walking upstream…
Tulsi Kumar
photo: bollywood hungama · cc by 3.0 ↗Tulsi Kumar
Tulsi Kumar is an Indian playback singer born into Bollywood's biggest music dynasty — her father, Gulshan Kumar, founded T-Series, and she has spent her career singing inside the very label he built. Trained in Hindustani classical technique from age six at Suresh Wadkar's academy, she built a signature soft, romantic register on 2010s blockbuster ballads like "Soch Na Sake" and "Tera Ban Jaunga" before breaking out as a solo pop artist with "Tanhaai" in 2020.
the sound in question
2020
TanhaaiTulsi Kumar
walk the tributaries ↓
Suresh Wadkar1980s · Filmi / Ghazal / Hindustani classical / Bhajan
Six years old and already enrolled at Suresh Wadkar's music academy in Mumbai, Tulsi got her entire technical foundation — breath control, sur, raga-based ear training — directly from him, years before she ever stepped into a recording booth.
listen: upstream & heresource: Curly Tales — Tulsi Kumar on her journey into music (Suresh Wadkar's academy at age 6) ↗
1989
Tum Se MilkeSuresh Wadkar
2016
Wajah Tum HoTulsi Kumar
listen forThe sustained, perfectly-held long notes in "Wajah Tum Ho" are textbook classical discipline — that's years under a Hindustani classical guru showing up inside a pop love song.
Lata Mangeshkar1960s · Filmi / Playback singing / Hindustani classical
Tulsi has repeatedly named Lata Mangeshkar as one of her two biggest inspirations, and it surfaces as a hushed, controlled head voice on ballads rather than belting — the same restraint that defined Lata's classic playback style.
listen: upstream & heresource: Radio and Music — "Tulsi Kumar feels motivated by Lata Mangeshkar and Kishore Kumar's music" ↗
1964
Lag Ja GaleLata Mangeshkar
2016
Soch Na SakeTulsi Kumar
listen forThe way Tulsi pulls back the power on the opening lines of "Soch Na Sake," letting the melody breathe instead of pushing volume — that soft-focus delivery is straight out of the Lata playbook.
Kishore Kumar1970s · Filmi / Bollywood playback / Indian pop
Alongside Lata, Kishore Kumar is the other singer Tulsi has cited by name as a lifelong motivator — and it comes through in the warmth and conversational ease she brings to romantic duets, less about vocal athletics than about sounding like she's actually talking to someone.
listen: upstream & heresource: Radio and Music — "Tulsi Kumar feels motivated by Lata Mangeshkar and Kishore Kumar's music" ↗
1969
Mere Sapno Ki RaniKishore Kumar
2019
Tera Ban JaungaTulsi Kumar
listen forListen to the unforced, easy phrasing on her verses in "Tera Ban Jaunga" — small words allowed to linger rather than land squarely on the beat, a loose warmth that echoes Kishore's conversational style.