Monica Dogra is an American musician and actress of Indian origin. She has acted in six feature films, as well as released five studio albums with the band Shaa’ir and func. She is a member on the judging panel of India's first English music talent show, The Stage. She hosted four seasons of the music-Docu series “The Dewarists” that was nominated for a Cannes Lion. She also worked on the VICELAND Emmy nominated series “WOMAN” produced by Gloria Steinem.
Monica Dogra is the daughter of Dogra immigrants from Jammu. Her maternal uncle is Dogri folk music singer Prakash Sharma. She grew up in Baltimore, Maryland. She attended Oakleigh Elementary School, Montessori and Dulaney High School. She attended NYU, graduating with a bachelor's degree in musical theatre.
In 2005, she formed the electronic rock group "Shaa'ir+Func", along with guitarist Randolph Correia. In 2007, they released their first album New Day: The Love Album, followed by Light Tribe in 2008 and Mantis in 2010. She also sang a song "Dooriyan Bhi Hai Zaroori" with Vishal Dadlani in the film Break Ke Baad and the theme song in English (with Shahid Mallya) for the film Inkaar.