Kavita Krishnamurti Also Known as Kavita Krishnamurthi, is an Indian film playback singer.[1] She is classically trained and has sung a wide range of classical-based songs. In her career, she has worked with a variety of music composers,[2] including R.D. Burman and A.R. Rahman.[3] She is also the recipient of four Filmfare Best Female Playback Awards.

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 Kavita to her father.[4] He was impressed by her grounding in music, so he began using her as a singer during his live performances. In one such performance, playback singer Manna Dey spotted her and employed her to sing advertisement jingles. Through her aunt's strong contacts, she met Jaya Chakravarthy, the mother of actress Hema Malini,[4] who later took the initiative of introducing Kavita to the music director Laxmikant (one half of the composer duo Laxmikant-Pyarelal) in late 1976

Kavita Krishnamurti has received several awards and honours. She was the recipient of three consecutive Filmfare awards from 1995–1997.
[edit] Filmfare Best Female Playback Award

* "Pyaar Hua Chupke Se"—1942: A Love Story (1995)[3]
* "Mera Piya Ghar Aaya"—Yaarana (1996)
* "Aaj Main Upar"—Khamoshi: The Musical (1997)
* "Dola Re Dola"—Devdas (2002)

[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)
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