Kavita
Krishnamurthy
How did you develop a flair for languages
and how do you manage to separate
the diction of each language?
I would credit a large part of this
to my background. I am a Tamilian
girl, who was brought up by a
Bengali, in Delhi. When I came to
Bombay in the 70s, to do jingles,
I developed some flexibility with
language and pronunciation.
When I was given an Assamese or
Oriya jingle, I was able to relate
it to Bengali. Singing in South
Indian languages was easy because
I can speak Tamil. For jingles like
“washing powder Nirma,” I took
notes on how the words had to
be pronounced. But with time, I
realized that more than pronouncing
the words, it is important to
understand the singing intonations
and style of every language.
Could you talk about some of the vocal
techniques that you have used in your career?
Growing up, I learnt Hindustani
music. The radio was a major
part of my childhood, and I
listened to a lot of film music –
especially Lata ji and Manna da.
When I came to Bollywood, it was a
bit of a transition. I had to translate
what I had learnt to suit the industry.
Since every song was script-based,
I had to modulate or change the
embellishments depending on how
the actress was going to emote.
That was how I sang Hawa Hawai.
During your times did you face prejudice?
According to you, do you think common
prejudices still exist in the industry?
Dr. L
Subramaniam
What were the challenges you faced as you
took the Carnatic violin to global spaces?
The basic challenge was technique.
Earlier, the violin was primarily an
accompanying musical instrument
that was used to back up a vocal or
other instruments. It was my father’s
vision to make it a solo instrument
around the world. He achieved this by
I was extremely fortunate to have
been warmly welcomed into the
industry. Since I was raised by a
Bengali, the Bengali music directors
accepted me readily. Nobody ever
scrutinized my songs to check if
I had a South Indian accent. At
the time, there were very singers
who came into Bollywood and
there was some scrutiny overall,
but it never affected me.
I can only share my personal
experiences. I’m very grateful
to have had a great musical
journey in Bollywood, free
of any kind of prejudice.
How important do you think is being relevant
in the industry? What are the avenues
that a legendary voice like yours can go
to for artistic growth and fulfillment?
As far as Bollywood singing is
concerned, my generation of
singers had to sing live with the
orchestra. If any mistake made,
the whole song would have to re-
recorded. Then, around the early
nineties, dubbing techniques
came in which made singing a
bit easier. By early this century,
singers started recording phrases.
In the 80s, technology wasn’t so
advanced. So to adjust to this
path in the nineties was easy.
Today, I feel like the traditional way
of pronouncing some words has
changed. Singers’ pronunciation has
become a lot more personalised.
For me, things changed drastically
when I got married and started
exploring more fusion-style singing –
for the orchestra. In the last few years,
I’ve seen that I have opened up to more
musical avenues than ever before.
creating many solo violin techniques.
He also focused on the tonal qualities
and complex musicality of Carnatic
music by playing compositions in
multiple speeds, using all the four
playing fingers on the violin for
sliding and plucking the strings in
addition to cross bowing techniques
on the right hand. By doing this he
was able to create a tonality which
sounded as multiple players playing
even though it was a soloist.
My father didn’t have the opportunity
to listen to western music, but he
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