Kavita Krishnamurthy

Sharada Krishnamurthy was born in Delhi in 1958 to a Tamil family, learned Rabindrasangeet and classical music as a child, and moved to Bombay for college, where she sang jingles and was introduced to Manna Dey and Hemant Kumar; Hemant Kumar took her on his concert tours. Laxmikant-Pyarelal gave her a start in 1980, and for several years she recorded the first 'scratch' versions of songs that Lata then sang for the final film — a routine that trained her thoroughly and frustrated her.

Mr. India (1987), for Laxmikant-Pyarelal, gave her Hawa Hawai and Kate Nahin Katte in her own name; Chandni, Tezaab, Chaalbaaz and Khuda Gawah followed, and in the 1990s Pyar Hua Chupke Se (1942: A Love Story), Mera Piya Ghar Aaya (Yaraana), Aaj Main Upar (Khamoshi), Nimbooda and Dola Re Dola (with Shreya Ghoshal, Devdas) made her the voice of the big song. She married the violinist L. Subramaniam in 1999 and has since recorded fusion and classical work with him and performed worldwide.

She received the Padma Shri in 2005 and lives in Bangalore.

Kavita Krishnamurthy's voice is bright, strong and fully trained, with the stamina for the long, high, dance-driven film song of the 1990s and the taste for the quieter melody — Pyar Hua Chupke Se — that most of her contemporaries lacked. She sings Hindi with perfect diction despite a Tamil upbringing, and the Bhansali films used her for grandeur: a voice that fills the frame.