From admirers to BFFs: ‘Chhaila’ singers Shreya Ghoshal, Sunidhi Chauhan on their evolving equation

PTI Mumbai: They are two of India’s widely loved playback singers and Sunidhi Chauhan and Shreya Ghoshal say they have come a long way from first crossing paths for a sound check to trading experiences as mothers. Chauhan, 41, and Ghoshal, 40, recently reunited for an independent song track “Chhaila”, composed by Salim-Sulaiman, with lyrics penned by Shraddha Pandit. “Let’s just say that we are friends, best friends, BFFs, and everything that comes along with friends and besties,” Chauhan told PTI when asked about her current relationship with Ghoshal.

“She had a lovely, charming persona and of course, what a performer in studios and live shows,” Ghoshal said about Chauhan. Their singing styles may be different but both were discovered by the film industry through reality music shows. Chauhan became a household name after winning “Meri Awaz Suno”, whereas Ghoshal gained prominence when she emerged victorious on “Sa Re Ga Ma”. Chauhan fondly remembers listening to Ghoshal sing “Paan Khaye Saiyan Hamaro” on “Sa Re Ga Ma”. “It was one of the purest things that I saw on TV of such a little girl singing, I was also very little but still some things didn’t make sense.

Like the way she was looking, there was beauty on the face and in the voice. “It was such a beautiful combination that I saw on TV and that too coming from a 12 or 13-year-old girl or maybe younger,” said the singer, who got her first break in films with “Ruki Ruki Si” from the 1999 film “Mast”. They soon went on a tour to the US together with vocalist Shaan. Chauhan admitted her memory of that first meeting has faded with time, but recalled the warmth with which Ghoshal greeted her. “We spent a little time for the first time on the bus, going for the sound check and coming back. It was wonderful meeting her. Her mother, she’s very loving towards me and I love her.

She’s so beautiful, so it’s just a great family.” Ghoshal, who entered the music scene a few years after Chauhan when she sang for Sanjay Leenla Bhansali’s “Devdas”, shared that her family was already an ardent fan of Chauhan after watching “Meri Awaz Suno”. “She was a household name very early on, and somehow when you see an artist (on a show), woh apna bann jata hai, you adopt (her). So Sunidhi was that kind of a person where my family members, including me, mummy, and papa loved her even before meeting her,” she added.

Their first proper meeting happened in one of the recording studios when Chauhan was leaving after finishing a recording. Ghoshal vividly remembers that Chauhan wore hoop earrings and was dressed in a checkered shirt. Over a period of time, Chauhan said they realised how similar they are to each other. “We have immense love and respect for each other. We are just two girls or women, who like each other’s vibe, and we like, to be honest with each other, there’s honesty in us, in our music,” she added.