Kavita Krishnamoorthy - an interview

[neha_desai]

Folks,

Some more reading for you guys:)

--
Neha
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kaliyon se koi poochhta...hansati hain wo yaa roti hain..
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By
Avinash Ramchandani
avi...@indolink.com

Ten years ago I barely knew who Amithabh Bachan is. My
cousin had made a pillow for him and Michael Jackson, and
from there I found out who he is. Today, Bollywood is my
passion. I now know about almost every part of the complex
structure, the structure being Bollywood. After so many years of
waiting, I finally got to meet one of those parts, the winner of the
1995 Filmfare Award for best female singer, Kavita
Krishnamurty. With the help of Mr. Amrit Singhal and the editor
of IndZine Mrs. Meena Yeggina, I got the honor of interviewing
Kavitaji in behalf of IndZine magazine on Sunday, June 23,
1996.

I arrived at the airport about an hour and a fifteen minutes before
the singers (Kavitaji was with Udit Narayan, Deepa Naryan,
and Nayan Rathod on a concert tour) were to depart to another
stage to perform for another audience. They arrived at the
airport in about fifteen minutes. In another fifteen minutes I finally
got the chance to interview Kavitaji.

AR: Tell me one thing that you would like the public to know.
Kavita: That is a rather difficult question to answer. This
is probably a very strange answer that you are getting
from me. I don't know why I have always felt this. Even as
a child when I used to listen to artists and singers, I felt
this and I have maintained it mentally. Whatever a person
sings, his personality comes through his singing.
Somehow, however trained a person is, some part of one's
personality comes through one's songs. I only hope that
my singing will give off a positive personality in the mind
of the people that listen to my music. I hope that they get
to know me through my music.

AR: How did you get the opportunity to sing the song "Hawa
Hawaii" from Mr. India?
Kavita: In those days I was dubbing for Laxmikant
Pyarelal. Dubbing in the sense that I was dubbing for
Lataji and then for the shooting Lataji would sing the song.
This was actually a song that they wanted me to dub for
Ashaji. They said that this was a big picture with Sridevi
as the actress and Boney Kapoor the director, and there
was no question of myself singing. I never thought I would
get a big song like this, but I enjoyed the song thoroughly
and recording it was great fun. After it got recorded, about
a month later, the good news was broken to me that Ashaji
was not going to record the song and my voice was going
to be kept. It was one of God's many kindnesses to me.

AR: Do you think that Hindi Pop Music will become more
popular in the near future and do you think that it will take over
the Hindi playback music?
Kavita: No. I feel that Hindi Playback music has been a
dominant factor for many years and will continue to be a
dominant factor. Yes, when Hindi films weren't doing so
well, ghazals came into the scene, but now film music has
become popular again. As long as Hindi movies are
successful, Hindi songs will be successful. It is kind of a
part of our daily lives.

AR: Over your years as a playback singer, you have received
much criticism, for example, a critic of the magazine Filmfare
termed your singing as a shrill. How do you react to such
negative criticism in wake of your success?
Kavita: One thing, when I come to sing professionally, I
cannot expect everybody to clap their hands in applause
when I sing; there will be some people that won't like my
style of singing; there will be people that don't even like
my basic voice structure. Now that is something that I will
except with a lot of grace. At the same time I tried to
question myself as to why I was sounding shrill and why
this person thought I was sounding shrill. There was
probably a shrill factor that I had to correct. I figured that
some songs were very high pitched, and I shouldn't have
been singing at such a high scale. Automatically when
one's voice goes beyond a certain range, one's voice does
sound shrill. That must be why he said this. This was said
quite a many years ago and I was happy to learn that the
same journalist has written well about me in 1942 A Love
Story and some other albums that I have sung recently.
Constructive criticism is always welcome.

AR: Any special memories of the great Pancham (late R.D.
Burman) while recording the songs of 1942 A Love Story?
Kavita: Before 1942 A Love Story, I had sang many films
for Panchamda, but they all flopped. Panchamda kept
telling me "Wait Kavita there will be a day when you will
sing all the songs in a film for me." Then came the
banking of 1942 A Love Story. And he said, "Kavita I got
a very good film and you are coming to a rehearsal in two
days time and you are going to sing these songs." And
then I sang was "Rhim Jim Rhim Jim" and then "Dil Ne
Kaha". I really couldn't believe it! I told him,
"Panchamda, why me?" I really felt they were the kind of
songs that Lataji would sing. I was not sure of my caliber.
I said "My gosh, I am such a lucky person!" Panchamda
makes one feel like you were the best singer in the world.
For the particular moment he makes one feel that the
results one gives are terrific. But sometimes he says, "I
think you can do a little better". And that is the way he
pushes one into doing better and better. He is one person
that I will miss all my life.

