Sophie Choudry

Sophie Choudry
Sophie Choudry at DJ magazine launch, July 2012
Born	Sophia Choudry 8 February 1982[1] London, England, United Kingdom
Other names	Sophiya Chaudhury, Sophie Chaudhary, born as Sophia Choudry
Occupation	Actress, singer, songwriter, vj, television presenter
Years active	2000–present

Sophie Choudry (born Sophia Choudry, 8 February 1982) ^[2][1] is a British film actress and singer. She has been active primarily in Indian films and is also a former MTV India VJ and occasional model and television presenter

Early life

Sophie Choudry was born and brought up in Hampstead, London, England, United Kingdom.^[3] Her father adored Sophia Loren and hence her birthname is "Sophia", however she now goes by the name "Sophie". She has one elder brother.^[2] She now lives with her mother and grandmother.^[2]

Choudry studied at London School of Economics, graduating in European politics and French^[2][3] and is also a gold medallist from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.^[4] Furthermore, she studied for nearly two years at the "Sciences Po", an esteemed political institute in Paris, France, where many French politicians studied.^[5] BollySpice reports, that while still studying, Choudry became a VJ for Zee UK.^[6]

Choudry is a polyglot, able to speak fluently English, Hindi, Urdu, French and Italian and sings in these languages as well as in Spanish, Punjabi and Arabic.^[2][7] She is passionate about dance and while in school in london learnt bharatnatyam for a year and when she moved to India she took s few classes in kathak. One of her reasons for participating in Jhalak dikhlaja 7 was to learn various dance styles, including Indian classical dance as Bharatnatyam, which she learnt in London for four as well as in Western dance as salsa.^[6] She is also well trained in Western classical music, which she learnt for three years in the UK from Helena Shenel,^[8] as well as in Indian classical music, which she learnt from Pandit Ashkaran Sharma.^[4]

Career

Music

Having completed her education, Choudry decided it was time to follow her dreams and she began her singing career. When she was 12 years old,^[9] her talent was discovered by noted music director Biddu, who launched her musical career.^[4][6] She, at first, lent her voice as a backup singer to playback singers like Shweta Shetty and Alisha Chinai.^[2]

In 2000, Choudry started her career as a pop singer with her all-girl band "Sansara" with a song which Choudry herself wrote ("Yeh Dil Sun Raha Hai"). Very soon the band separated and Choudry started her solo singing career, donning the videos "Habibi" and "Le Le Mera Dil" in 2001.^[4]

Choudry then moved to Mumbai in 2002, becoming a VJ for MTV India and hosting the popular show MTV Loveline,^[4] which eventually gained her popularity.^[10] In November 2003, she released her first remix album Sophie & Dr. Love. The album was a chart-topper for six months in India and broke records in the U.K Asian Pop Charts by holding the number 1 spot for 12 weeks. The album contained old classics by Runa Laila, Nazia Hassan and Salma Agha. The video was directed by Rao and Sapru of Kaanta Laga fame and music remixed by Harry Anand.

Less than one year on, Sophie returned with her newest offering Baby Love. According to Choudry, she listened to over 400 songs to come up with her perfect 12.^[4] Songs on this album include Dil Ke Armaan, Ghar aaya Mera Pardesi, Ek Pardesi Mera Dil Legaya.

In December 2009, Choudry launched her album Sound of Sophie, which had no remixes, but only original numbers. The launch of this album marked her association with the Indian fashion brand MADAME, who hired her as their first brand ambassador.^[11] She worked with well-known music composers such as Rishi Rich, Bappi Lahiri, Biddu and Gaurav Das Gupta in the album.^[6][12] In 2012 she released an online single "Hungama Ho Gaya" which went viral. A cover of the Asha bhosle classic, the video was hot sexy and many actors like Neil Nitin Mukesh, Dia Mirza, Tusshar Kapoor went online to say this was one of the most international looking pop videos to come out of India. Having sung playback for herself in the film Pyar Ke Side Effects ( song was Bad Boy composed by Pritam), it's actually in 2013 that she made her playback debut singing for Preity Zinta in the film "Ishkq in Paris ". Choudry sang in Hindi, English and French and even wrote the French lyrics of the song.

Choudry is an extremely popular singer/performer on the live show circuit and has performed for renowned brands like Audi, Hero group, icici bank, Samsung, Blackberry, HSBC, Microsoft, Qualcomm and many more. She has also performed at high end weddings such as the famous Mittal wedding in Paris as well as for Royalty in the Middle East and the engagement of HRH lakshyaraj singhji Mewar of Udaipur.

Choudry has also performed at the very prestigious IIFA awards, ZEE Cine Awards more than once!

Choudry has also compered various award shows such as Star Screen Awards, IIFA awards, ZEE Cine Awards and the first ever Filmfare Nominations night as well as several corporate events for Airtel, Tata, Godrej Audi, Spice and many others. -->

Choudry has also participated in Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa, Season 7.

Filmography

Sophie Choudry walks for Manish Malhotra & Shaina NC's show for CPAA

TV appearances

• 2014 Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 7 as contestant
• 2014 Bigg Boss 8 as guest
• 2013 Bade Acche Lagte Hai as her self

Discography

• " Yeh dil sun raha hai" (2000) as part of Sansara
• Le Le Mera Dil (2001)
• Sophie & Dr. Love (2003)
• Baby Love (2004)
• Sound of Sophie (2009)
• "Hungama Ho Gaya" (2012) digital single
• "Hungama Ho Gaya" (2013) compilation album
• "Do You Know Baby" (2015)

Awards

• 2001: UK Asian Pop Award for Best Female Newcomer^[8][13][14]
• 2004: Lycra MTV Style Award for Most Stylish Female in Music^[15]
• 2005: Bollywood Music Award for Best Female Pop Artist

References

External links

• Sophie Choudry at the Internet Movie Database
• Official website
• Sophie Choudry on Twitter