaks into a song. TURNING THE CLOCK BACKSunidhi's father is from UP but she grew up in Delhi. Her mother and sister, Suneha (16 months younger), are homemakers - the siblings live a few minutes away from each other in Mumbai. 'Between my father who gave up everything to support me, and my sister, who is my biggest critic, I had the perfect balance at home!' she recalls. Music was a part of Sunidhi's growing up years - her father liked to sing and her mother and sister appreciated good music. By the time she was five, it was clear that she loved singing, and the typically proud Indian parents would often call her to sing for house guests at family get-togethers. Sunidhi's father Dushyant Chauhan, was a theatre personality and had a discerning friend circle who spotted the little girl's talent early on. With the love and appreciation that came her way, Sunidhi had all the freedom to spend her time and effort on fine-tuning her skills. 'I started to slowly lose interest in studies. I just wanted to singâ€¦so any opportunity that'd come my way, I'd just lap it up,' declares the fiery Leo. The family moved to Mumbai when Tabassum (a popular TV anchor of the 1990s), who first heard Sunidhi sing at a show in Delhi, spoke to Sunidhi's father and convinced him of the success that awaited his daughter in Mumbai. Her father, who'd been essaying the role of Shri Ram for the Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra's annual Ram Lila, for the past 12 years, decided to pack everything up and relocate - Sunidhi was just 10 then. Says Sunidhi: 'It was such a brave decision. When we came to Mumbai, we had nothing. My father had little savings and we didn't have any relations or contacts. It must have been scary but my dad feared nothing... He just followed his heart.' Somehow the family managed to find a small footing in the vast metropolis. Today, the daughter attributes a big part of her success to her father who even accompanied her for concerts and recordings. She also credits her dad for her voice - 'The power in my voice, I get that from him. In his Ram Lila days, he'd say his dialogues and sing to a large crowd - without a mike!' ## Music was a part of Sunidhi's growing up years. She credits her success to her father. A SERIES OF HITSOnce in Mumbai, 11-year-old Sunidhi enrolled in the acclaimed music composer duo Kalyanji and Anandji's academy - Tabassum had already put in a word. She had called Kalyanji to tell him that she was sending him a "birthday present". Sunidhi lived up to the expectations - she soon became the star performer of the academy's troupe Little Wonders. Luckily for her, she didn't have to go through the "struggler" period - knocking at every big music composer's door to ask for singing assignments. 'My father did that for me. I was too young at the time to meet people or talk about my career. So I just hung out with dad and played like a tape-recorder when asked ,' she says. Turns out, it worked like a charm, with Sunidhi bagging her first offer to sing in the film Shastra (1996) when she was all of 11. Then, two years later, she participated in the first-ever singing reality show on Doordarshan called Meri Awaz Suno (1996). Her phenomenal range and flawless rendering led to the 13-year-old emerging a winner. She received the prestigious trophy from the legendary Lata Mangeshkar and also won an opportunity to cut her first album with HMV. But sadly, the album Aira Gaira Nathu Khaira did not do justice to this versatile singer - it was promoted as a children's album, a disappointment for Sunidhi and her family; it wasn't the kind of launch they had hoped for. But they rallied on, and Sunidhi met Sonu Nigam who recommended her to Sandeep Chowta (he was then working as the music director for Ram Gopal Varma's Mast). This was the turning point of her career. Within the next two weeks, Sunidhi was signed to lend her voice to the film where she sang the title track along with the more popular Ruki Ruki Si Zindagi. She tasted success - and it was as sweet as she had imagined it - by the time she turned 19, she had recorded almost 350 songs. Garnering celebrity status at a fairly young age, did the child artiste feel that she was missing out on the regular - school, friends, childhood? 'Not really. Music was what I wanted to do and it's what I did. I'm happiest when I'm singing,' she says with a smile. "TOO MUCH" LIMELIGHTWith success came the unwanted peeks into her private life - the bane of every celebrity. Today, with almost two decades of experience behind her, she is better equipped to handle the paparazzi but even now, says with distaste: 'People just love to talk - without thinking how it may affect somebody's life or emotions. They're so unhappy in their own lives that they like to project it on to you.' Her initial years in the industry were difficult in this regard and the fact that she was very young at the time didn't help. 'The real struggle began when I became slightly famous. The problem is that people in this industry love to typecast... it was difficult to convince them to take me seriously.' This however was just a small stumbling block before she had a body of work that could speak for itself. She is one of the few who has had the chance to work alongside industry's bigwigs including A R Rahman, Vishal-Shekhar, Shankar Ehsaan Loy, Pritam and Jatin Lalit. While giving top-of-the-charts performances year after year, she has won herself a long list of awards. In 2000, she won the RD Burman Award For The Most Promising Newcomer. Six years later, another Filmfare award followed for her record-breaking Beedi Jalaile (Omkara). The year 2008 was quite happening as well - she sang the year's top hits In 2011, she became a rage with Sheila Ki Jawani (Tees Maar Khan) which also got her the Filmfare Best