SOPHIE CHOUDRY

The singer-performer on growing up on a healthy diet of Bollywood in London, getting a break as a singer in her teens, and having to unlearn so much to keep up with the times!

- Shraddha Kamdar

As a kid growing up in London, Sophie Choudry knew she was more filmi than probably most kids in India. She grew up on an extremely healthy diet of Bollywood movies, the VHS tapes of which she would coax her mother to buy for her, including ones that were not that known, such as Ashanti (1982) and Commando (1982). Her collection soon grew to be an enviable one, and one that she remains proud to have had till date.

“I used to watch a movie pretty much every day and, like many other girls, went through my Salman Khan crush phase,” Sophie laughs. “So, my earliest memories range from Govinda to Mithunda and just being mesmerised by the whole idea of movies and songs. Not necessarily imagining myself in them, but, very often, forcing my best female friend to be Govinda while I would be Neelam.” She thanks God that that pal is still her friend almost three decades later.

One of the biggest fans of singer Nazia Hasan, little did Sophie know that she would go on to make her career in the entertainment industry in India, especially since she was more into Western performers such as Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey and Britney Spears.

Hugely passionate about singing in her school-going days, the singer-performer “was that girl who was really studious and geeky, and loved to perform on stage. So, I didn’t want to miss school, but I also wanted to do this, so I guess the way my life progressed, they both somehow came together,” she happily admits.