Sharada Krishnamurthy, popularly known as Kavita Krishnamurthy or Kavita Subramaniam, is an Indian playback and classical singer. She has recorded 50,000 songs in 45 various Indian languages including

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

, Rajasthani,

Bhojpuri Bhojpuri (;Bhojpuri entry, Oxford Dictionaries
, Oxford U ...

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode ...

Odia Odia, also spelled Oriya or Odiya, may refer to: * Odia people in Odisha, India * Odia language, an Indian language, belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family * Odia alphabet, a writing system used for the Odia languag ...

, Marathi,

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, na ...

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry ( Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam wa ...

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub- ...

Nepali Nepali or Nepalese may refer to : Concerning Nepal * Anything of, from, or related to Nepal * Nepali people, citizens of Nepal * Nepali language, an Indo-Aryan language found in Nepal, the current official national language and a language spoken ...

, Assamese, Konkani,

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a British Th ...

and other languages. She is the recipient of four Filmfare Best Female Playback Singer Awards (winning consecutively during 1995–1997), and the Padmashri which she received in 2005. She was awarded a

Doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

(Honoris Causa) for her contributions to Indian music by

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

-based Jain University in 2015. In 1999, she married noted violinist

L. Subramaniam Lakshminarayana Subramaniam (born 23 July 1947) is an Indian violinist, composer and conductor, trained in the classical Carnatic music tradition and Western classical music. Early years Subramaniam was born in Madras, Madras Presidency, Brit ...

and resides in

Bengaluru Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

Early life

Born as Sharada into a

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, na ...

Iyer family in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Hous ...

to T.S. Krishnamurthy, an employee of the Education Ministry. She began her musical training at the insistence of her aunt, Protima Bhattacharya who enrolled her to train under Surama Basu, where she was taught

Rabindra Sangeet ''Rabindra Sangeet'' ( bn, রবীন্দ্র সঙ্গীত; ), also known as Tagore Songs, are songs from the Indian subcontinent written and composed by the Bengali polymath Rabindranath Tagore, winner of the 1913 Nobel Prize in ...

. She began her formal training in

Hindustani classical music Hindustani classical music is the classical music of northern regions of the Indian subcontinent. It may also be called North Indian classical music or, in Hindustani, ''shastriya sangeet'' (). It is played in instruments like the violin, sit ...

under the guidance of Balram Puri, a classical singer. At the young 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.

Career

During her college days at St. Xavier College, Mumbai, she got an opportunity to record a song in the Bengali film ''

Shriman Prithviraj ''Shriman Prithviraj'' ( bn, শ্রীমান পৃথ্বীরাজ; ) is a 1973 Indian Bengali romantic comedy film starring Ayan Banerjee and Mahua Roy Choudhury, and directed by Tarun Majumdar, featuring teenage love. It has a cul ...

'' in 1971 with

Lata Mangeshkar Lata Mangeshkar () (born as Hema Mangeshkar; 28 September 1929 – 06 February 2022) was an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer. She is widely considered to have been the greatest and most influential singers in India. Her con ...

as co-singer under the auspices of the music composer and singer Hemant 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. He was impressed by her grounding in music, so he began using her as a singer during his live performances. In one such performance, playback singer

Manna Dey Prabodh Chandra Dey (May 1, 1919 − October 24, 2013), known by his stage name Manna Dey, was an internationally acclaimed and celebrated Indian playback singer, music director, and a musician. As a classical vocalist, he belonged to the Bhe ...

spotted her and employed her to sing advertisement jingles. Through her aunt's strong contacts, she met Jaya Chakravarthy, the mother of actress

Hema Malini Hema Malini (born 16 October 1948) is an Indian actress, director, producer, and politician. She is primarily known for her work in Hindi films. Known for starring in both comic and dramatic roles, she is one of the most popular and successfu ...

, who later took the initiative of introducing Kavita to the music director Laxmikant (one of the composer duo Laxmikant–Pyarelal) in late 1976.

Playback singing

She recorded her first song under Vilayat Khan's composition in Kadambari (1976). The song was entitled '

Aayega Aanewala "Aayega Aanewala" ( en, He'll come, who has to come) is one of the most well known songs from Indian cinema. It was prominent in the film Mahal being sung by Lata Mangeshkar. Khemchand Prakash Khemchand Prakash (12 December 1907 – 10 Augu ...

