NC Karunya
Encyclopedia
N. C. Karunya is a popular playback singer. He was a runner-up on the popular reality show Indian Idol (Season 2) on Sony Entertainment Television.
Karunya released an album called Chiru Sarigamalu in his childhood, which was launched by Chiranjeevi
. He later went on to win the acclaimed, Paadutha Theeyaga hosted by S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, on Eenadu Television. He was appreciated highly by SPB and the audience of Andhra Pradesh for his versatility. He was the leader of his school choir from the age of 7. He has participated in various local stage shows and TV shows in A.P. and has recorded a number of children's, devotional and patriotic songs for several non-film music directors. At the age of 12 his second album, Sai Madhuri, was released by Sri Sri Satya Saibaba in the presence of Pt. Shiv Kumar Sharma in Bangalore.
Karunya always wanted to do playback singing in multiple languages, including Hindi. For this, first he started out meeting the local music directors but the going was very tough since he did not know any important people from the industry. Even then, in 2005 before he auditioned for Indian Idol 2, he had already sung two songs in the Telugu movie Vamsham.
He started 2011 with a bang with his songs-a racy and rocking Yamaga unde from Jr.NTR's movie Shakti and a romantic and retro Vayyarala jabilli from Pavan Kalyan's "Teenmar", both composed by Mani Sarma. His song Dheere dheere dheere dille from Seema Tapakai has also been received well. He has recorded for about 45 films till date.
His show in Dallas on 7 October 2006 had an audience of 40,000, the highest for any Indian artist in the US. He has extensively toured America, performed in The Emirates, Singapore and East and West Africa.
Again in August 2008, he performed before a huge audience of about 25,000 people in the 33rd Anand Bazaar, which is an annual Indian independence celebration in Dallas. He was the first Indian performer to have performed in that event.
He is the only artist to have performed at the opening ceremony of the World Military Games held in Hyderabad in the year 2007, before an audience of about 2 lakh people of about 101 nationalities and presided over by the President of India Smt. Pratibha Patil.
and his wife Namrata Shirodkar. Mahesh Babu himself featured in the video. Representing Telugu people solely, he wanted Karunya to be his voice. Karunya recorded his part of the song under the guidance of Louiz Banks.
, Shakti
, Teenmaar, Chirutha, Orange, Sainikudu
, Khaleja, Chandamama
, Arundhati
, Maryada Ramanna
, Seema Sastry, Siddu from Sikakulam, Seema Tapakai, Dubai Seenu
, Andari Bandhuvaya,Baladoorand Brahmigadi kadha.
Early life
Karunya was born on 1 March 1986 in the city of Hyderabad into a family of classical singers. Though he has been under the training of his paternal uncles and aunts since the age of four in Carnatic music, his intensive training started under his tauji N. C. Murthy at the age of 14. His schooling and initial foray into music were at his alma mater Brahm Prakash DAV, Kanchan Bagh. While in school, he used to sing devotional songs during the morning assembly. He did his Bachelors in Electronics and Communications Engineering.Karunya released an album called Chiru Sarigamalu in his childhood, which was launched by Chiranjeevi
Chiranjeevi
Chiranjeevi is a Telugu film actor and a politician. He has appeared primarily in Telugu Cinema along with a few Tamil, Kannada and Hindi films. He made his acting debut in Punadhirallu . However, Pranam Khareedu released at the box office earlier...
. He later went on to win the acclaimed, Paadutha Theeyaga hosted by S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, on Eenadu Television. He was appreciated highly by SPB and the audience of Andhra Pradesh for his versatility. He was the leader of his school choir from the age of 7. He has participated in various local stage shows and TV shows in A.P. and has recorded a number of children's, devotional and patriotic songs for several non-film music directors. At the age of 12 his second album, Sai Madhuri, was released by Sri Sri Satya Saibaba in the presence of Pt. Shiv Kumar Sharma in Bangalore.
