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  Sona Mohapatra most recently topped the charts with the haunting melody Jiya Laage Na from Talaash

For singer Shilpa Rao life has become spectacularly hectic. She's racing from one back-to-back music recording after another and also squeezing in live shows — often in different corners of the country. Rao, 27, has zoomed to the top of the scale with tracks like English Vinglish from the film by the same name, Yaariyan from Cocktail and Ishq Shava from Jab Tak Hai Jaan. It goes without saying that playback offers are coming in thick and fast and Rao's already signed up for Dhoom 3, Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani and Gulaab Gang.

'Music is something which comes to me naturally and I am not here to be in some rat race. But with each song the expectations increase double-fold,' says Rao, who lives in a modest home in Mumbai's Andheri area where a grand piano is the centrepiece of the living room.

Or look at singer Shefali Alvares, 29, who made her presence felt in Bollywood with her signature husky number Tu Mera Hero in Desi Boyz and also Ratta Maar from Student of the Year. Alvares is the daughter of legendary jazz singer Joe Alvares and you could say that music runs in her veins. 'As a child growing up I was used to seeing my dad rehearsing with other jazz musicians like Louis Banks in our house. Jazz was all that I wanted to pursue but I never imagined a career in Bollywood. But now with so many composers willing to experiment with various styles of music, I feel there's room for all kinds of singers.'

Alvares has her hands full with playback offers from top-notch composers in forthcoming films like Karan Johar's Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani and Aurangzeb from Yash Raj productions.

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  Playback offers are pouring in thick and fast for Shilpa Rao with films like Dhoom 3, Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani and Gulaab Gang coming up in the near future, Pic by Gajanan Dudhalkar

Rao and Alvares are part of a new crop of female singers in Bollywood who've shot to fame with their distinctive voices and vocal renditions. The new rising stars of the musical world also include songsters like Sona Moha-patra, Nandini Srikar and Saba Azad who've been belting out their tunes and making their presence felt in the brutally competitive music industry.

For many decades in Hindi cinema, the world of female playback singing was dominated almost exclusively by Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhonsle. Then in the '90s, singers like Alka Yagnik, Kavita Krishnamurty and Anuradha Paudwal made their way to centre stage with their sweet and rather high-pitched offerings.

But music directors nowadays are constantly on the lookout for something new and they're willing to try out a variety of sounds from mellow and raw to rustic and peppy. 'Today, you get a female vocalist who is not only comfortable singing jazz and Punjabi songs but also romantic and dance numbers. So, composers are willing to experiment with various voice textures that give an edge to songs,' says composer Amartya Raut, who has scored songs for Aurangzeb.

What makes these singers special is that each one brings her unique style to the microphone and the recording studio. And husky and heavy voices which might have been a big no-no once upon a time are in big demand now. So, for instance, top composers like Vishal Dadlani reckon that Srikar's rendition of Bhare Naina from Ra.One added solemnity to the story. And Rao's soulful voice in films like Cocktail, English Vinglish and Jab Tak Hai Jaan went down well with music lovers while Moha-patra's earthy vocals struck an instant chord.

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  Apart from doing playback, Nandini Srikar has collaborated with artistes like Trilok Gurtu

'Every music fan's playlist these days consists of plenty of songs with strong female vocals. With the advent of experimental and New Age cinema, where female protagonists have stronger characters, it makes sense to explore vocals that can further define these performances,' says Sabbas Joseph, director, Wizcraft Entertainment which started the Global Indian Music Academy (GiMA) awards.

Some rising stars have fallen into the world of playback singing almost by accident. Mohapatra, for instance, had hoped to make it big on the stage, but ended up forming a band with her husband composer Ram Sampath after moving to Mumbai in 2003.

In recent times she's turned out one tune after another which has brought her squarely into the limelight. First, there was Bedardi Raja from Delhi Belly, and more recently, Mohapatra's haunting melody Jiya Laage Na from Talaash has received rave reviews. But the surprise winner was her anti-dowry song Rupaiyya on Aamir Khan's talk show Satyamev Jayate in 2012 that received a colossal response — more than five million views on the Internet. She says: 'Honestly, my dreams haven't revolved around singing in Hindi films. But I do realise that this is the biggest means to reach the masses.'

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  Her number in Jab Tak Hai Jaan fetched Neeti Mohan the Filmfare award for New Music Talent in 2012

But don't think for a moment that these singers have found the perfect pitch instantaneously. Take a look at Nandini Srikar, who's climbed to the top after years of struggling in the music industry. Says Srikar: 'I've been around for 15 years collaborating with artistes like Trilok Gurtu and doing harmony and vocal arrangements for composer Dhruv Ghanekar.'

It was the Vishal-Shekhar composer duo that found just the right note for Srikar. They realised that her voice was perfectly suited for some numbers in Shah Rukh Khan's Ra.One. The duo gave her the choir-meets-classical number Bhare Naina, which she pulled off by bringing out the pathos that was needed for the female protagonist.

