Kavita Krishnamurthy | |
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 Kavita Krishnamurthy in 2024 | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as | Kavita Subramaniam |
| Born | Sharada Krishnamurthy (1958-01-25)25 January 1958 (age 67) |
| Genres | |
| Occupation | Playback singer |
| Years active | 1971–present |
| Awards | |
| Honours |
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Kavita Krishnamurthy (born asSharada Krishnamurthy), is an Indianplayback and classical singer. She has recorded numerous songs in various Indian languages includingHindi,Bengali,Kannada,Rajasthani,Bhojpuri,Telugu,Odia,Marathi,English,Urdu,Tamil,Malayalam,Gujarati,Nepali,Assamese,Konkani,Punjabi and other languages.[3][4] She is the recipient of fourFilmfare Best Female Playback Singer Awards (winning consecutively during 1995–1997), and thePadmashri which she received in 2005.[5] She was awarded aDoctorate(Honoris Causa) for her contributions to Indian music byBangalore-basedJain University in 2015.[6][7] In 1999, she married noted violinistL. Subramaniam and resides inBengaluru.
She was born as Sharada[8] into aTamil family inNew Delhi to T. S. Krishnamurthy, an employee of theEducation Ministry. She began her musical training at the insistence of her aunt Protima Bhattacharya who enrolled her to train under guru Surama Basu, who taught herRabindra Sangeet.[9] She began her formal training inHindustani classical music under the guidance of Balram Puri, a classical singer. At the age of eight, Kavita won a gold medal at a music competition. She won several medals participating in the Inter-Ministry Classical Competition in New Delhi in the mid-1960s.
During her college days atSt. Xavier College, Mumbai, she got an opportunity to record a song in the Bengali filmShriman Prithviraj in 1971 withLata Mangeshkar as co-singer under the auspices of the music composer and singerHemant Kumar. Although the young Sharada aspired to work in Indian Foreign Services, she moved to Bombay when she was 14 to try her luck as a playback singer in the Hindi film industry.
She is an alumnus of St. Xavier's College, Bombay from where she did her BA Honors Economics. She was very active in St. Xavier's music group. During the annual college festival (Malhar), she met Ranu Mukherjee, the daughter of Hemant Kumar. Ranu took the initiative of reintroducing Kavita to her father,[8] who began using her as a singer during his live performances. At one such performance, playback singerManna Dey spotted her and employed her to sing advertisementjingles. Through her aunt's contacts, she met Jaya Chakravarthy, the mother of actressHema Malini,[8] who later introduced Kavita to the music director Laxmikant (one of the composer duoLaxmikant–Pyarelal) in late 1976. A recent interview covers a pretty good summary of her musical journey.[10]
Track singing and remake recording
She recorded her first song underVilayat Khan's composition inKadambari (1976). The song was entitledAayega Aanewala (a remake of Mahal's (1949), the superhit song sung by Lata Mangeshkar) and was picturised onShabana Azmi.[11] Laxmikant gave her an opportunity to work as a dubbing artist. Initially, she recorded songs and cut demos of songs intended for singers Lata Mangeshkar andAsha Bhosle.
First original song:
However she got her first own song, recorded in 1977 inKannada, "Ondanondu kaaladaga" in the filmOndanondu Kaladalli (Once upon a time) directed byGirish Karnad. The song was penned by the Jnanpit awardeeChandrashekhara Kambara and the music byBhaskar Chandavarkar. Being the only song in the entire movie, "Ondanondu kaladaga" with its folk touch, became a hit and earned fame for Kavita Krishnamurti. Then she went on to sing many Kannada-language songs.
In 1980, she sang "Kaahe Ko Byaahi" for the filmMaang Bharo Sajana, which featured her singing in her own voice, although the song was dropped from the final cut of the film. In 1985, her career took off with her first major hit, "Tumse Milkar Na Jaane Kyon" from the Hindi filmPyaar Jhukta Nahin (1985). Following the success of the song, it opened up opportunities for her beyond the Laxmikant–Pyarelal camp. However, "Hawa Hawai" and "Karte Hai Hum Pyaar Mr. India Se", two popular songs from the equally popular movieMr. India (1987) - Karte Hain Hum Pyaar Mr. India se, proved to be a turning point in her career. The songs were composed by music composers Laxmikant–Pyarelal, the latter being a duet withKishore Kumar and lip-synced on screen by an actressSridevi. Her collaboration with Laxmikant–Pyarelal produced several hits. Hawa Hawai, which launched her into stardom was dubbed to be recorded by Asha Bhosle, however later producer decided to keep her version despite her mistake in the song.
