From admirers to BFFs 'Chhaila' singers Shreya Ghoshal Sunidhi Chauhan on their evolving equation

Mumbai, Oct 28 (PTI) 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.
    This comfort level between the singers -- who have sung multiple film songs together in the past like "Imaan Ka Asar" from “Dor” and "Hum To Aise Hain Bhaiya" from “Laaga Chunari Mein Daag” -- proved instrumental in crafting the vibrant track “Chhaila”.
    "We did this song with pure honesty; we were open like a book,” Chauhan said.
    Ghoshal added, “(There were) no inhibitions or limitations. It was all easy to do. It doesn’t happen with everyone, it is not easy to be comfortable with another artist, but this was unusually easy. In our case, we opened up with each other.”
    She teased about the possibility of a ‘Chhaila 2.0’.
    “It was very liberating. I'm sure we will do many more (such collaborations),” Chauhan added.
    Motherhood has become another talking point in their friendship. As both singers navigate the joys and challenges of raising children, their conversations now include stories about parenting to completing school projects.
    While Chauhan shares six-year-old son Tegh with music composer-husband Hitesh Sonik, Ghoshal and her entrepreneur husband Shiladitya Mukhopadhyaya are parents to son Devyaan, three.
    “Now, we both are mothers so we have a lot of similar problems and happy moments that we share and we are like, ‘Did this happen to you?’ Tegh is two-three years older than Devyaan.
    "So, the conversations are like, ‘He is doing the same, or this is what is happening in school, I’ve to do a project, I have to buy scissors and glue’. She is like, ‘I’m doing the same’. So, we are having the same kind of conversations, now the similarities are more,” Ghoshal said.
    After "Chhaila", they would love to collaborate on more songs.
    "These three, Salim, Sulaiman and Shraddha know our styles and they let us have those moments for us to shine in the song. It was like a journey, it was a bittersweet moment when the song was released, and the process was beautiful.
    "I guess whenever the song releases, we start missing it. What should we do now? Whatever you want to call the next song, maybe ‘Chhaila 2.0’, please go ahead and do it," Ghoshal said.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)