' (a remake of Mahal's (1949) superhit song sung by

) and was picturised on Shabana Azmi. Laxmikant gave her an opportunity to work as a dubbing artist. Kavita impressed Laxmikant with her extremely strong grasp of Hindustani classical music. Initially, she recorded songs and cut demos of songs intended for singers like

and

Asha Bhosle Asha Bhosle (; Mangeshkar; born 8 September 1933) is an Indian playback singer, entrepreneur and occasional actress and television personality who predominantly works in Indian Cinema. Known for her versatility, she has been described in th ...

. In her struggling phase, she received the patronage of music composers Laxmikant—Pyarelal, who backed her so strongly that she was labeled as a singer exclusively working with them. This gave many music directors an excuse to avoid working with her. In 1978, she first sang the

song "Ondanondu kaaladaga" in the film Ondanondu Kaladalli (Meaning: ''Once upon a time'') directed by Girish Karnad. The song was penned by the Jnanpit awardee Chandrashekhara Kambara and the music by

Bhaskar Chandavarkar Bhaskar Chandavarkar (16 March 1936 – 26 July 2009) was an Indian sitar player, academic and film and theatre composer who worked with well-known directors of Indian cinema like Mrinal Sen, Girish Karnad, Aparna Sen, K. G. George and Amol P ...

. 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" in '' Maang Bharo Sajana (1980)'', which featured her singing in her own voice. Unfortunately, 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 film '' Pyaar Jhukta Nahin (1985) - Tumse milkar''. '' Na Jaane kyun.'' Post the success of the song, it opened up opportunities beyond the Laxmikant–Pyarelal camp. However, "Hawa Hawaii" and "Karte Hain Hum Pyaar Mr. India Se", two popular songs from the equally popular movie '' Mr. India'' (1986) - 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 with Kishore Kumar and lip-synced on screen by an actress

Sridevi Shree Amma Yanger Ayyappan (13 August 1963 – 24 February 2018), professionally credited with her stage name Sridevi, was an Indian actress who worked in Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam, and Kannada language films. Cited as the "First Fem ...

.) Her collaboration with Laxmikant-Pyarelal produced several hits. The 1990s thrust Kavita into being known as one of the leading female playback singers. Her performance as a singer in the film '' 1942: A Love Story'', composed by R.D. Burman, won her much popular acclaim. With a string of hits from '' 1942: A Love Story'', '' Yaraana'', '' Agni Sakshi, Bhairavi'', and '' Khamoshi'', Kavita established herself as one of the leading female playback singers alongside

Alka Yagnik Alka, AlkA or ALKA may refer to: People * Alka Ajith (born c. 1997), Indian multilingual playback singer * Alka Amin (active from 2011), Indian television actress * Alka Balram Kshatriya, Indian politician, Member of the Parliament of India repr ...

. She went on to work with several music directors of the 1990s Hindi films, such as

Bappi Lahiri Bappi Aparesh Lahiri (born Alokesh Aparesh Lahiri; 27 November 1952 – 15 February 2022), also known as Bappi Da was an Indian singer, composer and record producer. He popularised the use of synthesised disco music in Indian music industry and ...

, Anand–Milind,

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 ...

, Rajesh Roshan, Raamlaxman,

Ismail Darbar Ismail Darbar is an Indian film score composer, instrumentalist, violinist and music director. Career Ismail Darbar is from Surat, Gujarat. He worked for several years as a session violinist for leading music directors Laxmikant Pyarelal, ...

Himesh Reshammiya Himesh Reshammiya (born 23 July 1973) is an Indian playback singer, music director, songwriter, film & music producer and actor in Hindi cinema. He started his career as music director in the film '' Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya'' in 1998 and made ...

, Aadesh Shrivastava, Nadeem-Shravan, Jatin–Lalit, Viju Shah and Anu Malik. Her work with

and

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, and Shailendra Singh. Her most prolific work was with the leading singers of the 1990s: Amit Kumar, Mohammad Aziz,

Udit Narayan Udit is an Indian masculine given name that may refer to: * Udit Narayan, Bollywood playback singer *Udit Narayan (politician) (born 1960), Fijian politician of Indian descent *Udit Narayan Singh (1770–1835), Indian monarch *Udit Patel (born 198 ...

Kumar Sanu Kedarnath Bhattacharya (born 20 October 1957), better known as Kumar Sanu, is an Indian playback singer. He is known as the King of Melody in Bollywood. He is famous for singing thousands of Bollywood Hindi songs. Apart from Hindi, he has al ...

