Sunitha Sarathy is an Indian vocalist and performer in both Indian contemporary and Western classical music genres.[1] She is also a gospel singer who performs in various church choirs. After having won the "Virgin Voice Choice" contest – a joint initiative of Channel V and Virgin Records in the year 2000, Sarathy debuted into film playback in the year 2002.
Sunitha Sarathy | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Sunitha Sarathy |
| Born | Chennai, Tamilnadu, India |
| Genres | Western Classical, Gospel, R&B |
| Occupation | Singer |
| Instrument | Vocalist |
| Years active | 2002–current |
She debuted as a playback singer with the Tamil film Yei! Nee Romba Azhagey Irruke guest-singing the prelude and interlude portions of the song "Ini Naanum Naanillai" with Srinivas and Sujatha Mohan as the lead singers.[2] Sarathy has around 200 film songs in various languages, performances as singer-keyboardist-percussionist across a wide spectrum of Western music genres including classical, jazz, soul and R&B, neo-soul and quiet storm, and a prolific output of gospel songs to her credit.[3]
Early life
editComing from a family well-versed in Western music (classical jazz), Sarathy started singing in choirs from a young age of four. Her mother Susheela Sarathy is a pianist and conductor of leading Madras choirs at Santhome Church and Lazarus Church. Sunitha's irrepressible talent conquered all, including her initial flippancy. Her performances at Santhome – including devotionals in Latin and Franz Schubert's Ave Maria – elevated her to star status among Madras' church music circles. She has had the honour of rendering the 'Easter Proclamation' – a typical Catholic chant – for three years before an overflowing San Thome Basilica.
In 2000, Sarathy won the Virgin Voice Choice contest – a joint initiative of Channel V and Virgin Records. Out of 45,000 entries, 1,500 contestants were shortlisted. Ten made it to the finals in Mumbai, of which Sarathy emerged as a winner.
Career
editSunitha Sarathy was noticed by playback singer Srinivas after her victory in the talent hunt program. He offered her a small portion of a song which he was guest-composing for the film Hey! Nee Romba Azhaga Irukke in the year 2002. Soon later, composer Harris Jayaraj recorded her voice for a Love theme and dance theme in his Telugu film Vasu. However she got a big break and wider recognition after singing the full-length solo song "Thoodu Varuma" for the blockbuster Tamil film, Kaakha Kaakha in the same year.
Sarathy got a national recognition for her playback singing for a Hindi – Tamil bilingual film Yuva / Aaytha Ezhuthu in 2004 both directed by Mani Ratnam with music composition by A. R. Rahman. Soon after this, Sarathy recorded her voice for many successful soundtracks in various languages. Some of her notable works are for the films that include Mitr, My Friend, Anniyan, Polladhavan, Vallavan, Kana Kandaen, Don 2, Happy Days, Sainikudu, Cheluvina Chittara among others.[4][5] She also recorded the song "Warriors in peace" for the Mandarin film Warriors of Heaven and Earth composed by A. R. Rahman.
Sarathy performed for a song at the 2006 Asian Games.[6]
In July 2013, Sunitha Sarathy became the first solo female performer from India to be signed by AKG microphones as an endorsee[7]
July 2014 saw the launch of Sunitha Sarathy's School of Vocal Excellence, a performance oriented learning center for aspiring singers.
Discography
edit| Year | Song | Film Title | Language | Composer | Co-singer(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | "Ini Naanum Naanillai" | Hey! Nee Romba Azhaga Irukke | Tamil | Srinivas | Srinivas, Sujatha Mohan |
| "Give me Hugs" | Mitr, My Friend | English | Bhavatharini | ||
| 2003 | "Warriors in Peace" | Warriors of Heaven and Earth | English/ Mandarin | A. R. Rahman | |
| "Thoodu Varumaa" | Kaakha Kaakha | Tamil | Harris Jayaraj | Febi Mani | |
| "Seduction Saawariya" | Boom | Hindi | Sandeep Chowta | Sonu Kakkar | |
| "Maaro Maaro" | Boys | Tamil/ Telugu | A. R. Rahman | Karthik, George, Kunal Ganjawala, Annupamaa | |
| "Habibi" | Tehzeeb | Hindi | |||
| 2004 | "My Heart Beats" | Prana | Kannada | ||
