She was once the star of Britain’s Asian Underground music movement. Now she’s back home and belting out hits in quick succession. Hard Kaur — rapper, dancer, reluctant actress and television host — is the new flavour of the season when it comes to high energy Bollywood songs.

She’s currently making waves on the music channels with her Party Abhi Baki Hai from Remo D’Souza’s upcoming film, F.A.L.T.U. Earlier she rocked the floor with Laungda Lashkara that she belted out with Jasbir Jassi and Mahalakshmi Iyer and Role Pe Gaya in Nikhil Advani’s Patiala House. In the film she also made her acting debut, playing cousin to the film’s hero, Akshay Kumar.

Paisa Phek from Sriram Raghavan’s Johnny Gaddaar is her biggest hit since she returned to India in 2008. “I came back to India to popularise hip-hop and since Bollywood is the most powerful medium here I gave this music a filmy touch and it worked,” she says.

Born Taran Kaur Dhillon, she chose her stage name because of her arduous and inspired journey that began in Kanpur and has now culminated in Bollywood via Birmingham, UK, where she lived for nearly 17 years. She’s the creation of the Asian Underground music movement which she says is hugely popular in Britain. “Even mainstream artists follow performances and gigs religiously to listen and learn about the new things happening on the music scene,” says Kaur.

Hard Kaur made her acting debut in Nikhil Advani’s Patiala House

Now, besides composing background scores for Hindi films, Kaur is also busy with her second album, Queen of Bindaas, that’s poised to release next month in India and the UK simultaneously.

“Hard Kaur is a rockstar and the ideal singer for party numbers. Like Usha Uthup, she’ll never fade away and will always be evergreen,” says Jigar M. Saraiya, of the Sachin-Jigar music director duo, who has created the music of F.A.L.T.U.

Says music director and singer Shankar Mahadevan: “Kaur is fun to work with and with her high energy she value-adds to songs in a big way. Not only is she a good rapper but also writes interesting lyrics.”

Kaur’s musical career took off in 1996 with the release of her first single, Voodoo Hill, when she just 16. The album sold almost 5,000 copies in England.

“I’ve been rapping since I was 15,” says Kaur, who hosted a music reality television show, IPL Rockstars, on Indian television last year. “I did the show as I wanted to learn how to read teleprompters,” laughs Kaur, who won Best Female Artist at the Asian Music Awards 2008 in London.

Kaur’s top priority today is her music. “Acting comes last as I feel there’s lot of pressure to look perfect to be an actress in this country — I’m the sort who’ll walk in with a ganji and joggers when I’m not in the mood to dress up,” giggles Kaur.

Kaur looks back at her childhood with some pain. She was only five when her father was killed in the ’84 anti-Sikh riots. “Our home in Kanpur was set ablaze and we — my mother, brother and me — shifted to my grandparents’ home in Ludhiana. A few years later my mother re-married and in 1991 we migrated to Birmingham,” she recalls.

Kaur with good friend Kailash Kher at the Global Indian Music Awards (GiMA) 2010

Kaur was inspired to become the “first Indian female rapper” after watching hip-hop artists on MTV in 1993. She studied fine art and fashion design and after that went to The London School of Music. “I didn’t last there for more than two months as I realised that my real training would be on the streets — the birthplace of rap. So, over the next 12 years I worked hard on writing my songs and developing my style,” says Kaur.

She grew up listening to Mohammed Rafi and R.D. Burman at home. After Voodoo Hill, Kaur scored more hits like Glassy, Look 4 Me and Bombay Deewana. But she got her first big break in Bollywood in 2007 with the hit number Paisa Phek. Recalls Kaur: “I was performing at a show in Mumbai and music directors Vishal-Shekhar saw me there and got me in touch with Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy. They called me to their studio and asked me to record the song — I was over the moon!”

After the success of this track offers started pouring. Kaur sang and appeared in the video of the hit number, Talli, in the film Ugly Aur Pagli (2008). She sang Move Your Body in Kismat Konnection (2008), Bas Ek King (Tigerstyle mix) in Singh Is Kinng (2008) and Lucky Boy in Bachna Ae Haseeno (2008). And that’s not all: she also lent her voice to the theme song of Splitsvilla Season 1 on MTV (2008). “Around this time my mother told me to shift base to India as it was not feasible to travel each time for a recording.”

So, Kaur moved to Mumbai in 2008 and in the same year she released her debut album, Supawoman. The rapper continued with her streak of hit numbers with Main Tera Dhadkan Teri in Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani, Bhangra Bistar in Dil Bole Hadippa! in 2009 and even participated in the dance reality show Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa the same year.

And when she’s not recording songs, or performing at stage shows, she turns to the kitchen. Kaur enjoys cooking new dishes and experimenting with different cuisines. “At the moment I’m obsessed with French cuisine while I also rustle up Thai and Italian fare,” she says.

And what kind of music does she like to listen to? Says Kaur: “I love a wide spectrum of singers including Frank Sinatra, American rapper Lil Wayne, Pakistani musician Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and the legendary R. D. Burman.” Her first love is undoubtedly hip-hop and “one of my biggest influences for stage performances is American singer and songwriter James Brown,” says Kaur.

Kaur insists that she will never compromise on her values. “I try hard not to lose myself in the Bollywood film world. But I am who I am and that will not change,” says Kaur, who is certain that she would have been married with “two kids” if she hadn’t set the world grooving to her tunes.