, and Abhijeet Bhattacharya. She has also sung with younger singers in the 2000s such as Sonu Nigam, Shaan, and

Babul Supriyo Babul Supriyo (born 15 December 1970) is an Indian playback singer, live performer, television host, actor and politician who currently serves as Cabinet Minister of Information Technology and Electronics and Tourism of the Government of West B ...

. Her female duets mostly have been with

Anuradha Paudwal Anuradha Paudwal (born 27 October 1954) is an Indian playback singer who works predominantly in Hindi cinema. She has been described in media as one of the most prominent Bhajan singer and also as one of the most successful playback singers ...

and

Sadhana Sargam Sadhana Sargam (née Ghanekar, born 7 March 1969) is an Indian singer known for her playback career in Indian cinema predominantly in Hindi, Bengali, Telugu and Tamil language films. She is a recipient of the National Film Award and Filmfare ...

with a few duets also with

and Asha Bhonsle. During the 90s and early 2000s, Kavita alongside

sang the most for leading ladies. 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 performed in concert halls including

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

in London, The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Madison Square Garden, The Lincoln Center in New York City, the Zhongshan Music Hall in Beijing, The Esplanade in Singapore, The Putra Jaya World Trade Centre in

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = ''Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , sub ...

, and Gewandhaus Leipzigm. Although primarily a playback singer, Kavita has sung with orchestras as a soloist; she collaborated with Western artists from

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

, 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 album ''Women's Day Special: Spreading Melodies Everywhere''. It was composed by Nayab Raja and penned by Dipti Mishra.

In Kannada

Kavita's playback singing career started with

-language films. Her first film song was in the Kannada film ''Ondanondu kaladalli'' (1978) with the same title. She sang many hit songs in Kannada since then. Songs such as "Bareyada mounada Kavithe" ( Sparsha), "Hoove Hoove" ( H2O), "Endo Kanda kanasu" (

Lankesh Patrike ''Lankesh Patrike'' is an Indian vernacular weekly published in Kannada language from Bangalore, Karnataka. The weekly newspaper was started by P. Lankesh in 1980 on the lines of ''Harijan'', a newspaper published by Mahatma Gandhi. The week ...

), "O Malle o dumbi" ('Naga Devate'), "Artha madkolo" ( Shishya), "Kaveri Kaveri" (

Raja Huli ''Raja Huli'' is a 2013 Indian Kannada-language comedy-drama film directed by Guru Deshpande and written by S. R. Prabhakaran. Produced by K. Manju's home production, The film stars Yash and Meghana Raj in the lead roles. The soundtrack and s ...

), and many more hit songs made her a household name in

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO 15919, ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reor ...

Pop and devotional singing

Due to her participation in fusion and pop music, Kavita has lent her voice for several pop and devotional albums. The most prominent ones being: * ''Bhalobasi'' * ''Shiv Baba ko Yaad Kar'' * ''Dujone Dekha Holo'' * ''Together Tagore'' * ''Premer Neshay'' * ''Mohe Raam Dhun Laagi'' * ''Bhajan Stuti'' * ''Aadi Ganesh'' * ''Venkatesha Suprabhatam'' * ''Shiva Shlokas'' * ''Koi Akela Kahan'' * ''Meera Ka Ram'' * ''Mahalakshmi Stotram'' * ''Pop Time'' * ''Sai Ka Vardaan'' * ''Shagufthagi'' * ''Dil Ki Awaaz'' * ''Hasratein'' * ''Athens'' * ''Asmita'' * ''Mahiya''

Television appearances

Kavita Subramaniam made many appearances in various music reality shows as a guest judge because of her popularity as a playback singer. She recently was a judge for '' Bharat Ki Shaan: Singing Star'' (Season 1), which aired on

DD National DD National (formerly DD1) is a state-owned public entertainment television channel in India. It is the flagship channel of Doordarshan, India's public service broadcaster, and the oldest and most widely available terrestrial television chann ...

at prime time. She also appeared in Vijay TV Airtel Super Singer and Star Jalsha Super Singer. She has also sung for serials like Alif Laila DD National, Mahabharat, Ramayan (1986), Shri Krishna, and Ramayan (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 in '' Rising Star Season 2'', which was broadcast on '' Colors TV'' on 4 March 2018 as a guest.

