The Nooran Sisters, a pair of fervent Sufi singers from Hoshiarpur, Punjab, India, are Sultana Nooran (born 14 June 1992) and Jyoti Nooran (born 24 February 1994). They play classical music from the Sham Chaurasia gharana, having come from a family of Sufi musicians.
Their song “Tung Tung” was featured in MTV Sound Trippin of MTV India in 2012, and it became known to the public after being used as the music for the Bollywood film Singh is Bling in 2015.
Personal life
In 2014, Jyoti Nooran wed Kunal Passi. Because they believed Jyoti’s matriculation certificate indicated she was 16 at the time of the marriage, her parents disapproved of it and initiated a court lawsuit on the grounds of underage marriage. The family eventually agreed to acknowledge the marriage following legal proceedings. Passi oversees their performances as managers. Sultana has a son and is also married.
Jyoti had given several solo performances. She said when asked if she intended to pursue a solo career, “Please don’t recommend it. Each of us completes the other.
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Career
With the release of their song “Tung Tung” in 2012, the Nooran sisters gained popularity through the talent search segment of MTV Sound Trippin in India. Sneha Khanwalkar, a director and composer of Bollywood music, introduced them to the contest. Later, the song served as the music for the 2015 Akshay Kumar film Singh is Bling. Later that year, they played “Allah Hoo,” which became a YouTube success, at MTV Unplugged and Coke Studio at MTV Season 2.
They were nominated in 2018’s Filmfare Awards Punjabi for Best Playback Singer (Female) for the song “Baajre Di Raakhi” from the movie Krazzy Tabbar.
In 2016 and 2017, they gave performances at the Dhaka International Folk Fest. They worked on “For Aisha,” which appeared in the 2022 Disney TV series Ms. Marvel and the 2019 film The Sky is Pink, in collaboration with MEMBA and EVAN GIIA. Jyoti contributed music to Tamil films including Paayum Puli (2015) and Bogan (2017) for composer D. Imman.
Bollywood
They made their Bollywood debut in 2014 with the song “Patakha Guddi” from the film Highway, which was composed by A.R. Rahman. They refer to it as their favourite song, and it topped the Bollywood music charts. Additionally, they received two Mirchi Music Awards in 2015 for “Upcoming Female Vocalist Of The Year” and “Vocalist (Female) Of The Year,” as well as the Global Indian Music Academy Awards’ Best Music Debut and the Screen Awards’ Best Female Playback Singer honours.
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Early life and background
The sisters received training from an early age from their father, Ustad Gulshan Mir, who is the grandson of legendary Sufi vocalist Bibi Nooran and the son of Swarn Nooran, a Sufi singer from the 1970s. Mir claimed that because the family was struggling, he offered music lessons to help them. The sisters might not have even completed kindergarten.
Mir first saw Sultana Nooran and Jyoti Nooran’s potential when they were playing at home and singing “Kulli vichon ni yaar lab lai,” a Bulleh Shah kalam they had learned from their grandmother, when they were seven and five, respectively. Mir inquired if they could play instruments and sing them. With tabla and harmonium as their musical accompaniment, they sang with a flawless beat.
The Doordarshan Punjabi program Jashan Di Raat featured the Nooran sisters for the first time in 2005. In 2007, Jyoti appeared as a solo performer in the singing competition Nikki Awaz Punjab Di on the Punjabi channel MH1. They were discovered in 2010 by Canadian music promoter Iqbal Mahal, who assisted them in performing for a larger audience.
The first significant public acclaim for them came from their performance in the Baba Murad Shah Dargah in Nakodar in 2013. At the late Ghazal master Jagjit Singh’s 72nd birthday celebration held at the Harpal Tiwana Centre for Performing Arts (HTCPA), they gave a performance that enchanted the locals of Patiala, Punjab, India.