Kavita Subramaniam

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Kavita Krishnamurthy Subramaniam
Birth name Sharada Krishnamurthy
Also known as Kavita Krishnamoorthy, Kavita Krishnamurti
Born January 25, 1958 (1958-01-25) (age 51)
Origin Delhi, India
Genres Playback Singing, Fusion, Pop
Occupations Playback Singer, Fusion Artiste
Years active 1980-present
Labels Several
Associated acts Playback Singer, Fusion Artiste
This biography of a living person does not cite any references or sources. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living people that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately. (June 2009) Find sources: (Kavita Subramaniam – news, books, scholar)

Kavita Subramaniam née Kavita Krishnamurthy (Tamil:கவிதா கிருஷ்ணமுர்த்தி சுப்ரமணியம்) is a notable Indian film playback singer and is ranked amongst the best singers in India.[1] She is classically trained and has sung a wide range of classical-based songs. In her career, she has had the opportunity to work with different music composers of different times.[2]

Contents

[edit] Early life

Born Sharada Krishnamurthy in New Delhi, India to T.S. Krishnamurthy, an employee of Education Ministry. She began her music training with her aunt, Bhattacharya, who taught her Rabindra Sangeet. She began her formal training in Hindustani classical music under Balram Puri, a noted classical singer.

At the young age of eight, Kavita won a gold medal at a music competition. Subsequently, she kept winning many such gold medals as she kept participating in the Inter-Ministry Classical Competition in New Delhi in the mid 1960s.

[edit] Performing career

At the age of nine, she got an opportunity to record a Tagore song in Bengali with the legendary Lata Mangeshkar under the auspices of the music composer and singer Hemant Kumar. Although the young Sharada was aspiring to be working with Indian Foreign Services, Kavita moved to Bombay when she was just 14 to try her luck as a playback singer in the Hindi film industry. She is an alumnus of St. Xaviers' College, Bombay from where she acquired her Ph.D. in Economics. She was also very active in the St. Xaviers' Music Group during her college days. During the annual college festival (Malhar), she accidentally met Ranu Mukherjee, the daughter of Hemant Kumar. Ranu took the initiative of reintroducing the Kavita to her father. As expected, he was highly impressed by her grounding in music, so he began using her talent as a singer during his live performances. In one such performance, playback singer Manna Dey spotted her talent and employed her to sing advertisement jingles. Through her aunt's strong contacts, she met Jaya Chakravarthy, the mother of actress Hema Malini, who later took the initiative of introducing Kavita to the music director Laxmikant (one half of the Laxmikant-Pyarelal fame) in late 1976.

[edit] Playback singing

Laxmikant gave her an option to work as a dubbing artiste or a career in playback singing later. Kavita chose the former and impressed Laxmikant with her strong grounding in Indian classical music and her deep voice along with her soulful timbre. Initially, she used to record songs and cut demos of songs intended for singers like Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle. In her struggle phase, she received the patronage of music composers Laxmikant—Pyarelal, who backed her so strongly that she was labelled as a "LP-campwalli" which gave many music directors an excuse to avoid working with her.

In 1980, she first sang the song, Kaahe Ko Byaahi in the film Maang Bharo Sajna, which featured her singing talent 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. Post the success of the song, it opened up various opportunities beyond the Laxmikant-Pyarelal camp. However, "Hawa Hawaii" and "Karte Hain Hum Pyaar Mr. India Se", two extremely popular songs from the equally popular movie Mr. India (1987), 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 actress Sridevi). Her collaboration with Laxmikant-Pyarelal produced several hits.

The 1990s thrust Kavita to being known as the undisputed leading female playback singer. In 1994, Kavita had the rare honour to be the only female singer after Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle to sing for the institution himself R.D. Burman. Her performance as a singer in the film 1942: A Love Story, composed by R.D. Burman won her a lot of popular acclaim. She went onto work with the best music directors of Hindi films of the 1990s, such as A.R. Rahman, Ismail Darbar, Nadeem-Shravan,Jatin-Lalit, Anu Malik etc. During her stint as a playback singer, she sang duets with the leading male singers of her times like Kumar Sanu, Abhijeet Bhattacharya, Udit Narayan, Mohd. Aziz and Shabbir Kumar.