Karunya always wanted to do playback singing in multiple languages, including Hindi. For this, first he started out meeting the local music directors but the going was very tough since he did not know any important people from the industry. Even then, in 2005 before he auditioned for Indian Idol 2, he had already sung two songs in the Telugu movie Vamsham.
Indian idol 2
Once he auditioned for Indian idol 2,there was no looking back for Karunya.He immediately became the darling of the masses with his innocent charm and confidence while the class loved him for his speckless renditions.He was an instant hit with all the north Indians because of his unbelievable performance of the Punjabi and Rajasthani songs .The judges,Celebrities and all the other musicians all over India rooted and prayed for him to win the competition.Especially,Karunya was the first South Indian contestant on Indian Idol to have garnered as much interest as he did.Suddenly,whole of A.P sat up and took notice of one of their own talents and started rooting for him.In the end though Karunya did not win the title he was declared the unofficial winner of the contest by one and all through blogs and the newspapers.and finally he is therunner up of Indian idol 2Films and playback
After the end of Indian Idol 2, Karunya was called for an audition by Vidhu Vinod Chopra for Lage Raho Munnabhai. He was immensely liked by Vidhu, director Raju Hirani and music director Shantanu Moitra. He recorded the song in one take in just 15 minutes. Then he sang a song in Jai Santoshi Maa for Anu Malik. After that, he went to Hyderabad to meet members of the Telugu film industry who had supported him for Indian Idol. Then he recorded his first Telugu song for his dream composer Manisarma, for the film Ashok starring Jr. NTR. The song was very well received and Karunya was offered many more songs in Telugu. He went on to record “Orugalluke Pilla” from the film Sainikudu, Enduko from Chirutha, 123 Nenoka Kantri from Kantri, Ammayi Kitiki Pakkana from Maryada Ramanna, Om Namo Siva Rudraya from Khaleja, and Ola Olaala from Orange.He started 2011 with a bang with his songs-a racy and rocking Yamaga unde from Jr.NTR's movie Shakti and a romantic and retro Vayyarala jabilli from Pavan Kalyan's "Teenmar", both composed by Mani Sarma. His song Dheere dheere dheere dille from Seema Tapakai has also been received well. He has recorded for about 45 films till date.
Album
Karunya released his first Hindi album, the self-titled Karunya, on August 9, 2008. The music was composed by Lesle Lewis and the video was directed by a sister of Pradeep Sarkar (Parineeta), Madhu Sarkar. The album was received well by his fans; there was a sellout in Hyderabad as well as a place in the charts in Delhi and Kolkata.Shows
He had done numerous concerts in and abroad India and still continues to do so.His show in Dallas on 7 October 2006 had an audience of 40,000, the highest for any Indian artist in the US. He has extensively toured America, performed in The Emirates, Singapore and East and West Africa.
Again in August 2008, he performed before a huge audience of about 25,000 people in the 33rd Anand Bazaar, which is an annual Indian independence celebration in Dallas. He was the first Indian performer to have performed in that event.
He is the only artist to have performed at the opening ceremony of the World Military Games held in Hyderabad in the year 2007, before an audience of about 2 lakh people of about 101 nationalities and presided over by the President of India Smt. Pratibha Patil.
Reality show contestant to reality show host
Karunya hosted the reality show Sa Ri Ga Ma Pa Little Champs in Telugu telecast on Zee Telugu. This show was a huge hit among Telugu audiences. Karunya was already well known with the cosmopolitan crowd in AP. But with this show, he became a household name all over AP. He took up ‘'Airtel Saptaswaralu’', which was aired on ETV and later on hosted Vijetha-Voice of Andhra on Local TV with M. M. Keeravani as the judge.Phir mile sur
Karunya was the youngest singer to be a part of the remake of the song "Mile sur mera tumhaara". It was remade in 2010 and released as "Phir mile sur" on republic day on Zoom TV. It features eminent personalities from all walks of life. Karunya was suggested to the director, Kailash Surendranath, by Mahesh BabuMahesh Babu
Mahesh Babu born Mahesh Babu Ghattamaneni on 9 August 1975 is an Indian film actor from Telugu Cinema. Born to Legendary Telugu actor Superstar Krishna, Mahesh Babu faced the camera at the age of four as a child artist in the movie Needa...
and his wife Namrata Shirodkar. Mahesh Babu himself featured in the video. Representing Telugu people solely, he wanted Karunya to be his voice. Karunya recorded his part of the song under the guidance of Louiz Banks.