The 1990s thrust Kavita into being known as one of the leading female playback singers. Her performance as a singer in the film1942, composed by R. D. Burman, won her much popular acclaim. With a string of hits from1942,Yaraana,Agni Sakshi andKhamoshi, Kavita Krishnamurthy established herself as a leading female playback singer, alongsideAlka Yagnik. She went on to work with several music directors of the 1990s Hindi films, such asBappi Lahiri,Anand–Milind,A. R. Rahman,Rajesh Roshan,Raamlaxman,Ismail Darbar,Himesh Reshammiya,Aadesh Shrivastava,Nadeem-Shravan,Jatin–Lalit,Viju Shah andAnu Malik. Her work with A. R. Rahman and Ismail Darbar remain some of the most critically acclaimed renditions of the last two decades. During her stint as a playback singer, she sang duets with the leading male singers of her time. Early in her career, she sang duets with Kishore Kumar,Mohammed Rafi andShailendra Singh. Her most prolific works were with the leading singers of the 1990s areAmit Kumar,Mohammad Aziz,Udit Narayan,Kumar Sanu,S. P. Balasubrahmanyam andAbhijeet. She has also sung with younger singers in the 2000s such asSonu Nigam,Shaan andBabul Supriyo. Her female duets mostly have been with Alka Yagnik, then withAnuradha Paudwal andSadhana Sargam with a few duets also with Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle. During the 90s and early 2000s, Kavita Krishnamurthy alongside Alka Yagnik sang mostly for leading ladies.[12]
As she actively started exploring fusion music, Kavita traveled around the world, including the US, UK, UAE, Europe, Africa, Australia, East Asia, the Middle East, and South America. She has performed in concert halls includingRoyal Albert Hall in London,The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.,Madison Square Garden,The Lincoln Center in New York City, theZhongshan Music Hall in Beijing,The Esplanade in Singapore, The Putra Jaya World Trade Centre inKuala Lumpur, andGewandhaus Leipzigm.
Although primarily a playback singer, Kavita has sung with orchestras as a soloist; she has collaborated with Western artists fromjazz, pop and classical fields. She has lent her voice for many albums. As a playback singer, Kavita has performed throughout India. In 2014, she also sang "Koi Chahat Koi Hasrat" for the albumWomen's Day Special: Spreading Melodies Everywhere. It was composed by Nayab Raja and penned by Dipti Mishra.
Kavita's playback singing career started withKannada-language films. Her first film song was in the Kannada filmOndanondu kaladalli (1978) with the same title. She sang many hit songs in Kannada since then.[citation needed] Songs such as "Bareyada mounada Kavithe" (Sparsha), "Hoove Hoove" (H2O), "Endo Kanda kanasu" (Lankesh Patrike), "O Malle o dumbi" ('Naga Devate'), "Artha madkolo" (Shishya), "Kaveri Kaveri" (Raja Huli), and many more hit songs made her a household name inKarnataka.
Due to her participation in fusion and pop music, Kavita has lent her voice to several pop and devotional albums. The most prominent ones being:
Kavita Subramaniam made many appearances in various musicreality shows as a guest judge because of her popularity as a playback singer. She recently was a judge forBharat Ki Shaan: Singing Star (Season 1), which aired onDD National at prime time. She also appeared inVijay TVAirtel Super Singer andStar JalshaSuper Singer.She has also sung for serials likeAlif Laila {1980} DD National, Mahabharat,Ramayan (1986),Shri Krishna, andRamayan (2008), Kavita Krishnamurthy At Know In 2017 Special Juries and Judge UAE Singers of Student, The Give as Prices 5,000 Dinar In Winner.She also appeared inRising Star Season 2, which was broadcast onColors TV on 4 March 2018 as a guest.
Kavita Krishnamurti marriedL. Subramaniam inBengaluru,Karnataka on 11 November 1999.
Subramaniam has four children from his previous marriage. His eldest daughterGingger Shankar is a singer, composer, and multi-instrumentalist, while his second eldest,Bindu Subramaniam is a law graduate and singer-songwriter.[13] Narayana is a doctor, while the youngest,Ambi Subramaniam, is an accomplished violinist.[14]
Kavita and her husband opened a musical institute, theSubramaniam Academy of Performing Arts,[15] in Bengaluru in 2007. In March 2013, she launched her own app.[16]
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