'Hawa-Hawai' singer Kavita Krishnamurti to debut as composer

Popular vocalist Kavita Krishnamurti, who has sung in multiple Indian languages over four decades, will soon make her debut as a composer.

"I have composed bhajans. One day, I was sitting in a car and humming a tune. I was wondering what words to put since I don't write lyrics at all. Suddenly, the word of Meera bhajan fitted beautifully into it.

"That inspired me to make more songs. My husband (violinist L. Subramaniam) said I should record them. We recorded 20 days ago. Mixing is yet to be done. I need to plan how to release it," Kavita told IANS in a telephonic interview.

The "Hawa hawai" hitmaker feels "very nice" to have attempted "this as a composer".

"It's something that I have not done before. It is a great feeling to have worked on an album as a composer," she said.

She is also tied up with Lakshminarayana Global Music Festival, which started in 1992 in the memory of L. Subramaniam's father and guru V. Lakshminarayana.

"Whatever he (her husband) feels he is today is because of his father who taught him the modern violin technique, to think... how to bring in more better techniques in violin so that the Indian violin has an international standing and gets accepted all over the world.

"They have worked towards that. So he is always thanking his father for initiating him into violin and being his guru. I share that joy because it's done with passion more than anything else."

Since its inception, the festival has presented some of the greatest artistes like Yehudi Menuhin, M.S. Subbulakshmi, Bismillah Khan, Stanley Clarke and George Duke.

"Every year, we think how it can be better than before and what kind of artistes we can bring in so that people would enjoy it. It's quite a difficult task, but somehow we have been able to do it for all these years," said Kavita.

"We have artistes from all over the world. Sometimes, we have very exotic instruments like a kora or koto from Japan."

This year, the Latvian symphony orchestra will be part of the fest.

"I am also doing a piece called the 'Bharat Symphony'. It's got four movements - the first one is the Vedic movement, second is the Mughal, then the third is the British and fourth is post-independence," she shared.

"My husband will do a piece with orchestra, called 'Turbulence Concerto'. Then our granddaughter Mahati will pay a short tribute to Mahatma Gandhi."

The first concert took place in Bengaluru on September 29. It was followed by Colombo and will conclude in Delhi on October 5.

Asked about the Delhi audience, she said: "It's not very easy to please them sometimes. They have already heard a lot. So, we have to be on our toes. So far, our festival has been received very well. People have enjoyed it.

"Delhi is open to so many kinds of music. They are able to understand the nuances of western music, classical, Bollywood and fusion music," said Kavita.

-IANS