Shilpa Rao

Shilpa Rao (born Apeksha Rao; 11 April 1984) is an Indian singer, born and raised in Jamshedpur. She completed her Master’s in Applied Statistics from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, before working as a jingle singer for three years. During her college days, Mithoon offered her to record the song “Javeda Zindagi” from Anwar (2007), making her Bollywood career debut.
Rao rose to widespread prominence with the release of Woh Ajnabi from “The Train” 2007 and “Khuda Jaane” from Bachna Ae Haseeno (2008). She was nominated for the Best Female Playback Singer award for the song, in 54th Filmfare Awards. The following year, she collaborated with Ilaiyaraaja for Paa (2009), where she performed the song “Udi udi Ittefaq Se” for which she received another nomination in the same category during 55th Filmfare Awards ceremony. In 2012, Rao teamed up with A.R. Rahman and came up with the song “Ishq Shava” from Jab Tak Hai Jaan which was a commercial success, followed by Pritam-composed “Malang” from Dhoom 3 (2013) and Vishal-Shekar’s “Meherbaan” in Bang Bang! (2014).