Meet a Bollywood singer who does a bit more than lip service to philanthropy since her childhood

She wants to sing to save lives of poor kids. This girl, who has recently sung the song, Photocopy in Jai Ho, is way beyond just a singer.

Since the age of eight, Palak Muchhal has been raising funds for surgeries and treatment for kids with heart problems. She started out in her hometown Indore and had even raised funds for Kargil war victims during her younger days.

Palak has till now helped 597 patients and about 607 kids with heart disease are still waiting in queue. She hopes to get them treated as soon as she can. She has raised nearly Rs 3 crore till date. `I used to go from shop-to-shop and sing Aye mere watan ke logo so that I could collect money for those children,` adds Palak, who has done 1,700 shows in the last 14 years.


Initially, she could only manage to raise enough for treatment of one patient through her concerts. `Gradually, I started getting offers for concert from other cities and even outside India. So funds increased and I could help more patients,` smiles the young crooner.

Her first big Bollywood break happened with the song Laapata for Ek Tha Tiger which was followed by Aashiqui 2, Policegiri and Zanjeer. So how did Jai Ho happen?

`Salman Khan called me home and made me meet Sajid-Wajid saying that he wanted a Gujarati song in my voice. They did tell him that I was not a Gujarati. Salman told them she sings in 17 languages and I was on. That's how I ended up singing with Himesh Reshammiya,` she says.