Palak Muchhal (born 30 March 1992) is a singer from Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India. She and her younger brother Palaash Muchhal perform stage shows across India and abroad to raise funds for poor children who need financial assistance for the medical treatment of heart disease. As of May 2013 she has raised funds of 25 million through her charity shows which has helped to save lives of 572 children suffering from heart ailments. Muchhal has made her entry in both Guinness Book of World Records and Limca Book of World Records for great achievements in social work. Her work is also recognised by the Government of India and other public institutions through various awards and honours. Muchhal also gives her voice as Bollywood Playback singer. She was noted for her songs in Ek Tha Tiger (2012) , Aashiqui 2 (2013), Zanjeer (2013) movies.

 

Her decision to use her voice to help others was triggered when she saw poor children using their clothes to clean train compartments. Around the same time, teachers at Nidhi Vinay Mandir, an Indore based school, approached Muchhal and her parents with a request for a charity show to raise funds for their pupil, Lokesh, who was suffering from a congenital heart defect. His father was poor footwear shop-owner, earning 50 a day and was unable to bear the 80,000 cost of heart surgery. Muchhal and her parents agreed to arrange a show and in March 2000, she used a street vendor's cart as a stage for the event and collected 51,000 towards the cost of surgery. The attendant publicity prompted renowned Bangalore-based cardiologist, Devi Prasad Shetty, to operate on Lokesh free of charge. Muchhal's parents gave advertisement in local newspapers so that idle funds can be used for heart surgery of some needy child like Lokesh. The outcome of this was a list of 33 children in need of heart surgery.

 

In 2001 Muchhal raised around 1 million rupees for the victims of 2001 Gujarat Earthquake. In July 2003 Muchhal offered financial assistance through her charity funds to parents of 2-year old Pakistani girl who had hole in the heart. Muchhal's charity organisation is named as 'Palak Muchhal Heart Foundation'. By March 2006 this foundation had financially assisted 200 children to undergo heart surgery. By the end of the year 2006 Muchhal had raised 1.2 crore (equivalent to 2.5 crore or US$400,000 in 2013) for this foundation which were used to save lives of 234 children. To ensure that operations of children do not stop due to lack of money, Bhandari Hospital in Indore has allowed an overdraft of up to one million rupees to Palak Muchhal Heart Foundation. In 2006 Muchhal was one of the five heroic stories broadcast by Star Gold channel as part of its "Rang De Basanti Salaam" initiative. By June 2009 Muchhal had staged 1,460 charity shows across the world which had raised 1.71 crore (equivalent to 3.6 crore or US$570,000 in 2013) for Palak Muchhal Heart Foundation. These funds helped to save lives of 338 kids.

 

Doctors allow Muchhal to be present in the operating theatre. She has her own surgical gown in the hospital and when the operation takes place she chants from the Bhagavad Gita. Muchhal and her parents do not receive any financial benefits from the charity shows but she receives a doll for every child whose life she helps make better through her efforts.