Post her marriage to violin maestro Dr. L. Subramaniam in Bangalore on November 11 1999, Kavita got extremely selective and cut down on her film singing. She started exploring her talent and expanded her artistic range to areas which were never explored. She was the main featured soloist in the "Global Fusion" album released by Warner Bros., featuring musicians from all the five continents. As she actively started exploring her talent in fusion music, Kavita's exemplary voice took her all around the world including to the US, UK, Europe, Africa, Australia, The Far East, The Middle East and South America. She performed in some of the most prestigious concert halls in the world including the Royal Albert Hall in London, The Kennedy Centre in Washington D.C., Madison Square Gardens, The Lincoln Centre in New York, the Zhongshan Music Hall in Beijing, The Esplanade in Singapore, The Putra Jaya World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur, Gewandhaus Leipzigm among others.

Although primarily a playback singer, Kavita has explored her talent and sung with orchestras as a soloist, she collaborated with Western artists from Jazz, Pop and Classical fields. She has lent her voice for ghazals and devotional music albums. Both as a fusion music singer and as a playback singer, Kavita has performed in every nook and corner of India.

[edit] 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:

  • Koi Akela Kahan
  • Meera Ka Ram
  • Mahalakshmi Stotram
  • Pop Time
  • Sai Ka Vardaan
  • Shagufthagi
  • Dil Ki Awaaz
  • Athens
  • Asmita
  • Mahiya

[edit] Personal life

Kavita Krishnamurthy married violin maestro Dr. L. Subramaniam in Bangalore on November 11 1999. They have no children. Dr. Subramaniam has three children from his previous marriage but Kavita treats them as if they are her own children. Their daughter Seetha is a law graduate and is currently working on an English album. Narayanan, the middle one, is a qualified doctor. The youngest, Ambi Subramaniam, who is a featured soloist in the Bangalore-based band "Astral Symphony" and has recorded and has given several concerts with his parents.

Kavita and her husband are now planning a music institute in Bangalore. The Institute would be named after her late father-in-law Lakshminarayana, who was also her husband's guru. The idea is to make it a global institute. The institute would teach both Indian and Western music. She wants dedicated students to learn from the works of Mozart so that they could collaborate with Western musicians who come to India for tours. The seeds have been sown with violin classes. She says that she is not going to be involved in too many classes. Her role in the institute would be to supervise the teaching process and conduct workshops on how to interpret a song. Her secret desire is to create the best music library that India has ever had, which includes, a vast variety of world music. Dr. Subramaniam has already collected a lot of material to which they want teachers, dedicated students and enthusiasts to have access.

[edit] Awards

Kavita Krishnamurty has received several awards and honours. She was the recipient of three consecutive Filmfare awards from 1995-1997.

[edit] Filmfare Best Female Playback Award

[edit] Star Screen Awards

  • Aaj Main Upar from Khamoshi: The Musical (1997)

[edit] Zee Cine Awards

  • Zee Cine Award for Best Female Playback Singer for Nimbooda from Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (2000)
  • Zee Cine Award for Best Female Playback Singer for Dola Re Dola in Devdas (shared with Shreya Ghoshal) (2003)

[edit] International Indian Film Academy

  • IIFA Best Female Playback Singer for Dola Re Dola in Devdas (shared with Shreya Ghoshal) (2003)

[edit] Other awards

  • Yesudas Award (2008) by Swaralaya, for exceptional contribution to Indian music.
  • Padma Shri (2005), for outstanding contribution to Indian music.
  • Kishore Kumar Journalists'/Critics' Award in Calcutta (2002)
  • Bollywood Award, held in New York (2002)
  • Bollywood Award, held in New York (2000)

