Kalpana Raghavendar (born 8 May 1980) is an Indian

playback singer A playback singer, also known as a ghost singer, is a singer whose singing is pre-recorded for use in films. Playback singers record songs for soundtracks, and actors or actresses lip-sync the songs for cameras; the actual singer does not app ...

, winner of

Idea Star Singer ''Star Singer'' is an Indian music reality-television competition, broadcast on Asianet and previously sponsored by Idea Cellular. The show, which selected contestants in the age group of 15–35 years determined the winner based on their ski ...

Malayalam and participant in Bigg Boss Telugu Season 1, songwriter and actor. She started her career as a playback singer at the age of five, and as of 2013 had recorded 1,500 tracks and performed in 3,000 shows in India and abroad. In 2010 she was the winner of the south Indian singing show ''

Star Singer ''Star Singer'' is an Indian music reality-television competition, broadcast on Asianet and previously sponsored by Idea Cellular. The show, which selected contestants in the age group of 15–35 years determined the winner based on their ski ...

'' season 5, conducted by the Malayalam TV channel

Asianet Asianet may refer to: Disney Star channels *Asianet Communications, an Indian media company wholly owned by Disney Star **Asianet (TV channel), a Malayalam language general entertainment channel **Asianet Plus, a Malayalam language general entertai ...

. she was a judge of ''Super Singer Junior 6''.

Early life and background

Kalpana was born in a musical family. Her father,

T. S. Raghavendra T. S. Raghavendra (19 September 1945 – 30 January 2020) was an Indian actor, playback singer and occasional music director who concentrated on Tamil language, Tamil-language films. As an actor, he was known as the father character of actress ...

, was a reputed playback singer, actor and composer, while her mother, Sulochana, is also a singer. She has a younger sister, Shekinah Shawn (born Prasanna Raghavendar) who is popular as an

Opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

singer. Kalpana took her

Carnatic music Carnatic music, known as or in the Dravidian languages, South Indian languages, is a system of music commonly associated with South India, including the modern Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, an ...

lessons under Madurai T. Srinivasan. Apart from her proficiency in singing, she holds a Master of Computer Applications degree and is pursuing

Master of Philosophy The Master of Philosophy (MPhil; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. In the United States, an MPhil typically includes a taught portion and a significant research portion, during which a thesis project is conducted under supervision. An MPhil m ...

Career

Kalpana began her musical career at the age of 5. Her first vocals were for a family song alongside

P. Susheela Pulapaka Susheela (born 13 November 1935), popularly known as P. Susheela, is an Indian playback singer associated with the South Indian cinema primarily from Andhra Pradesh for over six decades. She is one of the greatest and best-known playba ...

Mano Mano may refer to: People * Mano people, an ethnic group in Liberia * Mano (name), a list of people with either the given name or surname * Mano (Mozambican footballer) (born 1984), real name Celso Halilo de Abdul * Mano (Portuguese footballer) ...

M. M. Srilekha M. M. Srilekha (born Koduri Srilekha) is an Indian film playback singer and music composer, known for her works predominantly in Telugu cinema. She is the only female music composer in the Telugu film industry. Her paternal uncle V. Vijayendra ...

and her younger sister Prasanna, composed by the music director Saluri Vasurao. As an adult, she started her career as a full-fledged playback singer in 1999 by rendering her voice for the song ''Mangalagouriki'' from the Telugu film Manoharam under music director

Mani Sharma Mani may refer to: Geography * Maní, Casanare, a town and municipality in Casanare Department, Colombia * Mani, Chad, a town and sub-prefecture in Chad * Mani, Evros, a village in northeastern Greece * Mani, Karnataka, a village in Dakshina ...

. She has also worked with many legendary composers and singers like

M. S. Viswanathan Manayangath Subramanian Viswanathan (24 June 1928 – 14 July 2015), also known as M.S.V., was an Indian music director, singer and actor who predominantly worked in Tamil film industry. He was popularly known as ''Mellisai Mannar''. He compose ...

Ilaiyaraaja Ilaiyaraaja (born R. Gnanathesikan, 3 June 1943) is an Indian musician, composer, arranger, conductor, orchestrator, instrumentalist, lyricist and singer, popular for his works in Indian Cinema, prominently in Tamil films. Reputed to be one of ...

A. R. Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967) is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer and songwriter, popular for his works in Indian cinema; predominantly in Tamil and Hindi films, with occasional forays in int ...

, K. V. Mahadevan,

S. P. Balasubrahmanyam Sripathi Panditaradhyula Balasubrahmanyam (4 June 1946 – 25 September 2020), also referred to as SPB or SP Balu or Balu, was an Indian playback singer, television presenter, actor, music composer, dubbing artist, and film producer. He is wi ...

and

K. S. Chithra Krishnan Nair Shantakumari Chithra (born 27 July 1963), always credited as K. S. Chithra or Chithra, is an Indian playback singer and Carnatic musician. In a career spanning over four decades, she has recorded over 25,000 songs in various In ...

. She is more familiar to the public as a stage performer rather than a playback singer, having performed nearly 3000 stage shows worldwide. In 2013, Kalpana was the lead performer in a tribute concert for her guru, Madurai T. Srinivasan.

Television

Won Nandi award for Best Playback Singer Female for the song "Navamoorthulainatti"

Discography

List of songs recorded by Kalpana Raghavendar

References

External links

*
Television interview
on

ABN Andhra Jyothi ABN Andhra Jyothy is an Indian Telugu-language 24-hour news channel launched on 15 October 2009. Aamoda Broadcasting Network is the holding company of the channel and is promoted by Vemuri Radhakrishna. The media house also owns the Telugu da ...

Television interview
on TV9 {{DEFAULTSORT:Raghavendar, Kalpana Indian women playback singers Indian voice actresses Singers from Chennai Indian women classical singers Living people Tamil playback singers Telugu playback singers 20th-century Indian singers 20th-century Indian women singers 21st-century Indian women singers 21st-century Indian singers Women musicians from Tamil Nadu 1977 births Bigg Boss (Telugu TV series) contestants