Personal life

Kavita Krishnamurti married

on 11 November 1999. They have a child called Sai Prashant Krishnamuthy. Subramaniam has four children from his previous marriage. His eldest daughter Gingger Shankar is a singer, composer, and multi-instrumentalist, while his second eldest, Bindu Subramaniam is a law graduate and singer-songwriter. Narayana is a doctor, while the youngest, Ambi Subramaniam, is an accomplished violinist. Kavita and her husband opened a musical institute, the Subramaniam Academy of Performing Arts, in Bengaluru in 2007. In March 2013, she launched her own app which is available for free download in the App Store and the Google Play Store.

Discography

Awards and nominations

* 2015 - Honorary Doctorate from Jain University,

* 2000 - Accolades for her include the “Best Singer of the Millennium” award at the Stardust Millennium 2000 Awards ;Civilian Awards * 2005 –

Padma Shri Padma Shri ( IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conf ...

– India's fourth-highest civilian honors ;

Filmfare Awards The Filmfare Awards are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Hindi-language film industry of India.Al The Filmfare ceremony is one of the most famous film events in India. The awards were first introduced by th ...

* 2003 – Best Female Playback Singer (shared with Shreya Ghoshal) – " Dola Re Dola" ('' Devdas'') * 1997 – Best Female Playback Singer – "Aaj Main Upar" ('' Khamoshi: The Musical'') * 1996 – Best Female Playback Singer – "Mera Piya Ghar Aaya" ('' Yaraana'') * 1995 – Best Female Playback Singer – "Pyaar Hua Chupke Se" ('' 1942: A Love Story'') ;State Awards * 2000 - Maharashtra State Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer - for the songs in the movie ''Sawai Hawaldar''. ; Star Screen Awards * 1997 – Best Female Playback Singer – "Aaj Main Upar" ('' Khamoshi: The Musical'') * 2000 – Best Female Playback Singer – "Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam" (''

Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam ''Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam'' () is a 1999 Indian Hindi-language romantic musical film directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. It was released internationally as ''Straight From the Heart''. The film stars Aishwarya Rai, Salman Khan and Ajay Devgn. ...

'') ; Zee Cine Awards * 2003 – Best Female Playback Singer (shared with Shreya Ghoshal) – "Dola Re" ('' Devdas'') * 2000 – Best Female Playback Singer – "

Nimbooda "Nimbooda" (English: "Lime") is a traditional folk tune from Rajasthan. It was first popularized by Gazi Khan Barna of the Manganiar community in Rajasthan. The song discusses fetching limes from the fields as a double entendre. Commercial vers ...

" (''

'') ;

IIFA Awards The International Indian Film Academy Awards, popularly known as IIFA, is an annual awards ceremony for Bollywood. Produced by Wizcraft International Entertainment Pvt. Ltd, the winners of the awards are decided by fans, who vote online for th ...

* 2001 - Best Female Playback Singer - "Aey Dil laya Hai Bahar" (Kya Kehna) * 2003 – Best Female Playback Singer (shared with Shreya Ghoshal) – " Dola Re Dola" ('' Devdas'') ;Other Awards * Prafulla Kar Samman (2018) Odia Film Industry. * ''‘Phonomenal That's Me’'' award for her contribution to the Kannada film industry (2014) * Swaralaya Yesudas Award (2008) by Swaralaya, for exceptional contribution to Indian music. * Kishore Kumar Journalists'/Critics' Award in Calcutta (2002) * Lion's / Club Bollywood Award, held in New York (2000) At The Same year (2002) * Shri Ravindra Jain Sangeet Samman (2012) * Lata Mangeshkar Award from the Govt. of Madhya Pradesh (2005)

References

External links

*
L. Subramaniam and Kavita S.

Artist: Kavita Krishnamurthy on Google Music

{{DEFAULTSORT:Krishnamurti, Kavita Living people Assamese playback singers Bollywood playback singers Kannada playback singers Tamil playback singers Telugu playback singers Indian women playback singers Tamil singers Bengali singers Nepali-language singers from India Marathi playback singers Marathi-language singers Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts People from New Delhi Year of birth missing (living people) Indian folk-pop singers Women musicians from Delhi Singers from Delhi Filmfare Awards winners Screen Awards winners Zee Cine Awards winners International Indian Film Academy Awards winners 20th-century Indian women singers 20th-century Indian singers 21st-century Indian women singers 21st-century Indian singers