Chauhan, Kem Trivedi, Atul Mittal and Kenny Puri formed the band
Silk Route. Chauhan was the vocalist, while Kem played the keyboards, Atul Mittal was the lead guitarist and Kenny Puri played the drums. Their first album,
Boondein, was released in 1998 and featured the popular songs "Dooba Dooba" and "Pehchan". The second album was released in 2000. After Silk Route was discontinued in 2008, he released another album
Fitoor in 2009. Chauhan's film singing career began in 2002 when he sung "Pehli Nazar Mein Dari Thi" from the film
Road. His songs "Khoon Chala" from
Rang De Basanti and "Tum Se Hi" from
Jab We Met are regarded as his most notable. He won the
Filmfare Award for Best Male Playback Singer prize in 2010 for the song
Masakali. In 2011, he was featured in the third episode of
The Dewarists for his song "Maaya". He was also featured on
MTV Unplugged in the same year. In 2017, he made his
Gujarati language debut with the song "Jaag Re Banda" from the movie
Last Chance. He sang for the first
Himachali movie "Puchhe Amma" and "Deva Mere" from the film
Saanjh.
Bollywood Debut: 2002-07 After the massive success of
"Dooba of Dooba" and "Boondein", which earned him awards and recognition, Chauhan was approached by composer
Sandesh Shandilya to sing in films. Chauhan made his debut with Shandilya's composition of the song "Pehli Nazar Me Dari Thi" from the 2002 film
Road. The next year, he sang for the films
Main Madhuri Dixit Banana Chahati Hoon and
Kyun, but didn't get any recognition. This was followed by "Sabse Peeche Hum Khade" for the 2004 film ''Let's Enjoy
, "Paintra" and "Guncha Koi" for the 2005 film Main Meri Patni aur Woh
in which he also served as composer, and the song "Angna" and "Rowan Akhiya" for the film Adharma''.
A.R. Rahman, who had noticed Chauhan at the award win for Silk Route, called him to sing "Khoon Chala" for the film
Rang De Basanti. The song proved to be a breakthrough for him, and in 2007, he followed this up with his first major hit song in the
Pritam-composed romantic ballad "Tum Se Hi" for the film
Jab We Met, penned by
Irshad Kamil; both Pritam and writer-director
Imtiaz Ali wanted Chauhan to lend his voice for this romantic track.
2008-10 Chauhan followed the success of "Tum Se Hi" with the song "Kuchh Khaas Hai" in 2008, composed by
Salim–Sulaiman, for
Fashion. He reunited with
Pritam for
Kismat Konnection where he performed "Kahi na Lage Man (Is This Love)" along with
Shreya Ghoshal. "Ankhon Hi Ankhon Mein", a soft romantic number from
EMI, had him appear on screen for the first time in the song's music video. He also sang for his first animated film
Bolt where he sang the Hindi version of "
I Thought I Lost You". 2009 was the most successful year in Chauhan's career, as of the 8 songs he recorded, 4 of them "
Masakali" from
Delhi-6, "Yeh Dooriyan" from
Love Aaj Kal, "Pehli Baar Mohabbat" from
Kaminey and "Tune Jo Na Kaha" from
New York were huge chartbusters, establishing him as an audience favourite among the younger generation. 2010 proved to be a moderately successful follow-up to Chauhan's success from the previous year, as his songs became popular. Among his 2010 songs, the romantic number "Pee Loon" from
Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai, picturized on
Emraan Hashmi, was a rage.
2011 Chauhan had his biggest rise to national prominence in 2011 as he attracted mainstream attention for his contribution to the soundtrack of
Rockstar, which reunited him with Ali and Rahman after almost half-a-decade; the 9 songs he recorded for the film as the voice of the
protagonist Jordan played by
Ranbir Kapoor were all massive chartbusters at the time of release, and continue to be treated as cult songs till date. Among other successful songs he recorded that year, "Abhi Kuch Dino Se" from
Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji and "Khwabon Ke Parinday" from
Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, "Acha Lagta Hai" from
Aarakshan were highly popular.
2015-Present In 2020, Chauhan sang "Dheere Dheere Se" for the film
Guns of Banaras, composed by
Sohail Sen and written by
Sameer. He sang "Yeh Dooriyaa" which is composed by
Pritam from the film
Love Aaj Kal (2020). This song is a new version of the chartbuster "Yeh Dooriyaan" from the film
Love Aaj Kal (2009). Both versions are written by
Irshad Kamil. There is a remix version too which was released by
Sony Music India. He sang "Meethi Meethi Gallan", "Kisi Gair Ka Nahi", and "Salaam". Salaam is a tribute to corona warriors by Chauhan. He also features in a video of "Hum Haar Nahi Maanenge" composed by
A. R. Rahman. In 2019 Chauhan performed at
Kargil Vijay Diwas, he sung "Khoon Chala" his song from
Rang De Basanti, as a tribute to the brave Indian Soldiers. Prime Minister
Narendra Modi and Defence Minister
Rajnath Singh were present. The event was held at
Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in New Delhi. == Discography ==