AR: Is it true that you sang "Kuch Na Kaho" before Lata
Mangeshkar?
Kavita: Yes. When Panchamda was alive I had sung that
song. A week after he passed away Vidhu Vinod Chopra
met me and he said that he wanted Lataji to sing it. I didn't
take an objection because it was Lataji. I told him that if it
was my colleague, then I would have bawled and cried and
gone to the press. Lataji is my guru, and therefore I told
him that I had dubbed for her. Panchamda was not alive,
and his passing away was too recent so there was a lot of
grief inside me. I said that it didn't really matter.

AR: Is it true that Uditji didn't attend the party that Kumar Shanu
threw for both of you in honor of your filmfare award?
Kavita: Uditji didn't come. There's a reason for that
because we didn't know about the party very much in
advance, in fact only about 48 hours in advance, and Uditji
had to go to Madras to sing for Rahman. Rahman is a
very big music director, one can't miss the chance to sing
for him. His wife couldn't attend the party in behalf of him
because Aditya (his son) had measles and there was no
way that she could have left the child. So she couldn't
attend the party on Udit's behalf either. It is just
unfortunate that the press played it up. I don't think Udit
meant to hurt Shanu, if he was in town he would have
come.

AR: Congratulations on winning your filmfare award. How does
it feel to receive your second filmfare in a row?
Kavita: For the first one I was ecstatic. The first one came
after twelve years of work and after being nominated four
times. Finally, I got nominated and got the award. I can't
express the delirious happiness that I had. But the next
time, this year, I was really skeptical. I was not sure if I
would get it. So when I got it, it was really a bonus.

AR: Who or what do you attribute most to your success?
Kavita: First and foremost to my aunt, who I call my
badimaa, she is my first mother. She is the one who has
always had the belief that I would be a singer. She was
determined that I would be a singer and initially she
pushed me into music. She pushed me into going for shows
even though I wasn't really sure that I wanted to do it. And
I thank her for it. She is the one that has really been with
me every moment of my ups and downs. Then there are
many more, Mrs. Jaya Chakraborty, she was in Bombay
and we were good friends. Therefore my aunt took the
courage of coming to a strange city where we had no
friends. There is Hemant Kumar, who first gave me my
break on stage and in films. And Manna Dey Uncle who
has been a father to me and has guided me. He guided me
in the sense that he is my idol as far as how an artist
should be. And finally Laxmikant Pyarelal, the people who
gave me my break when I was a total nonidentity.

AR: What male singer do you like to sing with most?
Kavita: I basically enjoy singing with all of them. Each one
has their own style and I get along with all of them, with
Udit, Shanu, all of them. But personally I would say that I
like, as far as voice quality is concerned, Hariharan, Udit
Narayan, and Suresh Wadkar. Hariharan and Suresh
Wadkar because they are very well trained in Hindi
Classical music, and Udit because he is natural singer.

AR: What song(s) challenged you the most?
Kavita: Depends on the stage of my life. When I first sang
"Hawa Hawaii", it was a big challenge because it was the
first of the kind of naughty songs that I had sung. I was a
very straight person then, very nervous and kind of shy.
This was the first song that was kind of different. And now,
one of the recent albums that I have really enjoyed is
Bhairavi, because it is all semi-classical. Bhairavi and
Khamoshi also. Khamoshi is different, because in this film,
I had to sing for Helen who is a grandmother and Manisha
Koirala who is a granddaughter.

AR: If you had a chance to sing any song, which song would it
be?
Kavita: I am very fond of semi-classical songs. If
somebody gave me the chance to sing a semi-classical
song and I could sing it well, I would feel proudly about
myself.

AR: Which singer do you most admire?
Kavita: In films, definitely Lata Mangeshkar. She heads
the list as far as I am concerned. But otherwise in the field
of classical music, there is a lady called Kishoria Mankar,
she is mind-boggling. She is one in a century. There is an
artist who is excellent in ghazals. She is probably not as
well known as many other people, but her name is
Madhurani. She is simply brilliant. Those three singers,
Kishoria Mankar, Madhurani and Lataji.

