Anushka Manchanda

Biography

Anushka Manchanda aka Kiss Nuka (born 11 February 1984) is an Indian singer, music producer, composer, actress, and former VJ. She came to prominence as a member of the Indipop girl group Viva!. In 2018, she adopted the artistic name Kiss Nuka.

Viva (2002–2004)

When Manchanda participated on the show Coke [V] Pop stars, she was trained under the likes of Manish Malhotra, Bosco–Caesar, Shiamak Davar, and Noyonika Chatterjee. The five winners of the talent show formed a band named 'Viva' and the series became one of the highest TRP reality shows on television. As a member of Viva, she worked with Javed Akhtar, Salim–Sulaiman, Shankar Ehsan Loy, Sandeep Chowta, Raju Singh, Shantanu Moitra, and Ashu Dhruv.
Their first album sold went platinum. 60,000 people attended their first concert.
For the second album of Viva, Viva Reloaded, Manchanda composed a track on the piano. The song was 'Yeh Pyar Nahi Toh Kya Hain' to which the lyrics were written by band member Neha Bhasin and Manchanda.

Channel V (2004–2006)

After Viva's second album, Manchanda started working as a VJ on Channel V. She hosted a travel show called V on The Run with Purab Kohli and Sarah Jane Dias where they traveled around India. She hosted shows like Launchpad, Hotline, and Jukebox. Manchanda left Channel V in 2006 after the show ended, but returned for the V Ad Awards.

Playback singing

Manchanda started playback singing in the Tamil film industry with the song "O Mahire" from the 2004 film Manmadhan under the direction of noted music composer Yuvan Shankar Raja. She later worked several times with him on popular songs like "Thee Pidikka" (Arinthum Ariyamalum), "Kudakooli" (Kalvanin Kadhali), "Money Money" (Thimiru) and "Oh..Oh..Ennanamo" (Chennai 600028). In 2006, she got her first opportunity to sing for a Hindi film, which was the title song of the film Golmaal, composed by Vishal–Shekhar. This was followed by several other songs under other noted music composers such as Anu Malik, Salim–Sulaiman, Pritam, and Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy. She performed a cameo role in the Bollywood film Dulha Mil Gaya, for which she sung three songs as well. Manchanda has also appeared the reality show MTV Pulsar Stunt Mania in 2010. In Bollywood, Manchanda's rendition of the song "Dum Maro Dum" in the film Dum Maro Dum gained immense popularity. She also sang "Ek Main Hun Aur Ek Tu" from the film Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu, "Apna Har Din Aise Jiyo" in Golmaal 3. In 2013, she sang the remix version of the 1991 hit song (originally sung by Kavita Krishnamurthy in the film Chalbaaz) "Na jaane kahan se aya hai", featuring Neeraj Shridhar.

Acting

Manchanda featured on the track I am Sorry by Akcent, which received high critical acclaim and collaborated with producer Chicane.
Manchanda is one of the lead actors in Angry Indian Goddesses, a film by award-winning director Pan Nalin (Samsara).

As independent artist

After establishing a career in film, Manchanda formed an electro-pop group in 2012, collaborating with members from various backgrounds, including Shiraz Bhattacharya and Abhijit Nalani. The band released the track "Crazy" and toured but disbanded two years later.
Manchanda launched her alter ego, Kiss Nuka, in 2018 with the electro-pop song "Don't Be Afraid." The accompanying music video was recognized as one of the top 10 music videos of 2018 by Rolling Stone and Homegrown and won awards for Best Concept and Best Direction at the 17th Independent Music Awards. In November 2020, she released "Kashmir," featuring Khalid Ahmed and Sufiyan Malik.

Personal life

Manchanda is the daughter of former Indian cricketer Rajesh Manchanda and artist, Dr. Anita Manchanda. She has a brother, Shikhar Yuvraj. She was raised in Delhi and attended Lady Shri Ram College for Women. She started singing at the age of 6 and won a talent show at the age of 9.
Manchanda is a fitness enthusiast and supports fitness and health awareness and practices yoga and nutrition.