Ananya Sritam Nanda

Early life and education

Nanda grew up in Bhubaneswar. According to an interview she gave after her reality-show win, her interest in singing surfaced in primary school, when a teacher who heard her sing in class encouraged her parents to develop it, and she began serious training a few years before her television appearance. Wikipedia records that she trained in Hindustani music under Pandit Dr. Chitta Ranjan Pani and Nilamani Ojha. She later moved to Mumbai for further studies.

Music career

Nanda won season 2 of Indian Idol Junior, which ran from 30 May to 6 September 2015 and was judged by Salim Merchant, Sonakshi Sinha and Vishal Dadlani. At the age of 14 she defeated fellow finalists Nahid Afrin and Nithyashree Venkataramanan; International Business Times reported that the prize included Rs 18 lakh in cash, gift hampers and a motorcycle. Her victory was widely celebrated in Odisha, and she was afterwards received by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and felicitated by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. During the competition she signed a two-year recording contract with Universal Music India.

Her first independent single, "Mausam Mastana", was released by Universal Music in June 2016. It reworked the 1982 song from Satte Pe Satta originally sung by Asha Bhosle and Dilraj Kaur, adding urban-pop and reggae elements, with additional music and lyrics by DJ AKS and a rap by Jusa Dementor. The same year she sang "Padhoge Likhoge", a playful duet written as an argument between two children, for composer Amaal Mallik in the Hindi biopic M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story.

In 2019 she reached the top five of the Colors TV contest Rising Star. In September 2022 she returned to reality television as an adult contestant on Indian Idol season 13, where her audition of "Hai Rama Yeh Kya Hua" from Rangeela impressed judges Himesh Reshammiya, Neha Kakkar and Vishal Dadlani; Dadlani offered to record the performance and send it to Arijit Singh, whom she named as her favourite singer.

Film playback

Nanda entered Odia cinema in 2016 and quickly became one of the most-heard female voices in the industry; our database credits her in more than 50 Odia films. Much of her early work was for composer Prem Anand, often in duets with Humane Sagar, including songs for Agastya (2016), Baby (2016), Tu Mo Love Story (2017), Romeo Juliet (2017), Abhaya (2017), Kabula Barabula (2017) and Kathadeli Matha Chhuin (2017). Later credits listed by Wikipedia include "Bhabuthuli Jemiti" in Kuhudi (2024) and "Basinda" in Charidham – A Journey Within (2025), both composed by Somesh Satpathy.

In January 2021 she was among more than fifteen Ollywood singers who took part in an open-air recording session in Bhubaneswar, organised by Prem Anand, for a song celebrating Odisha's culture and identity that was intended for release on Odia New Year.

Notable songs and albums

Songs credited to her include "Mausam Mastana" (2016 single), "Padhoge Likhoge" (M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story, 2016), "Sun Zara" and "Mu Kahinki Ete" (Baby, 2016), "Dhire Dhire" and "Tipi Tipi" (Agastya, 2016), the title song and "Tike Tike Achinha" from Tu Mo Love Story (2017), and the title song of Kabula Barabula (2017).

Awards and honours

Her principal recognition to date is the Indian Idol Junior title (2015). Following the win she was felicitated by the Chief Minister of Odisha.