Kavita Krishnamurthy (also spelt Kavita Krishnamurti, married name Kavita Krishnamurti Subramaniam) is an Indian playback singer associated primarily with Hindi cinema. Active as a recording artist since the 1970s, she rose to prominence in the late 1980s and 1990s, lending her voice to a wide range of film songs in Hindi as well as several other Indian languages. She is married to the violinist L. Subramaniam.
| Full name | Kavita Krishnamurti Subramaniam |
|---|---|
| Born | 25 January 1958 |
| Birthplace | New Delhi, India |
| Profession | Playback singer, classical and concert vocalist |
| Languages of work | Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Bengali, Marathi, among others |
| Spouse | L. Subramaniam (violinist, composer) |
| Notable honour | Padma Shri (2005) |
| Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer | Multiple wins in the 1990s |
Kavita Krishnamurthy was born in New Delhi into a Tamil-speaking family and grew up partly in Delhi and Mumbai. She received early training in Hindustani classical music under Balram Puri and was mentored at various stages by senior musicians in the film and concert circuits. She graduated in economics from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai (affiliated to the University of Bombay), while continuing to pursue music.
Krishnamurthy began performing publicly while still in school, and is reported to have sung on stage with Lata Mangeshkar at a young age. She entered the playback field in the 1970s, initially providing dummy tracks and jingles. One of her earliest film recordings was for the Bengali film industry before she gained steady work in Hindi cinema. Through the late 1970s and early 1980s she worked extensively as a chorus and backing vocalist for music directors including Laxmikant–Pyarelal and R. D. Burman.
Her breakthrough as a leading playback voice came with the song "Tumse Milkar Na Jaane Kyun" from Pyaar Jhukta Nahin (1985), composed by Laxmikant–Pyarelal. Subsequent hits in Mr. India (1987), including "Hawa Hawaii" and "Karte Hain Hum Pyaar Mr. India Se", consolidated her position. Through the late 1980s and the 1990s she became one of the most frequently featured female playback voices in Hindi cinema.
She sang for major composers of the era including Laxmikant–Pyarelal, R. D. Burman, Anu Malik, Nadeem–Shravan, Jatin–Lalit, A. R. Rahman and Ismail Darbar. Notable songs include compositions in 1942: A Love Story (1994), Yaraana (1995), Khamoshi: The Musical (1996), Mr. & Mrs. Khiladi (1997), Dil To Pagal Hai (1997), Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999) and Devdas (2002). Her renditions of "Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam", "Nimbooda Nimbooda" and "Dola Re Dola" (with Shreya Ghoshal) are widely recognised.
Alongside film work, Krishnamurthy has maintained a parallel career as a concert performer of Hindustani semi-classical music, ghazals and bhajans. After her marriage to L. Subramaniam in 1999, she has frequently collaborated with him on global concert tours and on fusion projects combining Indian classical, Western classical and jazz idioms. She has performed at international venues and festivals, often under the banner of the Lakshminarayana Global Music Festival organised by the Subramaniam family.
Kavita Krishnamurthy married the Carnatic violinist Dr. L. Subramaniam in 1999. The family is based in Bengaluru, where Subramaniam runs the Subramaniam Academy of Performing Arts (SaPa). She is the stepmother to Bindu Subramaniam and Ambi Subramaniam, both musicians.
Kavita Krishnamurthy is regarded as one of the principal female playback voices of Hindi cinema in the transitional period between the dominance of Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle and the rise of singers such as Alka Yagnik, Sunidhi Chauhan and Shreya Ghoshal. Her ability to handle both light film numbers and classically inflected compositions made her a preferred choice for composers working with period films, devotional sequences and dance songs. Her later work with L. Subramaniam has contributed to the visibility of Indian classical and fusion music on international concert stages.