Ritika Raj – Biography, Wiki, Personal Details, Age, Height

Ritika Raj is a singer from Patna, Bihar, who finished 10th on Indian Idol 15 (2024–25), where the show called her “Idol ki Basanti”. She had first stood on the Indian Idol stage as a schoolgirl, gave up music for her studies and an office job, and came back in 2024 to reach the Top 10. Since October 2026 she has been back on Sony as one half of a duo with Rajasthani folk singer Swaroop Khan in Indian Idol Legends Return, the season built entirely from former contestants. Her Instagram account uses the name Ritika Raj Singh.

Photo: Ritika Raj’s Facebook page, via ETV Bharat

Early Life, Family and Education

Ritika grew up in Patna. In a long conversation with ETV Bharat in March 2025, she said she began singing at the age of four but never enrolled in a music class. The only teaching she had came from the music teacher at her school when she was in Class 5 and Class 6. “Gaana maine kahin se seekha nahin hai,” she said, describing her voice as something that came naturally to her.

Studies came first. She told the channel she topped her school in Class 12, then graduated in advertising from Patna Women’s College as a gold medallist and took a corporate job, which she held for about three years. By then she had been away from singing for roughly five years.

Her family has backed her music from the start. Viewers met her mother during the Indian Idol 15 episode with Nana Patekar, when she came on stage to cheer for her daughter; asked who else lived at home, she mentioned her son and her husband.

A First Brush with Indian Idol and Lata Mangeshkar

Indian Idol 15 was not Ritika’s first time on the show. She told ETV Bharat that she had gone to Indian Idol about a dozen years earlier, while still in school, and that during that stint she visited Lata Mangeshkar at her home and also met Asha Bhosle. Sony’s own announcement of the season 15 Top 15, carried by City Air News, said she “first caught the spotlight” on Indian Idol season 6 when she was 13. That was the season in which Devender Pal Singh finished runner-up. Because school came first, she did not pursue music after that run.

She retold the Lata Mangeshkar meeting on Indian Idol 15. “I have a photo from when I was 13 years old, where I had my head resting on her (Lata ji) lap,” she said, according to Filmibeat. In two hours with the young contestants, the singer explained how recordings are made and even brought them samosas. Ritika says Lata’s simplicity taught her to stay humble, and that she counts herself lucky to have two “Saraswati Maa’s”, Lata ji and Shreya Ghoshal.

Indian Idol 15 Journey (2024–25)

Ritika applied when auditions opened in the middle of 2024. Once selected, she spent around six months in Mumbai with the show. Indian Idol 15 began in October 2024, judged by Badshah, Shreya Ghoshal and Vishal Dadlani and hosted by Aditya Narayan. In the theatre round she sang “Paan Khaye Saiyan Hamarao” and went through, and in November 2024 she was named in the Top 15, as Filmibeat reported.

Her songs that season included:

• “Cham Cham Nachdi Phiran” in Gala 1, the opening Top 16 round, and “Lambi Judai” the following weekend.
• “Tujhe Kitna Chahne Lage” on the night marking one year of the film Animal.
• “Bindiya Chamkegi” and “Leke Pehla Pehla Pyaar” on the “Bebak Nana” episode with Nana Patekar, which Filmibeat expected her to steal.
• “Pareshaan” from Ishaqzaade, sung for Amit Trivedi on the “2025 Ka Superhit Start” episode.
• “Aap Ki Nazron Ne Samjha” and “Milo Na Tum Toh Hum Ghabraye” for the Madan Mohan centenary episode.

On the Amit Trivedi episode, according to The Times of India, the judges felt she slipped on “Pareshaan”, and Vishal asked if seeing Amit had made her forget the scale change. Amit then asked her to sing “Jhalla Wallah”, a song Shreya had originally recorded for the same film. Shreya called her a “Pataka”, pointing to her “Nakhre” and “Ada”, and Amit told her: “I’m going to take your number, and in the future, I want to do a song with you.” Ritika said she had long wished for Amit Trivedi to hear her sing.

Her run ended in the Top 10 round, broadcast on 8–9 March 2025. She sang “Mere Naseeb Mein”, a Hema Malini number, with the actress watching, and was voted out on 9 March 2025 together with Biswarup Banerjee. The Wikipedia article on the series lists her 10th. She later said most of her performances drew standing ovations, but Bihar did not vote for her the way other states backed their own singers. The title went to Manasi Ghosh on 6 April 2025; Subhajit Chakraborty was runner-up.

Singing Work After Indian Idol 15

When she spoke to ETV Bharat after her exit, Ritika said she would not go back to a corporate job. Her plan was a full-time music career built on stage shows and live performances. She said Amit Trivedi had offered her a chance to sing in his music after hearing her on the show, and that other music directors had approached her too. A fan of semi-classical music and ghazals who also hums Bihari kajri, she writes her own lyrics and means to release original songs.

She has kept performing at live events in Bihar. In October 2026, Prabhat Khabar reported that the Vaishali Club in Hajipur had booked her as the performer for its free dandiya night on 15 October.

Indian Idol Legends Return (2026) with Swaroop Khan

Indian Idol Legends Return, the 17th season, brings back 24 former contestants who compete as 12 duos. The Fremantle production opened on Sony Entertainment Television and Sony LIV on 17 October 2026 and airs Saturdays and Sundays at 8 PM, according to Medianews4u. Himesh Reshammiya judges, Aditya Narayan hosts, and the singers also score each other.

Sony’s line-up, published by Indian Broadcasting World, paired Ritika with Swaroop Khan, the Rajasthani folk singer who came fourth on Indian Idol 5. IWMBuzz‘s review of the premiere weekend listed the same pairing. Her season 15 batchmate Mayuri Saha is also back, singing with Devender Pal Singh.

Before the premiere, Swaroop spoke about working with her. In Sony’s statement, reported by IBW, he said the bond between them had developed on its own over rehearsals and on stage, and that a duet works only when each singer listens, leaves room for the other and reads the partner’s energy. Speaking to Bollyy, he called sharing the stage with her a genuinely exciting experience. In the Hindi version of the statement on Mayapuri, he says her singing has a beautiful identity of its own. Our Indian Idol 17 contestants list tracks all twelve pairings.

Photo: Ritika Raj’s Facebook page, via ETV Bharat

Lesser-Known Facts

• She never took formal music lessons; her only training came from a school music teacher.
• As a child contestant she met Lata Mangeshkar at the singer’s home, and still has a photo of herself resting her head on Lata’s lap.
• She describes her bond with Shreya Ghoshal, her idol, as like that of an elder sister.
• She writes her own song lyrics.

FAQ About Ritika Raj

Related Biographies

• Swaroop Khan Biography: the Indian Idol 5 folk singer she sings with in 2026
• Mayuri Saha Biography: a fellow Top 15 singer from season 15
• Devender Pal Singh Biography: runner-up of Indian Idol 6
• Indian Idol 17 Contestants List: every returning singer and their partner