Madhushree is a popular Indian playback singer who works for Hindi, Bengali, Kannada, Tamil and Telugu film industry. She has lent her voice in many prominent compositions of famed music director A. R. Rahman and earned great popularity and acclamations through them. Hailing from a Bengali family, Madhushree`s father had wanted her to become a classical singer but she always wished to pursue a career in playback singing.
Early Life of Madhushree
Madhushree was born on 2nd November 1969 with the name of Sujata Bhattacharya to a Bengali family in Kolkata, West Bengal. She belongs to a musical family and her parents, Amarendranath and Parbati Bhattacharya, introduced her to the world of music. She received formal training in classical and western music. After receiving initial training from her parents, she learnt classical music under the expert tutelage of Sangeetacharya Pt. Amiya Ranjan Bandopadhyay who is a proponent of the Bishnupur Gharana and a noted singer of Thumri and Khayal. Madhushree did her master degree from Rabindra Bharati University. After completing her studies she joined the Indian Council for Cultural Relations through which she was placed as a teacher of classical music in Surinam.
Career of Madhushree
Madhushree made her debut in playback singing through Rajesh Roshan`s composition in the Bollywood movie "Moksha", on the recommendation of Javed Akhtar. Afterwards she sang for a number of films such as "Kal Ho Naa Ho", "Kuch Naa Kaho", "Jodhaa Akbar", "Kisna" and many others. Her song “Kabhi Neem Neem†from the Bollywood flick "Yuva" got her huge appreciations earning her a several nominations in many award functions. Her rendition in the movie "Raanjhana", composed by A. R. Rahman earned her much praises. She also lent her voice for the compositions of the same music director in the movie "Tehzeeb". Her renditions in this movie have been included amongst her best songs. Apart from Bollywood, Madhushree has sung extensively for the South Indian film industry lending her voice for the films like "Desam", "Anbe Aaruyire", "Kokki", "Thambi", "Shivaji" and many more. She has also sung in a Bengali movie that got her colossal prominence in her native land.
Madhushree also has music albums to her credit. Her debut album was “Lagi Lagan†which featured songs amalgamating Thumri and world music genres. Another album released as “Pal Ek Ehsaas†in which she herself composed music along with Robby Badal. The album received immense praises and popularity on YouTube. In 2017, she was a judge on "Zee Bangla Saregamapa" along with Shantanu Moitra, Kumar Sanu, Jeet Gannguli and Palak Muchhal. Madhushree also proved her skills as a mentor and co-singer with Sachin Tyagi in the musical reality show "Jhoom India". In another reality show, "The Performer", Madhushree joined music directors Ravindra Jain and Shravan Rathod as a judge.
Achievements of Madhushree
In the 20th edition of Lions Gold Awards she was honoured with All Time Film Versatile Playback Singer Award. The event was organized at Bhaidas Hall in Mumbai. The song "Kabhi Neem Neem" in Mani Ratnam"s film "Yuva" got her the coveted Sony Stardust Award for the Best Female Playback Singing Sensation.
