Shilpa Rao

Award-winning Bollywood playback singer Apeksha Rao – born April 11, 1984, in Jamshedpur, India – is better known by her stage name Shilpa Rao. She focuses on performing songs in Hindi but has also recorded songs in the Bengali, Telugu, Tail, and Malayalam languages. Her musical journey began during college when, after three years of recording jingles, she made her Bollywood debut with the song “Strange on the Prowl” from the film Ek Ajnabee (2005). She came to prominence with "Javeda Zindagi" (from the 2007 film Anwar), which became one of the year’s most popular songs. That same year, she performed several popular songs from the film The Train including “Woh Ajnabee” and “Teri Tamanna”. Shilpa Rao earned a Best Female Playback Singer nomination from the Filmfare Awards in 2009 for “Khuda Jaane” (from the 2008 film Bachna Ae Haseeno). Other awards during her career include the 2011 Best Singer honor from the Indian Television Academy Awards for “Bekaboo” (from Navya..Naye Dhadan Nay Sawaal) and the Best Female Playback Singer award from the International Indian Film Academy Awards in 2020 for “Ghungroo” (from War). Shilpa Rao was the second – and final – vocalist from India to perform on the television series Coke Studio Pakistan in 2016, performing the song “Paar Chanaa De”.  Shilpa Rao has collaborated with many artists, composers, and film makers over the years including A.R. Rahman, Amit Trivedi, KK, Sukhwinder Singh, Ash King, Mithoon, Vishal Dadlani, Arjit Singh, and many others. Some of her best-known songs include the singles “Bulleya” (2016), “Projapoti Mon” (2017), and “Roz Roz” (2020).