Career beginning (2004–2011) Shalmali has had her tutelage in music from the age of 8 years under her mother, Uma Kholgade – an Indian classical singer and theatre personality. Shalmali has performed as a soloist with a Latvian troupe in a Cabaret named Bombaloo. She has been singing professionally in
Mumbai for several years, and worked as a backing vocalist for
Ali Zafar's songs.
Playback singing debut and breakthrough (2012–present) at the Worli Festival in 2013 Shalmali made her debut as a lead vocalist in
Bollywood playback singing in 2012 with the song "
Pareshaan" from film
Ishaqzaade under the music of
Amit Trivedi. The song was a critical and commercial success, topping charts across India. For
Pareshaan Kholgade won the
Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer among several other awards. Her other two songs in 2012, "Daaru Desi" from
Cocktail, and "Aga Bai" from
Aiyyaa, both became hits. In 2013, Kholgade's first track, "Lat Lag Gayee" from the movie
Race 2 met with immense commercial appreciation. The song remained on the top of the charts for many weeks and became hugely popular in dance clubs. Kholgade received further critical and commercial success with the track "
Balam Pichkari" from the movie
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani. For the song, Kholgade received many nominations including her second
Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer nomination. She also sang the title track for
Shuddh Desi Romance, "Besharmi Ki Height" and "Shanivar Raati" for
Main Tera Hero, "D Se Dance" for
Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania and " Shayarana" for
Daawat-E-Ishq, which got her more critical appreciation. She also received praise for the song "Baby Ko Bass Pasand Hai" from the sports drama
Sultan (2016).She received critical acclaim for songs, including "Aga Bai" from
Aiyyaa (2012),"Chingam Chabake" from
Gori Tere Pyaar Mein (2013),"Mohobbat Buri Bemari" from
Bombay Velvet (2015), "Shakira" from
Welcome to Karachi (2015), and "Naach Meri Jaan" from
ABCD 2 (2015). Kholgade's first regional song "Raja Raja" from the 2013
Tamil film
Naan Rajavaga Pogiren was well received. Her song "Oday Oday" from the romantic film
Raja Rani was successful in the Southern part of India. She followed this success with further regional hits, "Kala Koi Geli" for the Bengali film
Proloy (2013), "Preminchaa" for the Telugu film
Toofan (2013), "Maria" from the Bengali film
Herogiri (2015), "Jil Jil Jil" for the Telugu film
Jil (2015), "Tu Mila" for the Marathi film
Timepass 2 (2015), and "Kangaroo" from the Marathi film
Highway (2015). She was also one of the judges of the
Sony Entertainment Television's reality show
Indian Idol Junior for auditions. She also judging the show
Sur Nava Dhyas Nava which was aired on
Colors Marathi. Kholgade has released a hit single "Kalle Kalle" on the Valentine's Day of 2020 which celebrates singledom. Kholgade will make her debut as a music composer with the Marathi film
June, set to release in 2020. ==Acting career==