AR: Do you think that the music of the older generation is better
or the music of today?
Kavita: The older generation definitely. The 50s and 60s,
I would call it a renaissance period, was brilliant. Probably
because they had more time to record. Songs weren't just
dished out and churned out like today. Things have
changed, now there is violence and too many dances. The
whole atmosphere has changed, so you can't blame the
music directors for it. And those days, music directors had
more time to work on the songs. Not only that, but they
knew much more about music. They would do a pop song,
a western song, but they still knew much about Indian
classical music. They were very knowledgeable people.
That knowledge I miss today. I feel that the music
directors today are instinctively talented. The music
directors now have God gifted talent and they are using it,
but very few have really deep knowledge.

AR: Why do you think that the knowledge is lacking?
Kavita: Well, its I suppose change of time, because now,
the motive and the encouragement of doing those songs is
not there. The producer's motive is to sell the movie.
Cassettes have to sell. Companies come and demand that
the compositions are made so that they sell. Everything is
made towards selling. In the olden days it was up to a
point; commitment was also very important. A music
director would say, "Muje to karna hi nahin yeh gana, aap
kaun hote batane liye kaun singer hai?" (I don't want to
do this song if you are bossing me around, telling me who
the singer is supposed to be.) You bring in the money, you
tell me the situation and I'll make the song for you.
Another factor is the kind of films. In those days, we had
makers like Raj Kapoor, Vijay Anand, dedicated people to
their work. Today films are being made with the producers
saying, "Chale yaan na challe... char masale wale gane dal
do... item dal do." (I don't know if this is going to do well in
the box office. Put in some masala songs! Put in a couple
items!) Attitudes have changed. Electronic music has
come in. Music has become very synthetic. But I must say
that I now find that there is a change, I do feel that the
songs have improved in the recent years. For about four to
five years there was a lot of copied songs, and although
some are still copied, there is a change towards good
songs. Its catchy for youngsters, still.

AR: What recent songs have you enjoyed singing?
Kavita: As I told you, Bhairavi and Khamoshi are two
albums that I enjoyed singing a lot. And now I have sung
for a film called Saaz. There are two or three music
directors, one is Zakhir Hussain, and Raj Kamal. It the
life of a playback singer and I am singing for Shabana
Azmi in it. I love the songs in that movie.

AR: Do you have a tally of your songs?
Kavita: Really I should keep it. For Hindi songs it is at
least two to three thousand songs including the ones that
don't get released, and probably the equal amount of
regional film songs.

AR: How many songs do you sing on an average day?
Kavita: Normally one. Sometimes it could be three, but
usually one. Very rarely is it four or five.

AR: How do you like singing for the audience here in the United
States?
Kavita: Excellent. And this particular trip I am enjoying. I
don't usually enjoy when I come for a star show. I feel like
one small cog in the wheel. People are usually more
interested in glamour than singing. I usually sing two
songs and then when I come out I am disspointed. But this
time I have been enjoying it because Udit is a fine singer
and the show predominantly musical. The audience here is
wonderful. They listen to every kind of song. They are
very positive towards an artist.

[Siddhartha Duttagupta]

On 21 Sep 1997 11:06:04 -0700, Neha Desai wrote:

>Then there are
>many more, Mrs. Jaya Chakraborty,

>friends. There is Hemant Kumar, who first gave me my
>break on stage and in films. And Manna Dey Uncle

Does Kavita have any Calcutta connections? Just wondering from the
list of the "influences";)
Also did Alka Yagnik grow up in Calcutta?

>of classical music, there is a lady called Kishoria Mankar,
>she is mind-boggling.

That should be Kishori Amankar if I am not mistaken.
regards, siddhartha

[Ranjan Biswas]

Siddhartha Duttagupta wrote:
>
> On 21 Sep 1997 11:06:04 -0700, Neha Desai wrote:
>

> >Then there are
> >many more, Mrs. Jaya Chakraborty,

> >friends. There is Hemant Kumar, who first gave me my
> >break on stage and in films. And Manna Dey Uncle

I'd once heard that Manna Dey's wife is Kavita K's sister.
Not at all sure about the authencity of this.
[Then why does she say Manna Dey UNCLE ?]

>
> Does Kavita have any Calcutta connections? Just wondering from the
> list of the "influences";)
> Also did Alka Yagnik grow up in Calcutta?

Yes, as far as I know, Alka Yagnik grew up in Calcutta till she was
probably 19 or 20. They used to stay near Rashbehari Morh.

>
> >of classical music, there is a lady called Kishoria Mankar,
> >she is mind-boggling.
>

> That should be Kishori Amankar if I am not mistaken.

Must be Kishor Amonkar.

> regards, siddhartha