January 25th 2013 marks the 55th birthday of the veteran playback singer Kavita Krishnamurthy, who has etched her name in the world of music with her melodious voice and soulful singing.

 

Born as Sharada Krishnamurthy in a Tamil Iyer family based in Delhi, Kavita ji started her musical training in Rabindra Sangeet with her Aunt, and proceeded to learn Hindustani classical music from Balram Puri. Glimpses of her talent and soon-to-follow fame shone through in her childhood itself, as she participated in competitions like the Inter Ministry Classical Competition in Delhi in the 1960's and won a few of them. 

 

She was noticed by Ranu Mukherjee, daughter of singer Hemant Kumar in a college function, and went on to sing alongside him during his live performances. At one such performance, she was noticed by none other than Manna Dey, who employed her to sing advertisement jingles. 

 

Her innings in Bollywood took off when she started working as a dubbing artiste with music director duo Laxmikant Pyarelal. Her first hit number as a playback singer was the song "Tumse milkar na jaane kyun.." from the film Pyar Jhukta Nahin. But the songs which catapulted her to fame were ''Hawa-hawai" and "Karte hain hum pyaar" from the hit movie Mr. India. She ruled the 1990's, delivering one wonderful song after another, and received several accolades including four Filmfare Awards.

 

After her marriage to renowned violinist Dr. L. Subramaniam, Kavita Ji cut down on playback singing and instead explored other arenas, like performing in live concerts in different corners of the globe or in collaboration with famous western artists in Global Fusion. She still continues to perform and was awarded the Padma Shri, India's highest civilian honor in 2005.