She's belted out hits like Soch na sake from Airlift, Saason ne from Dabangg 2 and the title track of Sanam re.

But ask what was her most challenging assignment so far, fresh-voiced Bollywood singer Tulsi Kumar, 30, says: " Mere Papa. It's an album brought out last year as a tribute to my father and I got really emotional and took time to collect myself while recording."

Tulsi's father was Gulshan Kumar, film producer and founder of T-Series music label, who was murdered in 1997.

Tulsi, who came to Ranchi to perform at the annual fest of NIFFT in Ranchi on Sunday and chatted with this reporter on Monday, said she was a singer largely due to her dad who observed her humming as a six-year-old and got her admitted to playback singer Suresh Wadkar's academy.

She started singing in 2006 for films like Askar and released her solo album Love Ho Jaaye in 2009. Tulsi has worked with many composers including Himesh Reshammiya, Jeet Gannguli, Pritam and Sajid-Wajid, and sung with Arijit Singh, Shaan, Sonu Nigam, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, KK, Mohit Chouhan and others.

Born with a silver spoon in her mouth, she has no airs. "I have learnt a lot and am still learning from my music directors and co-singers," she said.

Hindi apart, she sings in mother tongue Punjabi and regional languages Telugu, Tamil and Bengali, with "great stress on pronunciation".

Her hands are full. She has sung for upcoming films Noor and Mubarakan, is working on Punjabi tracks and a YouTube project with an UK artiste and also runs an academy to train aspirants in music, acting and performing arts with husband Hitesh Ralhan.

What keeps her going? "My father believed in me and I must live up to his expectations," Tulsi said.