Shweta Subram is a Bollywood & Kollywood playback singer. She primarily sings in Hindi, though she has also lent her voice to other languages. Shweta is the recipient of multiple awards including the North American Best Singer award from Sangam Kala Group, and Best Singer Award from Shankar Mahadevan Academy's talent hunt, judged by Shankar Mahadevan himself. Shweta was an active participant in the International Indian Film Academy Awards, performing with Bollywood music composer/director duo Salim-Sulaiman for IIFA Rocks in Toronto.
Early years
Shweta was born in Dubai, UAE and moved to Ottawa, Ontario, Canada during her teenage years. She graduated from Merivale High School and obtained a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Carleton University. Though singing started off as a hobby for Shweta, her talent was constantly appreciated through multiple awards and accolades in Dubai and Canada, and made way to a full time pursuit of music.
Music career
After winning the North American Best Singer award from Sangam Kala Group, Shweta spent some time in India and was chosen by Zoom to join the Sunsilk Gang of Girls. After touring across India with the band, Shweta wanted to embark on her own musical journey.
Following her stint in India, Shweta returned to Canada to focus on independent music. Her debut single, Jee Le Live Life was followed up with Ajooba and these releases brought her in the urban music limelight in North America. Shweta was then contacted by Shankar Tucker to feature in his project. Mere Saajan Sun Sun, which had a phenomenal response and exposed Shweta's talent to a larger audience. Shweta was then contacted by music composerPravin Mani of A.R. Rahman fame who worked with her on the single Piya featuring the playback singer Karthik. Shweta's biggest break in North America came when she was chosen by The Piano Guys to the render an Indian adaptation of Swedish House Mafia's Don't You Worry Child. In addition to originals, Shweta has also rendered covers of popular Bollywood songs, including Heer, Saadi Galli Aaja, and Mitti Di Khushboo. Backed by the A.R. Rahman's, Shekhar Kapur's, and Samir Bangara's digital music start-up, Qyuki, Shweta released Bollywood Evolution, which presented a medley of Bollywood songs from 1950s in five minutes in acapella style. This release was picked up by various Indian and international news portals including BuzzFeed and The Times of India.
In December 2016 Shweta started "Shwetapella", a series of acapella covers of popular songs. As of July 2017, she has released six videos covering Papon – Moh Moh Ke Dhaage, Armaan Malik – Bol Do Na Zara, Arijit Singh – Bolna, Sonu Nigam – Abhi Mujh Me Kahin, Arijit Singh and Shreya Ghoshal's Samjhawan, and Lata Mangeshkar's Naino Mein Badra Chhaye from the movie Mera Saaya. Shweta sang three songs for Mostly Sunny, a biography of Sunny Leone by director Dilip Mehta. She also had a playback debut in Maayavan, a Tamil movie, with a song called Mella Mella with music directorGhibran. In July 2017, Shweta featured in a cover of Maana Ke Hum Yaar Nahin by Parineeti Chopra from the movie Meri Pyaari Bindu. Chopra took notice of the cover and tweeted that she was "speechless" and the song "made me cry". In December 2017, Shweta released a new song, Rasiya, featuring Purbayan Chatterjee on Sitar. In February 2018, Shweta collaborated again with producer Keethan and musicians from Chennai on a unique rendition of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's Mere Rashke Qamar by mixing lines from Ghulam Ali's ghazalAe Husn Be Parwah Tujhe.
Live performances
Shweta is known to be a rockstar performer. Her set typically includes of popular and upbeat Bollywood songs along with evergreen classics. She has headlined various festivals and concerts in North America, Middle-East, the Caribbean, and Asia. In April 2015, she was invited to sing national anthems of Canada and India to open floor for speeches by Indian PM Modi and Canadian PM harper. She also headlined the IIFA Buzz festival in Markham, Ontario and The IIFA Rocks segment was aired globally by STAR to a total audience of 700 million. Shweta sang the song Khuda Ke Liye with Salim-Sulaiman from the film Aazaan
Radio
From 2009 to 2010 Shweta hosted the Drive Home show on HumDesi Radio, the largest radio station in North America. Prior to this she was the host and reporter of the television program "Sounds of India" on Rogers Channel 22 in Canada, and RJ for CKCU 97.9 FM.