| "Shaaba Shaaba" | Runway | Malayalam | Suresh Peters | Afsal | |
| "Yaakai Thiri" | Aaytha Ezhuthu | Tamil | A. R. Rahman | A. R. Rahman, Pop Shalini, Tanvi Shah | |
| "Hey Goodbye Nanba" | Shankar Mahadevan, Lucky Ali, Karthik | ||||
| "Fanaa" | Yuva | Hindi | A. R. Rahman, Tanvi Shah | ||
| "Hey Khuda Hafiz" | Lucky Ali, Karthik | ||||
| "Arakonathil" | Arasatchi | Tamil | Harris Jayaraj | ||
| "Ivanthaana" | Kaadhal | Joshua Sridhar | |||
| "Andathanama" | Gharshana | Telugu | Harris Jayaraj | Febi Mani | |
| "La La Lahiri" | Mass | Devi Sri Prasad | Venu | ||
| "New New" | New | Tamil | A. R. Rahman | Blaaze, Karthik, Vijay Prakash, Tanvi Shah | |
| 2005 | "My Wish comes true" | Kisna | Hindi | ||
| "Chinna Chinna" | Kana Kandaen | Tamil | Vidyasagar | Tippu | |
| "Dai Dai Kattikoda" | Sachien | Devi Sri Prasad | Karthik | ||
| "F TV Chiranjeevi" | Andarivaadu | Telugu | KK | ||
| "Stranger in Black" | Anniyan | English/Tamil | Harris Jayaraj | Chennai Chorale | |
| 2006 | "Kalloori Saalaikkul" | Sivappathigaram | Tamil | Vidyasagar | Karthik, Jack Smelly |
| "Bangaranni" | Nuvvu Nenu Prema | Telugu | |||
| "Hip Hip Hurray" | Vallavan | Tamil | Yuvan Shankar Raja | Nakul, Ranjith, Karthik | |
| "Byla Bylamo" | Sainikudu | Telugu | Harris Jayaraj | Lesle Lewis, Anushka Manchanda | |
| 2007 | "Engeyum Eppodhum" | Polladhavan | Tamil | Yogi B | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Yogi B |
| "Neeye Sol" | G. V. Prakash Kumar | Benny Dayal | |||
| "Yaar Iraivanai" | Oram Po | George Peter | |||
| "Ye Cheekati" | Happy Days | Telugu | Mickey J Meyer | Ranjith | |
| 2008 | "Chellame Chellame" | Satyam | Tamil | Harris Jayaraj | Balram, Bombay Jayashree |
| "He Dil Deewana" | Twenty 20 | Malayalam | Suresh Peters | George Peter, Suresh Peters | |
| 2009 | "Paathi Kaadhal" | Modhi Vilayadu | Tamil | Colonial Cousins | Bombay Jayashree |
| "Saregama Saregama" | Jolly Days | Kannada | Mickey J Meyer | Ranjith | |
| 2010 | "Hey CM" | Leader | Telugu | ||
| "Non Stop" | Namo Venkatesa | Devi Sri Prasad | Karthik | ||
| "Thuru Thuru" | Jaggubhai | Tamil | Rafee | ||
| "Suthude Suthude" | Paiyaa | Yuvan Shankar Raja | Karthik | ||
| "Kooda Kooda" | Naanayam | James Vasanthan | |||
| 2011 | "Dushman Mera" | Don 2 | Hindi | Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy | Shankar Mahadevan |
| "The Rise of Damo" | 7aam Arivu | Tamil/ Telugu | Harris Jayaraj | Hao Wang | |
| "Its a Game" | Game | Hindi | Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy | ||
| "Nuvvante Naaku" | Mogudu | Telugu | Babu Shankar | ||
| 2012 | "Bubble Gum" | Leelai | Tamil | Satish Chakravarthy | Benny Dayal, Suvi Suresh, Leon James |
| "Ellinda Banthu" | Toofan | Kannada | Elvin Josuha | Kunal Ganjawala | |
| 2014 | "Hey Pulla" | Kabadam | Tamil | Sazzy | Sachin |
| "Ennodu Nee Irundhal" | I | A. R. Rahman | Sid Sriram | ||
| "Yaen Ennai" | Yennai Arindhaal | Harris Jayaraj | Kharesma Ravichandran | ||
| 2015 | "Orea oru murai" | Purampokku Engira Podhuvudamai | Varshan | Vijay Prakash, Ranjana | |
| "Thoovanam" | Romeo Juliet | D. Imman | Vishal Dadlani | ||
| 2018 | "Tik Tik Tik" | Tik Tik Tik | Yuvan Shankar Raja, Yogi B | ||
| "Sevandhu Pochu Nenju" | Chekka Chivantha Vaanam | A. R. Rahman | Arjun Chandy, D. Sathyaprakash | ||
| 2019 | "Bad Boy" | Saaho | Badshah | Badshah, Benny Dayal | |
| Malayalam | |||||
| "Breaking My Heart" | Suryakantham | Telugu | Mark K Robin | ||
| "Speechless" | Aladdin | Tamil/Telugu | Alan Menken | ||
| 2024 | "Badugas Night" | Brother | Tamil | Harris Jayaraj | Yogi Sekar |
References
edit- ^ Frederick, Prince (20 October 2011). "Sunitha Sarathy". The Hindu. Chennai, India.
- ^ "My First Break – Sunitha Sarathy". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 1 April 2010.
- ^ Frederick, Prince (20 October 2011). "Soaring notes". The Hindu. Chennai, India.
- ^ "Don 2: The Chase Continues". Archived from the original on 25 November 2011.
- ^ "Don 2 Music Review". 19 November 2011.
- ^ "Sunitha Sarathy – Climbing greater heights". Archived from the original on 28 November 2006. Retrieved 2 October 2010.
- ^ "HARMAN International".