Kavita Krishnamurthy birthday: From Hawa Hawai to Kay Sera Sera, 9 best songs of the veteran singer

Kavita Krishnamurthy Pic/ANI

Renowned singer Kavita Krishnamurthy celebrates her birthday on January 25. Her real name is Sharda, which she changed at the behest of legendary music composer Hemant Kumar. Her Bengali Mamani (maternal aunt), whom she credits for her musical career went ahead and christened her Kavita. In a career spanning over four decades, Kavita Krishnamurthy has enthralled audiences with several memorable songs. Debuted in the industry with 'Aayega aanewala' (Kadambari; 1976 -- a rendition of the popular Lata Mangeshkar number from Mahal ) she has notched up several hits like 'Aankhon Ki Gustakhiyaan', 'Tu Cheez Badi Hai Mast Mast', 'Hawa Hawai' and 'Kay Sera Sera' among others.

Best songs of Kavita Krishnamurthy

Kavita Krishnamurthy on Bollywood playback singing

The Padma Shri recipient has lent her voice to actresses like Nutan, Helen, Shabana, Sridevi, and Kajol, to Karishma Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, and Rani Mukerji among others. Asked how Bollywood playback singing has changed throughout her long career, she told IANS that when she started as a playback singer, she found most of her songs to be essentially Indian.

"They were based a lot on folk, a little bit sometimes raga-based, but more geet-kind of songs. Pronunciation of Hindi words also had to have a certain amount of clarity. The poets played a very important role. It could have been a classical-based song, a happy, sad, or romantic duet, or sometimes a bhajan in a movie. Also, we'd be recorded with the musicians most of the time, if we made a mistake we had to redo the whole song," she said.

She added that it was never line-by-line, but half- or quarter-song was sung together. "It's only after 2000, that you could do a line or half a phrase. Technically, things changed a lot."

Cut to the present day, and the acclaimed singer finds quite a lot of Western-based numbers, Sufi songs, and item numbers. "Trends have changed and there are more rhythm-oriented and guitar-based songs than there were in the past."

Kavita got married to renowned violinist L. Subramaniam on 11 November 1999. The singer has travelled all over the world while actively exploring fusion music. She has played in concert halls around the world. She has performed as a soloist in orchestras and collaborated with Western performers in jazz, pop, and classical genres. Kavita has garnered four Filmfare Best Female Playback Singer Awards (winning consecutively from 1995 to 1997), as well as the Padma Shri in 2005.

(With inputs from Agencies)