N. C. Karunya

N.C.Karunya
Karunya's Single "O Priyathamaa" Poster.
Background information
Born	(1986-03-01) 1 March 1986
Origin	Hyderabad, Telangana, India
Occupation(s)	Singer,Songwriter,Youtuber,Stage performer,TV host
Years active	2006 – present
Website	https://www.facebook.com/Karunya-281374505243265/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChuaTUVnaCAyitSrekiTENQ

N.C.Karunya is a popular Indian playback singer, stage performer, YouTuber, songwriter, and TV show host. His claim to fame was the popular reality show Indian Idol (Season 2) on Sony Entertainment Television. After Indian Idol he became a popular recording artist by singing for more than 200 projects in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Bengali but his mainstay has been Telugu, his mother tongue. He has also hosted various musical reality shows. In 2017, he launched his own YouTube channel and started releasing singles composed, written, and arranged by himself.

Karunya is known for his exceptionally versatile singing style which ranges from pure classical to western and his high pitched singing. He has received numerous awards from the media and government organisations for his songs in movies, telefilms and daily soaps. He is also known for his energetic on-stage persona and for his linguistic skills (especially Telugu) as a TV show host.

Early life

N.C.Karunya was born on 1 March 1986, to N.C.Madhu and P.Janaki in Hyderabad, India. His father comes from the prestigious "Nallan Chakravarthy" family which is known for many greats in the fields of music, literature, and dance including the famous Sanskrit and Telugu Pandit, Classical Vocalist, Violinist N.Ch.Krishnamaachaaryulu,the dance exponent C.R.Acharya and also Karunya's own grandfathers "Sreenivaasa Sodarulu" who were very famous Avadhaanis. Karunya has a younger sister Deevena who is instrumental in his transformation as a YouTube Singer & Songwriter. Both his parents worked for Defence and now are retired. Karunya often observes that maybe his sense of deeply rooted patriotism comes from his parents' Defence background.

Being born into a culturally rich family, it was only natural for Karunya to take an active interest in singing and dancing. He started learning classical music at the age of 5, learnt Kuchipudi for some time until he had to choose between music and dance apart from his school work, and gave it up in favour of music. He even started composing songs at the age of 3. He was the most prominent member of the school choir. He won many a singing competition bagging many medals for himself and his school . At the age of 12 he won the first children's series of the very popular "ETV Paaduthaa Theeyagaa" hosted by the legendary S.P.Balasubramanyam.

Karunya with his Paaduthaa Theeyagaa trophy

He has been training in Carnatic classical under his Guru, "Vaaggeya Vidwanmani" Sri N.C. Murthy since the year 2000 and still continues to do so.

Indian Idol 2

Karunya auditioned for Indian Idol season 2 in the year 2005. The judges were one of the most revered and celebrated singer of India Mr.Sonu Nigam,Music Director Anu Malik and Director-Choreographer Farah Khan. Although he did not win the competition, Karunya was the most popular participant in Indian Idol 2, especially with people in North India because of his performances of Punjabi and Rajasthani songs. He made it to the top two but had to settle for being the first runner-up in the finale due to the lack of votes.

Karunya during Indian Idol in 2006.

Karunya during Indian Idol in 2006.

Films

After the end of Indian Idol 2, Karunya was called for an audition by Vidhu Vinod Chopra for Lage Raho Munnabhai. He was immensely liked by Mr.Chopra, director Rajkumar Hirani and music director Shantanu Moitra and began his Playback career by singing for Sanjay Dutt. Then he sang a song in Jai Santoshi Maa for Anu Malik. After that, he went to Hyderabad to meet members of the Telugu film industry who rooted for him during Indian Idol. In that series of meetings when he met Jr. NTR , he was offered his first Telugu hit "Ekaantangaa unna" by NTR himself, a song composed by his dream composer Mani Sharma, for the film Ashok.After this song, he went on to record many chartbusters like "Orugalluke Pilla" from the film Sainikudu, Enduko from Chirutha, ("123 Nenoka Kantri") from Kantri, Ammayi Kitiki Pakkana from Maryada Ramanna, Om Namo Siva Rudraya from Khaleja, Oola Oolala Ala from Orange, Vayyarala jabilli from Pawan Kalyan's Teenmar,"Andam andam" from Vetadu-Ventadu,composed by none other than Yuvan Shankar Raja,starring Vishal (actor),"Meher meher" from "D for dopidi","Suvvi Suvvaalamma" from the movie Loafer,two beautiful songs for "It's my lovestory" and many more.

