Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut and playback singer Alka Yagnik shared their birthday on Wednesday and while the former turned 26 years of age, Yagnik turned 47.

Kangana Ranaut made her acting debut in 2006 with a leading role in 'Gangster' and drew the attention of the audience with her very first film and her acting skills.

She chose to select roles quite different from what newcomers generally go for.

Her performances in films like 'Woh Lamhe', 'Life in A Metro', 'Fashion' and 'Raaz 2' won her much critical acclaim.

She won a Filmfare as well as a National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as a troubled model in 'Fashion' (2008).

Known for her roles with neurotic shades, she decided to break the path with 'Once Upon A Time In Mumbai' (2010), 'Double Dhamaal' (2011) and 'Tanu Weds Manu'.

Ranaut has recently filmed for Sanjay Gupta's 'Shootout at Wadala', due for release on May 1, 'I Love NY' and Rakesh Roshan's 'Krrish 3', which is set for release on Diwali 2013.

Alka Yagnik, on the other hand, is one of the most celebrated female singers in Bollywood and has started singing for Akashvani (All India Radio), Calcutta, at the age of 6.

Her first song was for the film 'Payal Ki Jhankaar' in (1980), followed by 'Laawaris' (1981) with the hit song "Mere Angane Mein", followed by the film 'Hamari Bahu Alka '(1982).

She got her big break with the song "Ek Do Teen" from the superhit film 'Tezaab' (1988). The song turned her into a star overnight and went on to become a pop hit, also winning her a Filmfare Best Female Playback Award. 'Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak' was also a career maker for her, as she along with Udit Narayan became household names.

She has sung in many languages other than Hindi, including Gujarati, Oriya, Assamese, Manipuri, Nepali, Rajasthani, Bengali, Bhojpuri, Punjabi, Marathi, Telugu, Tamil, and Malayalam.

She has worked with almost every popular Indian composers such as Kalyanji-Anandji, Laxmikant-Pyarelal, Rajesh Roshan, Nadeem-Shravan, Jatin Lalit, Anu Malik, A. R. Rahman, Anand-Milind, Himesh Reshammiya, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Ismail Darbar, Aadesh Shrivastava, Viju Shah, M. M. Keeravani, Sajid-Wajid, Bappi Lahiri, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Sandesh Shandilya and many others.

Besides film, she has also sung in many notable albums such as "Tum Yaad Aaye", as well as "Tum Aaye" and "Shairana" in which she worked in close collaboration with award-winning lyricist Javed Akhtar and noted singer Hariharan. She has also rendered her voice to the Hanuman Chalisa and various devotional songs.

Having delivered number of hits with her magical voice during the 90's, Alka shares the title with Asha Bhosle for the greatest number of Filmfare Awards won (seven awards) by a single female playback singer.

She has also been the judge of various singing reality shows including Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge shows, and Star Voice of India.