Sudha Malhotra

Sudha Malhotra (born 30 November 1936) is an Indian playback singer. She also acted in some Bollywood films and as a playback singer, worked in popular Bollywood movies in the 1950s and 1960s, like Arzoo, Babar, Dhool Ka Phool, Ab Dilli Door Nahin, Girlfriend, Barsat Ki Rat, Didi and Dekh Kabira Roya. She was last heard in Raj Kapoor's Prem Rog in the song "Yeh Pyar Tha Ya Kuch Aur Tha". Apart from Hindi songs, she sang many popular Marathi songs (Bhavgeet) with Arun Date.

She was awarded the Padma Shri by Government of India in 2013.

Early life and education Sudha Malhotra was born in New Delhi to a Punjabi Hindu family and grew up in Lahore, Bhopal and Firozpur. She is the eldest of 4 siblings - Arun, Vijay, Kiran and herself. She did her graduation in music from Agra University.

Career Malhotra was discovered as a child artist by Ghulam Haider (a prominent music director of the 1940s). She debuted in the movie Arzoo. After her marriage, photographs of her with the lyricist Sahir Ludhianvi were published in the Blitz magazine. She repeatedly denied their relationship, and later, Blitz released an apology. It is believed that Ludhianvi wrote the song Chalo Ek Baar Phir Se when Malhotra's marriage was finalised.

Filmography Arzoo (1950) Dil-E-Naadan (1953) Ab Dilli Door Nahin (1957) Dekh Kabira Roya (1957) Raj Tilak (1958) Parvarish (1958) Dhool Ka Phool (1959) Didi (1959) Girlfriend (1960) Barsat Ki Raat (1960) Babar (1960) Gauhar Prem Rog (1982)