He was the voice behind the short film made by Allu Arjun and director Sukumar, I Am That Change.

Phir mile sur

Karunya was the youngest singer to be a part of the prestigious remake of the song "Mile sur mera tumhaara". It was remade in 2010 and released as "Phir mile sur" on republic day on Zoom TV. Mahesh Babu himself featured in the video. Representing Telugu people solely, he wanted Karunya to be his voice. Karunya recorded his part of the song under the guidance of Louis Banks.

Album

Karunya album cover

Karunya released his first Hindi album, the self-titled Karunya, on 9 August 2008. The music was composed by Lesle Lewis and the video was directed by the sister of Pradeep Sarkar Parineeta (2005 film), Madhu Sarkar. Though there was a sellout in Hyderabad as well as a place in the charts in Delhi and Kolkata, Karunya's fans felt that he should have released an album which highlighted his ability to sing high notes and his classical leanings more. Most of them felt it was an underwhelming album. Karunya, on the other hand, remarked that this was an Indi-pop album so there was no place for classical gymnastics in it.

Shows

Karunya performing at Ramoji Film City Winter Carnival

Karunya has performed in numerous concerts in India and abroad and still continues to do so.

His show in Dallas on 7 October 2006 had an audience of 40,000. He has toured America, performed in The Emirates, Singapore and East Africa and West Africa.

He is the only artist to have performed at the opening ceremony of the World Military Games held in Hyderabad in the year 2007, before an audience of about two lakh people of about 101 nationalities and presided over by the President of India Smt. Pratibha Patil.

Reality show host

Karunya hosted the reality show Little Champs on Zee Telugu, Airtel "Saptaswaralu", on ETV, Vijetha-Voice of Andhra on local TV with M. M. Keeravani as the judge and Super Singer 8, on Maa TV with again M. M. Keeravani and also Smt. K.S.Chitra as the judges. Karunya is known for his amazing Telugu diction and clarity, his comradeship with the contestants in the shows, his opening performances in each episode, his attires and especially his unique intros of the judges in every episode of every show. He attributes his diction and the unique anchoring style to his parents and more importantly to his father who writes his scripts for the shows.