Her husky vocals once again moved the charts in Dibakar Banerjee's political drama Shanghai where she turned out Duaa. Also, in spy thriller Agent Vinod, she gave a contemporary spin to Dil Mera Muft Ka, a techno-based mujra number. Currently, Srikar has her hands full with offers from new composers like Amit Trivedi and Sangeet and Siddharth Haldipur.

Another Bollywood singing sensation is the spunky Neeti Mohan with chartbusters like Ishq Wala Love from Student of the Year and Jiya Re from Jab Tak Hai Jaan. Mohan's a regular singer at A.R. Rahman's concerts and she reckons that has helped her in more ways than one. She says: 'Over the years, I've evolved as a singer watching these musical greats perform.'

It was Rahman who called her in for Jab Tak Hai Jaan. The maestro's advice to her was clear when she was heading off the Jab Tak Hai Jaan recording session. 'Rahman sir told me to put in a lot of attitude and spunk in the track.' The song Jiya Re fetched her the Filmfare award in 2012 for New Music Talent. Mohan's latest chartbuster is a duet called Saddi Galli with Ayushmann Khurrana from Nautanki Saala. Ask her about her forte and the young singer says, 'Fusing Western classical and Indian classical music is my forte. But I am still taking lessons in classical music.'

And if it's all about quick-stepping dance numbers, Mamta Sharma is the singer of choice for many composers. Sharma's Bollywood dream came true when she was spotted by musician Lalit Pandit during a stage show in her home city, Gwalior. Pandit gave her a gigantic first break in Dabangg. He also asked her to tweak her performance a bit. 'On the first day of recording Munni Badnam Hui, I was singing in my natural voice. But Lalit sir suggested that I should add lot of raw texture and a slight nasal tone in my voice,' she says.

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  Mamta Sharma's claim to fame has been item numbers like Munni Badnam Hui in Dabangg and more recently Fevicol Se from Dabangg 2. Pic by Gajanan Dudhalkar

Today, composers who are making a beeline for her want her to add a rustic touch to peppy dance numbers in her upcoming films Zanjeer, Bullet Raja and Besharam. She describes her forte, 'Although right now, I am getting more groovy, dance numbers, I am game to all kinds of music. I hope to continue my winning streak in all kinds of songs that come my way.'

Some new singers have had luck on their side. Saba Azad (niece of theatre activist Safdar Hashmi) has moved from being on screen to being at the microphone — but it's not a permanent switch. She made her foray in the industry as an actress in the film Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge but got her vocal chords working in Nautanki Saala.

Azad has sung two tracks in Nautanki Saala — a jazz number called Dil Ki To Lag Gayi and a foot-tapping reprised version of Dhak Dhak Karne Laaga (originally in the film Beta). She says: 'When I was called to give a twist to the original Dhak Dhak song, I was scared. But once I started recording, I had a great time and did it at one go.' Music and theatre are her two loves and currently, apart from jamming with musician-turned- actor Imaad Shah, she's doing two films under the Yash Raj banner.

In fact, many of these singers have tried their hands at different forms of entertainment. Mohapatra, for instance, released a solo album SONA which showed off her musical talents with songs in diverse styles including everything from rock to flamenco and Hindustani and even Baul and Romani music.

Mohapatra and Ram Sampath run a production house in Mumbai called OmGrown Music, which has also made a considerable name for its ad jingles work. They are the ones behind familiar tunes like Har Ek Friend and Jo Tera Hai for Airtel and Aaj Kuch Toofani for Thums Up.

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  Formally trained in jazz, Shefali Alvares was initially unsure about a career in Bollywood. Pic by Gajanan Dudhalkar

Besides that, Mohapatra performs a lot with her band. She has been the executive producer on Aamir Khan's talk show Satyamev Jayate and is currently exploring a brand new soundscape with Season 2 of the talk show.

Similarly, Srikar is also a music programmer and she collaborates with several other musicians for live gigs. As a composer, she also has a few ad films in hand. She is also working on her own music album and collaborating with composers like Amit Trivedi and Sangeet and Siddharth Haldipur.

On a very different note, Alvares took jazz lessons from childhood and admits she had to work hard to perfect her Bollywood entry. She says: 'Initially, I grappled with my Hindi diction because I always felt my voice was unsuitable for Hindi playback.'

Alvares got her first break in 2011 in the film Dil To Bachcha Hai Ji for the rock number Yeh Dil Hai Nakhrewala. The song's popularity opened the doors to Bollywood and soon offers from Vishal-Shekhar and Amit Trivedi started pouring in. Srikar too recalls that as a singer she didn't have a shrill high-pitched voice and so opportunities were non-existent earlier.

The others too are spreading their wings and trying their luck in different ways to ensure that their voices are heard. Live gigs take up a considerable amount of their time. So, Srikar has her hands full recording for her own album and several new collaborations coming her way. And Rao took part in Coke Studio at MTV and also jams regularly at live gigs across the country.

However, almost everybody agrees that it's getting tougher all the time. And, as Rao puts it, 'It's your style of singing which matters the most. Music-wise so much is happening in this industry that a singer needs to constantly update and innovate. It's a simple law of evolution — adapt or die.'