Playback Singer (Female) award. Just last year, she added another big to her collection, the Dadasaheb Phalke award for Kamli (Dhoom 3). No emotion - heartbreak, romance, lust, longing, anger, and freedom has been left untouched through the course of her singing career. Also, Sunidhi does not believe in stopping at her home ground. Not only has she sung for films in various Indian languages (Marathi, Gujarati, Oriya, Nepali, Bengali, Assamese and Punjabi) but her collaboration with international artistes including Enrique Igelsias, Pitbull and Alicia Keys indicates her talent in the Western music genre too. ## Sunidhi is one of the few who has had the chance to work alongside industry's bigwigs including A R Rahman, Vishal-Shekhar, Shankar Ehsaan Loy, Pritam and Jatin Lalit. MIXED MELODIESSunidhi's maturity belies her age - her persona is that of someone who you can count on for sound advice. Yes, she has had her impulsive moments; she has been torn apart by self-doubt, but it's a thing of the past now. When she was 18, she fell in love with choreographer and director Bobby Khan who she met while the two worked on the album Pehla Nasha. Family drama ensued when she conveyed her intentions of marrying Bobby - her parents disowned her and the media reveled in juicy details of the private marriage ceremony that was attended by only close family and friends. What started off as a match made in heaven, with Sunidhi calling her ex-husband's family "supportive" and Bobby, a "darling", hit choppy waters soon after. A year later, the differences between the two became irreconcilable and they decided to part ways - Sunidhi maintained a dignified silence throughout. In retrospect, she thinks the marriage didn't work because she let her emotional side completely take over the rational - 'I didn't really understand the practicalities of life then,' she says. Does she regret her decision today? Would she undo anything in she could? 'Noâ€¦ I hope that even in my next birth, in some or the other way, something like that happens again because it makes you wiser and stronger.' One would assume that it's difficult to come out of a divorce unscathed and love again. However, Sunidhi did just this - she consciously put the past behind her, reached out to her parents and opened her heart and life to love again. But this time, she did one thing differently - she took her time. Her husband of three years, Hitesh Sonik, is a childhood friend. They met at recordings - Hitesh is a music director and has worked on a host of Vishal Bharadwaj films. Only when the two were convinced that they were right for each other, after a two-year-long courtship, did they decide to tie the knot. Says Sunidhi: 'I just have one thing to say - Hitesh and I are like two friends staying together. We don't think of each other as typical husband and wife...just two people who enjoy each other's company.' Hitesh for his part has been equally appreciative of his wife and has said, on more than one occasion, that he sees Sunidhi first for the wonderful person that she is - and yes, the fact that she also has a voice to die for, is the cherry on top. Getting Back In Shape Sunidhi's revamped self (she lost 20 kg) in The Voice India, is something to be admired. One wonders if the inspiration to get fit struck as an epiphany... 'Well, I perform on stage so I needed to feel light; feel confident. I wasn't happy with the way I was looking. I had put on weight after I got married because I wanted to. But it crept up so sneakily - before I knew it, I had put on 20kg! I was also getting breathless on stage. So I had to get fit.' She makes sure she works out at the gym every day or goes for a jog; follows a healthy diet; eats on time and sleeps as much as she can. However, she does have one well-kept secret that she claims makes all the difference: 'I try to feel happy. Often it's not as much about wrong eating habits as it's about negative thoughts that pull you down. Start by spending at least half an hour just by yourself. Think of all the nice things you are blessed with before you go to bed, hit the gym... do anything that gives you real happiness. Think about it, 30 minutes in a day is nothing - we spend that much time just flipping through TV channels!' To get the latest entertainment news and gossip, follow us on Twitter @Showbiz_IT and Like us on facebook.com/IndiaToday For news and videos in Hindi, go to AajTak.in. ताज़ातरीन ख़बरों और वीडियो के लिए आजतक.इन पर आएं. Sunidhi CHauhan The Voice Indian Idol Hitesh Sonik Bobby Khan Divorce Weight Loss Meri Awaaz Suno Dhoom 3 Beedi Jalaile Omkara Mast Sonu Nigam Tees Maar Khan Sheila Ki Jawaani ## Watch Right Now ## Top Takes Copyright © 2015 Living Media India Limited. For reprint rights: Syndications Today. (meta data) TITLE: Sunidhi Chauhan: I would love to act - Rediff.com Movies 22 captures 06 Jun 2015 - 20 Oct 2021 About this capture COLLECTED BY Organization: Internet Archive These crawls are part of an effort to archive pages as they are created and archive the pages that they refer to. That way, as the pages that are referenced are changed or taken from the web, a link to the version that was live when the page was written will be preserved. Then the Internet Archive hopes that references to these archived pages will be put in place of a link that would be otherwise be broken, or a companion link to allow people to see what was originally intended by a page's authors. The goal is to fix all broken links on the web. Crawls of supported "No More 404" sites. Collection: Wikipedia Near Real Time (from IRC) This is a collection of web page captures from links added to, or changed on, Wikipedia pages. The idea is to bring a reliability to Wikipedia outlinks so that if the pages referenced by Wikipedia articles are changed, or go away, a