Discography

Year	Film	Song	Music Director	Language
2005	Vamsam	Palle palle	H.Madhusudan	Telugu
2005	Vamsam	Kannavaariki	H.Madhusudan	Telugu
2006	Lage Raho Munnabhai	Aane Chaaraane	Shantanu Moitra	Hindi
2006	Jai Santoshi Maa	Bigdi banado	Anu Malik	Hindi
2006	Ashok	Ekaantangaa unnaa	Manisarma	Telugu
2006	Veedhi	Takatakatai	Anoop Rubens	Telugu
2006	Veedhi	Ningi nela	Anoop Rubens	Telugu
2006	Something Special	Sarikottha	Suman Joopoodi	Telugu
2006	Something Special	Friendship	Suman Joopoodi	Telugu
2006	Astram	Sakhiya	S.A.Rajkumar	Telugu
2006	Raaraaju	Chaamanthi Chaamanthi	Manisarma	Telugu
2006	Anarkali	Aakaasaana	K.Vidya Pratap	Telugu
2006	Sainikudu	Orugalluke Pilla	Harris Jayaraj	Telugu
2006	Pagale Vennela	Chandamama	Vande maataram Srinivas	Telugu
2007	Aa Roje	Are Are Mama	Vande maataram Srinivas	Telugu
2007	Gundammagaari Manavadu	Brahme Eduruga vacchi	Vande maataram Srinivas	Telugu
2007	Dubai Seenu	Diwali Holi	Manisarma	Telugu
2007	Bahumathi	Abbabba vinave	S.V.Krishna Reddy	Telugu
2007	Seema Sastry	Manasa Vaacha	Vandemaataram Srinivas	Telugu
2007	Chandamama	Chengu Chengu	K.M.Radhakrishna	Telugu
2007	Chirutha	Enduko	Manisarma	Telugu
2007	Godava	Mounamlo	Manisarma	Telugu
2007	Abbo Aadavaallu	Adagaleka Adigesi	Sai Karthik	Telugu
2008	Kantri	123 Nenoka kantiri	Manisarma	Telugu
2008	Bhargava	Local Local	Srikanth Deva	Telugu
2008	Ankit,Pallavi And Friends	Premani Premani	Vinu Thomas	Telugu
2008	Baladoor	Andamaina kalala	K.M.Radhakrishna	Telugu
2008	Baladoor	Gundelo Illundi	K.M.Radhakrishna	Telugu
2008	Deepavali	Chiguraaku Kommallo	Vandemaataram Srinivas	Telugu
2008	Siddu from Sikakulam	Sarasaangi	K.M.Radhakrishna	Telugu
2008	Blade Babji	Rajahmundry Robinhood	Koti	Telugu
2008	Kousalya Supraja Rama	Manasuke Puttina	Koti	Telugu
2008	Mahanagaramlo	Hariville	Koti	Telugu
2008	Ankusham	Ilaa Ilaa Vasthavaa	Mariya Manohar	Telugu
2009	Arundhati	Harivillulona	Koti	Telugu
2009	Jaajimalli	Sarasara Mudipada	Bheri Uma Mahessh	Telugu
2009	Samardhudu	Prema Kaadal	Valluri Rajasekhar	Telugu
2009	Ooha Chitram	Kalavo Nijamo	Siva	Telugu
2009	Circus Circus	One,two	Shyam & Das	Telugu
2009	Circus Circus	Nanaanaanana	Shyam & Das	Telugu
2009	Circus Circus	Pada Pada	Shyam & Das	Telugu
2009	Boni	Modati Choope Naalona	Ramana Gogula	Telugu
2010	Maryada Ramanna	Ammayi kitiki pakkana	M.M.Keeravani	Telugu
2010	Khaleja	Sada Siva	Manisarma	Telugu
2010	Orange	Sydney Nagaram	Harris Jayaraj	Telugu
2010	Andari Banduvaya	Jigibigi chilaka	Anoop Rubens	Telugu
2010	Prema Pilusthondi	Aa ningi ee nela	Ghantadi Krishna	Telugu
2011	Maaro	Kanulu Moose	Manisarma	Telugu
2011	Seema Tapakai	Dheere Dheere	Vandemaataram Srinivas	Telugu
2011	Teen maar	Vayyaaraala jaabilli	Manisarma	Telugu
2011	Shakti	Yamaga Unde	Manisarma	Telugu
2011	Brahmigadi Katha	Life is a journey	Koti	Telugu
2011	Solo	Puduthune Solo	Manisarma	Telugu
2011	It's My Lovestory	Thadi Pedavule	Sunil Kashyap	Telugu
2011	It's My Lovestory	Nindainaa Nee Chelimi	Sunil Kashyap	Telugu
2012	Cameraman Gangatho Rambabu	Pillani Sootthe	Manisarma	Telugu
2012	Nuvva Nena	Oy pilla	Bheems	Telugu
2012	Mr.7	Icchi pucchukunte	Munna Kaasi	Telugu
2012	City Life	Om Vaatsaayanaya	K.Vidya Pratap	Telugu
2013	Ade Nuvvu Ade Nenu	Arere Arere	Mohan Sitara	Telugu
2013	Priya Premalo Prem	Oppukoni Okka	Aavishkar	Telugu
2013	Dasami	Adugule Pidugulai	Siva	Telugu
2013	Mallelatheeramlo Sirimallepoovu	Alaa Chandamamanai	Ravindra Prasad	Telugu
2013	Mr.Manmadha	Yegise yegise	Navneeth Chari	Telugu
2013	Saahasam	O Kanupaapa	Sri	Telugu
2013	Vetaadu Ventaadu	Andam Andam	Yuvan Shankar Raja	Telugu
2013	Mooga Manasulu	Teluse Teluse	Keshav Kiran	Telugu
2013	D for Dopidi	Meher Meher	Sachin-Jigar	Telugu
2014	Nan Life Alli	Nan Life Alli	Ajaneesh Loknadh	Kannada
2014	Amma Nanna Oorelithe	Meghaale Taake	Munna Kaasi	Telugu
2014	Naa Raakumaarudu	Hey Girl	Achu	Telugu
2014	Teeyani kalavo	Teeyani kalavo	Ravindra Prasad	Telugu
2014	Noothilo Kappalu	Giliginthala	Subhash Anand	Telugu
2014	Oohalu Gusagusalaade	Inthakante vere	Kalyani Malik	Telugu
2014	Kulfi	Eduruchoodani	Yuvan Shankar Raja	Telugu
2014	Kiraak	Innaalloo	Ajay Arasada	Telugu
2014	Aa Aiduguru	Nee Maayalo	Mantra Anand	Telugu
2014	Nuvvala Nenila	Neevalle Neevalle	Sai Karthik	Telugu
2014	I am in love	Nee Aakarshana	Pradeep Koneru	Telugu
2014	Rough	Oye oye	Manisarma	Telugu
2014	Aa Aiduguru	Nee Maayalo	Mantra Anand	Telugu
2015	Hormones	Neelo Naalo	Praveen Lakkaraju	Telugu
2015	Shivam	Dham Dham Damaruga	Manisarma	Kannada
2015	Shivam	Dreamige Bande	Manisarma	Kannada
2015	Shivam	Roma Roma	Manisarma	Kannada
2015	Bham Bholenath	Once upon a time	Sai Karthik	Telugu
2015	Bham Bholenath	Setugari	Sai Karthik	Telugu
2015	Asura	Potetthina	Sai Karthik	Telugu
2015	Helpline	Premante idenemo	K.M.Radhakrishna	Telugu
2015	Loafer	Suvvi Suvvaalamma	Sunil Kashyap	Telugu
2016	Vangaveeti	Mounam	Ravi	Telugu
2016	Irumugan	Oh Maaya	Harris Jayaraj	Tamil
2016	Inkokkadu	Chinni Gundelo	Harris Jayaraj	Telugu
2017	Idi Maa Prema Kadha	Kannul Therichina	Karthik Kodakandla	Telugu