[edit] Famous melodies

Song Film Other singer
Maayeraa Sainikudu
Hawa Hawaii Mr. India Solo
Pehle pyar ka Pehla Gum Papa Kehte Hai Solo
Log Jahan Par Rehte Hain Pyar Ka Mandir Mohammad Aziz, Suresh Wadkar, Udit Narayan
Ilu Ilu Saudagar Manhar Udhas, Udit Narayan
Saudagar Sauda Kar Saudagar Manhar Udhas, Sukhwinder Singh
Pyar Hua Chupke Se 1942 A Love Story Solo
Rim Jhim Rim Jhim 1942 A Love Story Kumar Sanu
Tu cheez badi hai mast mast Mohra Udit Narayan
Tu Hi Re(Dubbed) Bombay Hariharan
Kucchi Kuchi Rakkamma Bombay Udit Narayan, G.V.Prakash, Shardha
Mera Piya Ghar Aaya Yaarana Solo
O Yaara Dil Lagana Agni Sakshi Chorus
O Piya Piya Agni Sakshi Babul Supriyo
Aaj Main Upar Khamoshi: The Musical Kumar Sanu
Yeh Dil Sun Raha Hai Khamoshi: The Musical Solo
Dola Re Dola Devdas Shreya Ghoshal
Kaahe Chhed Mohe Devdas Madhuri Dixit, Pandit Birju Maharaj
Hamesha Tumko Chaaha Devdas Udit Narayan
Kya Janoo Saajan Dil Vil Pyar Vyar Solo
Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam Mohd. Vakil, Dominique, Salamat
Nimbooda Nimbooda Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam Chorus
Koi Mil Gaya Kuch Kuch Hota Hai Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik, Chorus
Saajanji Ghar Aaye Kuch Kuch Hota Hai Kumar Sanu, Alka Yagnik, Chorus
Dholi Taro Dhol Baaje Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam Udit Narayan, Vinod Rathod, Chorus
Bole Choodiyan Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham Alka Yagnik, Udit Narayan, Sonu Nigam, Amit Kumar, Chorus
Satrangi Re Dil Se Sonu Nigam
Uppu Karuvaadu Mudhalvan Shankar Mahadevan (Tamil)
Achacho Punnagai Shahjahan Solo (Tamil)
Kaathre En Vasal Rhythm P. Unnikrishnan (Tamil)
Dandiya Attam Kadhalar Dhinam M.G. Sreekumar P. Unnikrishnan (Tamil)
Woh Ladki Hai Kahan Dil Chahta Hai Shaan
Loye Loye Yaarana Solo
Kya Kehna Kya Kehna Hariharan
Albela Sajan Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam Ustad Sultan Khan, Shankar Mahadevan
Main Albeli Zubeidaa Sukhwinder Singh
Dheeme Dheeme Zubeidaa Solo
Dil Ki Dhadkan Kehti Hai ***** Mohabbat Udit Narayan
Yeh Pyar Kya Hai Gupt Kumar Sanu, Alka Yagnik
Gupt Gupt Gupt Hema Sardesai
Tu Mujhe Kabool Khuda Gawah Mohammad Aziz
Kya Janoo Saajan Dil Vil Pyar Vyar Solo
I Love My India Pardes Hariharan, Aditya Narayan, Chorus
Que Sera Sera Pukar Shankar Mahadevan, Chorus
Sunta Hai Mera Khuda Pukar Udit Narayan, Swarnalatha
Ishq Bina Taal Solo
Kuch Na Kaho Mehbooba Alka Yagnik
Main Vari Vari Mangal Pandey: The Rising Solo
Eli Re Eli Yaadein Alka Yagnik, Hema Sardesai
Mannata Heroes Sonu Nigam
Hoove Hoove H2O

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/music/Kavita-Krishnamurthy-conquering-global-shores/articleshow/5352251.cms
  2. ^ http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=116076

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kavita_Subramaniam"
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