Monali Thakur

Coming from a musical family background, Monali Thakur had passion for music and she wished to make it big in the world of music. Born on November 3, 1985 in Kolkata, Monali took professional training in Hindustani classical music under Pandit Ajoy Chakraborty and Pandit Jagdish Prasad. Apart from this, she is also trained in Bharatanatyam, Salsa and hip-hop. She is the daughter of eminent Bengali singer Shakti Thakur and her sister Mehuli Thakur Goswami is a playback singer too.

In her childhood, Monali featured in a television series called 'Aalokito ek Indu' and also appeared in some television films. Bengali film 'Krishnakanter Will' was Monali's debut film helmed by Raja Sen. Monali had a liking for music since her childhood and she used to participate in school and college singing competitions as well as she used to sing in local functions. At the age of 14, Monali bagged Best Playback Singer award at the Anandalok Awards for the series 'Sri Ramkrishna'. Monali got an opportunity to present her singing talent in front of the world with the television singing reality show 'Indian Idol' season 2. After making a struggle after participating in this competition, Monali received a golden chance to sing for the film 'Race' for the track "Zara Zara Tocu Me" and "Khwab Dekhe (Sexy Lady)". Pritam Chakraborty was the music director of this film. The two tracks received thumbs up from the audience. For this, Monali was even nominated for Apsara Award for Best Female Playback Singer and IIFA Award for Best Female Playback.

For the Bengali music reality show 'Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Li'l Champs', Monali Thakur was the judge for two years. She also was a part of 'Coke Studio' and Bengali show 'Key Hobe Biggest Fan'. 'Sawaar Loon' was the song from the film 'Lootera' (2013) for which Monali Thakur grabbed the Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer. In 2014, Monali Thakur played the lead role in Nagesh Kukunoor's directorial 'Lakshmi'. The film was based on child prostitution and human trafficking. Soon, she will be seen in the film 'Mango' by Abbas Tyrewala.