ETV Swarabhishekam

Karunya is prominently featured in the television's ambitious and prestigious musical show, ETV's "Swarabhishekam", a show in which former greats, contemporary popular singers and rising talent collaborate to celebrate Telugu film music. He has gained a huge popularity through this show.

Awards

• He won the Bharathamuni award for Best Male Debut Playback Singer.
• He won the Vamsi-Berkeley award for Best Male Playback Singer.
• He won the Nandi award from the Government of A.P. for a song sung for the teleserial Melukolupu in the year 2006.
• He was honored as the "Young Rising Star of India" by the Undersecretary-General of the UN, Shashi Tharoor in New York.
• He was honored as "One of the rare talents of Indian music Industry" by the prestigious organisation IANT of Dallas.
• He received Santosham film magazine's "Best Male Playback Singer of the Year 2007" award for his song in Chirutha.
• He was nominated in the "Best Male Playback Singer" category in the 56th Filmfare awards for his song "Andamaina Kalala" from the movie Baladoor.
• He won the "Best male playback singer of the year" award at the Big Tollywood awards conducted by 92.7 BIG FM in association with ETV for his song "Sydney" from "Orange".
• He won the Filmfare award in the "Best male playback singer – Telugu" category in the 58th Filmfare south awards for his song "Sada Siva" from "Khaleja"
• He won the Santosham award in the "Best male playback singer-2010" category again for his song "Sada Siva" from "Khaleja"
• He won the Aalapana award for the "Best male playback singer-2011" for his song "Thadi pedavule" from the Telugu movie "It's My lovestory".
• He won the Saakshi Excellence Award for the "Best Male Playback Singer-2015" for his song "Suvvi Suvvaalammaa" in the Telugu movie Loafer.
• He won his second Nandi award from the Government of A.P. for title song of the daily serial Ashta Chamma telecast on Maa TV.

Youtuber Singer/Songwriter

Karunya's Prema Geethika Still.

In 2017, Karunya started his own YouTube channel named 'nckarunya' to produce his own music videos. His first single O Priyathamaa written, composed, arranged and sung by him, went on to become an instant hit with all the music lovers. He then released his second single Prema Geethika which was a sweet innocent love song and then recently released the peppy folk number "Maayarogam" which is creating ripples since its release.

This YouTube channel has a three-layered approach to Indian music. One one hand it features the commercially sounding and visualised music videos for the mainstream audiences. On the other hand, it also features Light music videos by Karunya as a tribute to all his Light music gurus. This series is called "Vandebhaavagurum". Apart from this the channel also features the Carnatic classical recital videos of Karunya for the classically inclined.

Carnatic classical

Karunya during a Carnatic recital

In 2017, Karunya made an announcement that he will be giving Carnatic classical recitals too as much as possible to popularise and promote his Guru,"Vaaggeya Vidwanmani" Sri Nallan Chakravarthy Murthy's compositions. He gave two successful recitals starting in October in that year followed by one more in March 2018.