She has belted out hit after hit lately, including "Dilbar", "Garmi", "Sunny Sunny", "Aankh maarey" and "Badri ki dulhania". Neha Kakkar, who is one of most successful singers in the industry, says she had never thought she would reach where she has today.
Her latest professional commitment is judging the musical reality show “Indian Idol 12”. However, not many are aware that Neha was once a contestant on the same show, who did not even make it very far.
In an old video that has resurfaced on social media, shows Neha at her auditions when veteran music composer Anu Malik was the judge.
Neha sang the song “Aisa Lagta Hai” from the film “Refugee” with a co-contestant leaving Anu and his co-judges Farah Khan and Sonu Nigam disappointed.
As she completed her performance, Anu commented, "Neha Kakkar...Teri awaaz sun kar lagta hai main apne mooh par maaroon thappad, yaar! Kya ho gaya hai tere ko (I feel like slapping myself after hearing you perform. What has happened to you)?"
Needless to say, he literally slapped himself.
Surprisingly, life has come full circle for Neha, as Anu was asked to step down following MeToo allegations.
While he did judge alongside Neha and Vishal Dadlani in the previous seasons, he was replaced by Himesh Reshammiya.
Allegations against Malik first surfaced last year in October during India's #MeToo movement and he was briefly suspended as a judge but was brought back for the new season, prompting protests from singers Sona Mohapatra, Neha Bhasin and Shweta Pandit, who had accused the music director of sexual misconduct.
In a short time, Neha has become a queen of remixes. In 2020, she was the most-streamed female artist in the country on Swedish music streaming giant Spotify.
In 2019, she also made it to the Forbes celebrity top 100 list and bagged the 29th spot by earning Rs 25 crore that year.
