Sophie Choudry was born Sophia Choudry on February 8, 1976, in Manchester, England. It is said that Sophie's father was a fan of Italian actress Sophia Loren, and hence named his daughter Sophia. Sophie studied at the London School of Economics and has graduated in European politics and French. (All photos/Sophie Choudry's Instagram account, YouTube)

Sophie was only 12 when her musical talent was discovered by music director Biddu Appaiah, who launched her career. She started out as a backup singer to established singers like Alisha Chinai who sang and featured in the popular song 'Made in India'.

In picture: A picture from Sophie's first portfolio shoot.

Did you know Sophie is a gold medallist from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art? It's while studying there that she became a VJ for Zee TV UK.

In 2000, Sophie started her pop music career with an all-girl band 'Sansara'. The band, however, broke up and Sophie then began her solo music career.

In picture: A still from Sophie's music video 'Sajan Main Nachungi'.

Things took a turn for the better for Sophie when she moved to Mumbai in 2002. She became a VJ for MTV India and hosted the show MTV Loveline, which made her extremely popular.

It was in 2003 that Sophie Choudry dropped her first remix album called Sophie & Dr Love. The album, which comprised remixes of old favourites, topped all music charts for six months in India and broke records in the UK as well.

Later, in 2004, Sophie released another album, Baby Love, that included the hit remix Ek Pardesi Mera Dil Le Gaya. The remixed song became a party anthem and brought into focus Sophie's ability to sing, dance and act. She said in an interview, "I would be asked to pick between singing, acting and anchoring. Do only one they would say to me, but today when artistes do more than one thing, everyone is in awe of them. Today, it's cool to be multi-talented."

In 2009, Sophie released her album, Sound of Sophie, which had all original tracks. She worked with well-known music composers such as Rishi Rich, Bappi Lahiri, Biddu and Gaurav Das Gupta for the album.

In picture: Sophie with her grandmother.

It's not just music that Sophie is interested in. She was also seen in Bollywood films like Shaadi No. 1, Pyaar Ke Side Effects, Heyy Babyy, Once Upon a Time in Mumbai Dobaara!, etc. Besides films, Sophie has also hosted a number of awards shows, and also performed at a few like the IIFA Awards.

Sophie is extremely health conscious and her Instagram feed is filled with pictures of her working out. She is a proponent of Pilates and aerial yoga.

Sophie has even launched her own Ayurvedic tea brand, which promotes health through detoxification.

Sophie is good friends with many Bollywood celebrities. Her Instagram feed is filled with pictures of her with celebs like Kareena Kapoor Khan, Malaika Arora, Amrita Arora, Salman Khan, etc

Sophie Choudry has a cute little Shih Tzu pup named Tia. Sophie loves the dog so much that she has opened an Instagram account for her! In one of her Instagram pictures with the puppy, Sophie says, "Being a pet mom is one of the greatest joys of my life... Tia has taught me unconditional love, the joy of small things & what truly matters. Thank you for lighting up my life with your love and licks. I love u."

In 2019, Sophie Choudry released her first Punjabi collaboration, Ajj Naiyo Sauna, with Manj of the RDB band. Manj has produced and also features in the music video, which has been choreographed by Piyush Bhagat and Shazia Samji. "I felt there was a long gap between my last song and this one, but no longer. I'm ready to reclaim my unique space," said Sophie about the music video.

Recently, Sophie has been busy with her fitness chat show Work It Up, where she talks to celebrities about everything under the sun. Bollywood celebrities like Malaika Arora, Katrina Kaif, Rakul Preet Singh, Shilpa Shetty Kundra and many others have appeared as guests on this chat show. Sophie recently wrapped up season one of Work It Up. 

Sharing her thoughts on the show, Sophie Choudry said, "Work It Up has been really close to my heart as it's the first-of-its-kind fitness chat show. It was an incredible experience for me personally and I would like to thank all the viewers for their overwhelming love and response to the show. A huge shout-out to all my celeb friends as well who took time out from their busy schedules to share their healthy lifestyles which inspired our viewers."

Here's wishing Sophie Choudry all the best for her future endeavours and very happy birthday too!