Parag Maniar (BOMBAY TIMES; May 3, 2014)

Sunidhi Chauhan was recently honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Academy Award for Best Singer (Female). She won the honour for the song Kamli from Dhoom 3. The event, which marked Dadasaheb Phalke’s 145th birth anniversary, was held in Juhu on April 30.

Says Sunidhi, “Dadasaheb Phalke was the father of Indian cinema; bagging this prestigious award is the biggest achievement of my life.”

In fact, the singer says it took time for the news to sink in. “When I was informed about it, I was like, ‘Really?’ I couldn’t believe it because it takes years of hard work to be honoured with an award of such importance. The first thing I did was to inform my father, who got equally excited. I am happy that my talent has been appreciated,” she says. Sunidhi’s also getting many compliments for her new look. “Post my hairdo, there are times when people fail to recognise me. At this event, Rakesh Roshanji was just a few seats away from me and I said, ‘Hello’ to him. He sweetly said ‘Hi’. Later, on stage, he admitted that he didn’t recognise me at all,” she laughs.