They are actors whose talent isn’t limited to only acting. They juggle and divide time between acting and music — their other, or primary, passion. Here’s a list of Bollywood actors who can not only sing but also have a parallel music career.
Adarsh Gourav
The 29-year-old Adarsh Gourav, who recently caught our attention with the Netflix film Kho Gaye Hum Kahan after some fantastic work in Rukh, The White Tiger, and Guns & Gulaabs, is a trained Hindustani classical singer. On his Instagram feed and in his interviews, you will often find Adarsh crooning a melodious retro number. Apart from previous collaborations with musician Lisa Mishra and actor-singer Mithila Palkar, he recently sang the cover of Teri Yeh Baatein from Kho Gaye Hum Kahan, with composer Kabeer Kathpalia of OAFF Music; and the Hindi single Kho Gaye, composed by him, RUUH and JOH.
Adarsh has expressed his interest in taking up singing assignments, and on the acting front, he is going to start shooting for Ridley Scott’s Alien prequel.
Tara Sutaria
This glamorous 28-year-old who debuted in Bollywood in 2019 alongside Ananya Panday in Karan Johar’s Student of the Year 2 has been a professional opera singer since the age of seven. She has also trained in classical ballet, modern and Latin American dance forms at the School of Classical Ballet and Western Dance, Royal Academy of Dance, and the Imperial Society for Teachers of Dancing in the UK. Tara was recently seen in the Disney+Hotstar film Apurva. Her other films include Marjaavan, Tadap, Heropanti 2 and Ek Villain Returns.
Mithila Palkar
This talented Marathi girl became a household name after three successful seasons of the web show, Little Things. Mithila is also a trained singer who became popular a couple of years ago for her ‘cup song’, which went viral on social media. Known for her memorable roles in Karwaan, Chopsticks and Tribhanga, Mithila has a knack for collaborating with fellow budding singers such as Abby V, Adarsh Gourav, sister duo Antara and Ankita Nandy, and sometimes goes on delightful solo singing sprees.
Saba Azad
The 38-year-old singer-actor is a great example of balancing two passions at the same time. Born into a family of theatre practitioners, Saba trained in music and various dance forms, and started her acting career with Dil Kabaddi and Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge. She devoted herself to making music for her electro-funk band Madboy/Mink with Imaad Shah. Alongside music gigs, she appeared on OTT in Feels Like Ishq, Rocket Boys and Who’s Your Gynac. Her two songs — Sab Farzi in Prime Video’s Farzi and I Wanna See You Dance in Netflix’s Kho Gaye Hum Kahan — have kept us on our toes.
Sanjeeta Bhattacharya
Sanjeeta Bhattacharya, who played Helena in Shah Rukh Khan’s gang of girls in Jawan, is a graduate of Berklee College of Music. She also wrote and sang the Spanish song Mis Chicas, composed by Anirudh Ravichander, in Jawan. Sanjeeta tours to perform at various music festivals across the country and specialises in jazz, R&B, indie folk and Latin forms. She was part of the Berklee Indian Ensemble that had earned a nomination at the 2023 Grammy Awards for its debut album Shuruaat in the Best Global Music Album category. Sanjeeta made her acting debut in Netflix’s Feels Like Ishq and was part of the Sonali Bendre-Jaideep Ahlawat-starrer The Broken News on ZEE5.