reader can permanently find what was originally referred to. This is part of the Internet Archive's attempt to rid the web of broken links. The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/web/20160105121840/http://www.rediff.com/movies/report/sunidhi-chauhan-i-would-love-to-act/20150605.htm rediff.comRediff Movies Get Ahead rediff NewsApp NewsApp (Free) Read news as it happens Available on Sign in | Create a Rediffmail account Rediff News All News Rediff.com » Movies » Sunidhi Chauhan: I would love to act # Sunidhi Chauhan: I would love to act June 05, 2015 08:36 IST 'I was offered a few roles but they were of singers. I refused them because I don't want to play myself. I would love to portray a common person with an ordinary character,' Sunidhi Chauhan tells Rediff contributor Rajul Hegde. Tired of listening to below average singers on TV's reality shows? Bollywood's top playback singer Sunidhi Chauhan promises that The Voice India -- the newest singing reality show starting on June 6 -- will feature only the BEST! "I am proud to say that on The Voice, you will only find good singers. Not average, not even below average. It will start from good to excellent," Sunidhi assures. Sunidhi is one of the coaches along with Himesh Reshammiya, Shaan and Mika Singh on The Voice India, on &TV. "Nothing excited me to come back to a reality show. But I follow the international show The Voice and I love it," Sunidhi, who was a judge for Indian Idol seasons 5 and 6, says. There will be blind auditions in which the coaches will pick contestants without seeing them. The format of music reality shows has changed from the time when Sunidhi won Meri Awaz Suno way back in 1996. "The voting system has evolved and TRPs also matter," she explains. "But I am a part of this reality show because it's only about the voice. Also, all four of us coaches know each other very well. We have a lot of fun on the sets." The versatile singer, who has lost loads of weight and will look glamorous on the show, says she feels fit and healthy. "One day I decided to go to the gym and eat healthy. I am wearing everything which I couldn't wear when I was fat. I like to stay fit and love wearing classy clothes," she says. "I love samosas and jalebis, they are my weaknesses. Sunday is my cheat day and I have everything that I feel like eating," she smiles. Sunidhi does not rule out acting in the near future. "My dad was an actor. He did Ram Leela for 12 years and he was fantastic, so it's always been on my mind. "I would love to act if the right role is offered to me. I was offered a few roles but they were of singers so I refused them because I don't want to play myself. I would love to portray a common person with an ordinary character." Actresses like Alia Bhat, Shraddha Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra have turned singers. Does she feel threatened by them? "There is a lot of freedom in the industry and a person can do anything. Music is not about feeling jealous or fighting. I love their voices and wish them all the best. "Kathra muje agar kisi singer se nahi hai toh inlogo se kya hoga? (If I don't feel threatened by singers, why would I feel threatened by these people?) I appreciate other people's work because I get to learn a lot from them," says the songstress. Which actress does she think her voice suits the best? "I really don't know, but people say it fits well for Priyanka Chopra. In the beginning, people said it was for Urmila Matondkar." The Voice India will be telecast at 9pm on weekends, on &TV. Rajul Hegde / Rediff.com in Mumbai Kangana, Deepika, Malaika: MOST GORGEOUS IIFA looks? VOTE! PIX: Bipasha, Riteish Deshmukh, Parineeti leave for IIFA 2015 'I hate myself on screen' 10 powerful ways to stand out at work Will Irina make it official? FIR against Snapdeal for flouting Maggi ban Supreme Court to consider Sikh community's view against 'Sardar jokes' Bedi hails Lodha recommendations, says attempts will be made to find loopholes Trading halt: Rules that work in India, China BSE-listed firms' m-cap slips below Rs 100-trillion mark Review: Airlift has memorable songs '2016 is going to be the best year of my life' Shraddha, Deepika, Kareena: Top Earners of 2015 The 6 Best Trailers of 2015 'We had to prove ourselves to Salman Khan in five minutes' Beat #MondayBlues: Guess who this actress is! Movies To Watch Out For in 2016! PIX: Shah Rukh, Shatrughan Sinha return from New Year holiday! ## Stars spotted! What's this? Spotted: Salman Khan in MumbaiReader Aaron Aguiar sends us a photograph. 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Sunidhi Chauhan
Public image.
Known for experimenting with her style and image, Chauhan's music and fashion sense are noted by the media. In 2010, while she appeared a judge in the "Indian Idol (Season 5)", her look was discussed in the media; Rediff.com considered her wardrobe sense a "real shame" considering that she is "young", "slim" and "pretty". However, "Mid Day" praised her style in the show for "dressing in normal clothes" while compared to other judges, though they mentioned that "her hairstyle changes too often for our liking". Prior to "Indian Idol", Chauhan's face was not so familiar with the public and according to her, people imagined her to be a "30 to 40 years old woman in a sari", while she is "dressed casually in denims and a tee". Reportedly, during a concert in Kolkata, the local people did not recognise her when she entered the venue, until the host introduced her to them. 
 After Chauhan got married in 2012, she had put on weight of about 20 kg. During the time, she was getting breathless on stage and wanted to get fit, as she had to perform at concerts and regular shows. Besides, she likes "glamorous" outfits which she feels uncomfortable wearing with too much weight.