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Photo: V. Sudershan

Talented twosome: Kavita Krishnamurti and husband L. Subramaniam.

“I don’t sing as much (for films), because of the quality…” she trails off. “Everything has changed. I have to wait for that one good song. It’s difficult.”

There are a few films though. “Kuch kuch naam hote hain (they have some name or the other),” she confesses. I can’t tell you the names now, because they call them something and later change the names.”

True, Kavita’s horizons have broadened since she started working with Subramaniam. But the Bollywood music scenario too has changed. Candid, the singer admits that though she sang some forgettable songs too, there were compensations, and songs were noticed for their quality. “Gadbad bhi gaate the, par achche bhi the. Now, the kind of song you would call ekdam (totally) fabulous…” she tapers off, doubt writ large in her smile.

Even if those “fabulous” numbers still play on FM channels across the country, the current generation may not get to hear the singers’ names. Radio hosts chat on about the scene, the actors, the movie, but not the playback singer or composer. “That’s where we’ve always been overlooked,” notes Kavita. Royalty too is a forgotten cause. “As a singer you don’t get any royalty. Even if you sing on stage (one of her own playback numbers), you start getting calls asking you to pay a percentage of the amount you were paid, as royalty to the recording company!”

Kavita mentions a startling fact. “Playback singers are ranked as instrumentalists.” In the days before she entered the field, she recalls, “We would see the names of Mohammed Rafi, Lataji and others right at the beginning of the film credits. Later on, our names also came. They might be towards the end, but they were there. Today, even the designer’s third assistant will be given credit, but not us.”

Singers are partly to blame, she concedes. “I suppose we playback singers have to make our own union. We tried some years ago, Alka, myself, Sonu Nigam — he really tried. Ashaji and Lataji said we’ll back you. But it always fell through for some reason.”

It’s not just about royalties, she points out. “We are a big lot and we can collect a huge fund. Tomorrow if someone falls sick or is in need, we can help each other. We could have a bed reserved in a hospital. We need to look beyond our own fame and our singing.”

There is wisdom in this rare voice from tinsel town. “People are famous for 10 years. You get a house, a car, you’re travelling Business Class, and after ten years you find someone else is singing. That’s the time the association can step in.”

As televised contests raise the hopes of thousands of aspiring playback singers, the climate is unhealthy. “I think if they counted 70 per cent judges’ vote and 30 per cent audience SMS, it would be better,” she offers. The worst part is the “emotionalism” and the message going out, she notes. “What are they doing to that child? Teaching them that you don’t have to be natural, you have to fake it a bit, put up some kind of face. There is even background music!”

The winners aren’t so lucky either. “Who will take the responsibility of telling them that this fame is only for a short time? Till the next ‘Indian idol’ comes along?”

Then there is the ‘glamour quotient’ in music today. Kavita remembers the first time she got passes to a Filmfare Awards night as a youngster. Lata Mangeshkar sang a song on stage. “For me the most beautiful person that night was Lata Mangeshkar. The way she sang, the beauty of the soul came out. For a musician, what you look like and how you present the music should be less important.”

Travelling constantly, Kavita, who divides her week between Mumbai and Bangalore, says she is trying to do “as many good albums as possible.” One at least is with Subramaniam. But when maestros double as spouses, their schedules, true to tradition, are unmanageable. “He’s promised to complete my album this year,” smiles Kavita. “I gave him an ultimatum.”

1996 Filmfare Award for ‘Yaarana’ in 1997 for ‘Khamoshi’

2003 Filmfare Award shared with Shreya Ghoshal for ‘Devdas’ 1997 Screen Award for ‘Khamoshi’

1998 Sansui Viewers Choice Award

1999 Screen Videocon Award for ‘Hum Dil de Chuke Sanam’

1999 Lux Zee Cine Award for ‘Hum Dil de Chuke Sanam’

Priyadarshini Award

2005 Padma Sri Kishore Kumar Journalists’/Critics’ Award for 2002, Kolkata

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