Kavita Seth (born 14 September 1970) is an Indian singer, who is most known as a playback singer in

Hindi cinema Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

, as well as a performer of

Ghazal The ''ghazal'' ( ar, غَزَل, bn, গজল, Hindi-Urdu: /, fa, غزل, az, qəzəl, tr, gazel, tm, gazal, uz, gʻazal, gu, ગઝલ) is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry. A ghazal may be understood as a ...

s and

Sufi music Sufi music refers to the devotional music of the Sufis, inspired by the works of Sufi poets like Rumi, Hafiz, Bulleh Shah, Amir Khusrow, and Khwaja Ghulam Farid. Qawwali is the best-known form of Sufi music and is most commonly found in the ...

, and leads a Sufi musical group, ''Karwaan Group''.Kavita Seth performs at Sufi concert
Screen, 30 January 2009. She won the

Filmfare Award 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 ...

for Best Female Playback Singer in 2010 for her classical Sufi rendition "''Gunja Sa Koi Iktara''" for the film ''

Wake Up Sid ''Wake Up Sid'' is a 2009 Indian Hindi-language coming-of-age comedy-drama film written and directed by Ayan Mukerji and produced by Hiroo Yash Johar and Karan Johar under Dharma Productions, with UTV Motion Pictures as distributor and visua ...

'' (2009). She also won the Star Screen Award for Best Female Playback for the same song, which was one of the biggest chartbusters in 2009.

Early life

She was born in

Bareilly Bareilly () is a city in Bareilly district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is among the largest metropolises in Western Uttar Pradesh and is the centre of the Bareilly division as well as the historical region of Rohilkhand. The ...

, Uttar Pradesh.

Career

Kavita specialises in

Sufi Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, r ...

-style singing although she also sings geet, ghazal and folk songs. Over the years she has performed at live shows at London, Birmingham, Scotland, Berlin, Oslo and Stockholm and places across India. It was at one of her performance at

Muzaffar Ali Muzaffar Ali (born 21 October 1944) is an Indian filmmaker, fashion designer, poet, artist, cultural revivalist, and social worker. Biography Ali was born in Lucknow in 1944. The eldest son of Raja Syed Sajid Husain Ali, the ruling prince of ...

's International Sufi Festival concert, in Delhi that director Satish Kaushik heard her and offered a song "''Zindagi ko Maula''", in his film, the Amisha Patel starrer, '' Vaada'' (2005), marking her debut as a playback singer. Subsequently, she moved to

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

, as this was followed by, ''"Mujhe Mat Roko"'' in

Anurag Basu Anurag Basu (born 8 May 1974) is an Indian director, screenwriter, actor and producer. He began his directing career in television, moving to feature films in 2002. Basu achieved initial success with his films tackling the themes of passion and ...

's ''

Gangster A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from '' mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level of organization and ...

'' (2006), for which she received praise. Besides singing she also composes music. She has composed three songs in

N. Chandra Chandrashekhar Narvekar (born 4 April 1952) is an Indian producer, writer and director, known for gritty realism, in his early dark and loud films. His most successful commercial films are '' Ankush'', ''Pratighaat'', ''Tezaab'' and '' Narsimha''. ...

's film ''"

Yeh Mera India ''Yeh Mera India'' (also named ''Y.M.I. Yeh Mera India'' hi, ये मेरा इंडिया (भारत)) is a 2008 Hindi movie, written and directed by N. Chandra. The film stars Anupam Kher, Perizaad Zorabian, Sayaji Shinde Purab K ...

"'' (2009). She has also released private albums, including, ''Woh Ek Lamha'', ''Dil-e-Nadan'' both Sufi ghazal albums, followed by Sufi music albums, ''Sufiana'' (2008) and ''Hazrat''. Her 2008 album ''Sufiana'', composed of couplets of Sufi poet-mystic,

Rumi Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī ( fa, جلال‌الدین محمد رومی), also known as Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Balkhī (), Mevlânâ/Mawlānā ( fa, مولانا, lit= our master) and Mevlevî/Mawlawī ( fa, مولوی, lit= my ma ...

was released at the 800-year-old Khaman Pir Ka Dargah in

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and divis ...

. In 2020, Kavita composed the soundtrack of the BBC TV series ''A Suitable Boy'', while also giving vocals to the songs of Tabu's character in the show.

Awards and nominations

, - ,

5th Mirchi Music Awards The 5th Mirchi Music Awards, presented by the Radio Mirchi, honoured the best of Hindi music from the year 2012. The ceremony was held on 7 February 2013 and was hosted by Ayushmann Khurana and Meiyang Chang. '' Agneepath'' won a leading seven aw ...

Female Vocalist of The Year – "Tum Hi Ho Bandhu" ,

Filmography

Playback singer

Music director

Personal life

She has two sons, Kavish Seth and

Kanishk Seth Kanishk Seth (born 4 November 1997) is an Indian cricketer. He plays Twenty20 cricket for Railways. He made his List A debut for Bengal in the 2016–17 Vijay Hazare Trophy on 28 February 2017. He made his first-class debut for Bengal in the 20 ...

, both of whom perform with her. Her husband K.K.Seth died of pancreatitis on 15 December 2011, aged 48.

Albums

* ''Sufiana'' (2007) * ''Kabirana Sufiana'' (2010) * ''Bulleh Shah'' (2010) * ''Khuda Wohi Hai'' (2011) * ''Ek Din'' (2012) * ''Trance With Khusrow'' (2014) * ''Lagan Laagi Re'' (2021)

References

Kavita Seth Interview

External links

*

Sufi and the voice

Sufi Singer Kavita Seth Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Seth, Kavita Living people Bollywood playback singers Indian women playback singers People from Bareilly Performers of Sufi music Delhi University alumni Indian women classical singers Singers from Uttar Pradesh Women musicians from Uttar Pradesh 21st-century Indian singers 21st-century Indian women singers 1970 births Filmfare Awards winners Screen Awards winners International Indian Film Academy Awards winners