Discography
Some of the movies in which he has given playback are Lage Raho Munnabhai, Ashok, KantriKantri
Kantri is a 2008 film starring Jr. NTR, Hansika Motwani, Tanisha Mukherjee, and Prakash Raj. The film is directed by Meher Ramesh, who is a protege of Puri Jagannadh. The movie is produced by the prestigious Vyjayanthi Movies banner, being produced by C. Ashwini Dutt...
, Shakti
Shakti
Shakti from Sanskrit shak - "to be able," meaning sacred force or empowerment, is the primordial cosmic energy and represents the dynamic forces that are thought to move through the entire universe in Hinduism. Shakti is the concept, or personification, of divine feminine creative power, sometimes...
, Teenmaar, Chirutha, Orange, Sainikudu
Sainikudu
The film has six songs composed by Harris Jayaraj. The music of the film was released simultaneously in 10 chosen venues from five different countries – India, USA, Australia, Singapore and Dubai on the morning of 21 October 2006. The producer of the film, Ashwini Dutt, arranged the use of a...
, Khaleja, Chandamama
Chandamama
Chandamama in Kannada and Telugu means moon. It may refer to:* Chandamama, an Indian monthly magazine focused on kids and youngsters* Chandamama , a Malayalam film starring Kunchacko Boban...
, Arundhati
Arundhati
Arundhati may refer to:* Arundhati , the Hindu goddess of the sky, stars and night time-Literature and Arts:* Arundhati , a 1994 Hindi epic poem* Arundhati , a 2009 Telugu film directed by Kodi Ramakrishna...
, Maryada Ramanna
Maryada Ramanna
Maryada Ramanna is a Telugu comedy thriller film directed by S.S. Rajamouli starring Sunil and Saloni in lead roles. This is the second film for Sunil as a hero. The film opened to favorable reviews by critics and turned out to become a super hit...
, Seema Sastry, Siddu from Sikakulam, Seema Tapakai, Dubai Seenu
Dubai Seenu
Dubai Seenu is a 2007 Telugu film starring Ravi Teja in the lead role and Nayantara as Teja's love interest. The film is directed by Srinu Vaitla, who directed two other films of Ravi Teja, Nee Kosam and Venky. D.V.V. Danayya produces this film after the box office success of his maiden film,...
, Andari Bandhuvaya,Baladoorand Brahmigadi kadha.
Awards
- He won the Bharathamuni award for Best Male Debut Playback Singer.
- He won the Vamsi-Berkeley award for Best Male Playback Singer.
- He won the Nandi award from the Government of A.P. for a song sung for the teleserial Melukolupu.
- He was honored as the “Young Rising Star of India” by the Undersecretary-General of the UN, Shashi Tharoor in New York.
- He was honored as “One of the rare talents of Indian music Industry” by the prestigious organisation IANT of Dallas.
- He received Santosham film magazine's ”Best Male Playback Singer of the Year 2007” award for his song in Chirutha.
- He was nominated in the "Best Male Playback Singer" category in the 56th Filmfare awards for his song "Andamaina Kalala" from the movie Baladoor.
- He won the "Best male plaback singer of the year" award at the Big Tollywood awards conducted by 92.7 BIG FM in association with ETV for his song "Sydney" from "Orange".
- He won the Filmfare award in the "Best male playback singer-telugu" category in the 58th Filmfare south awards for his song "Sada Siva" from "Khaleja"
- He won the Santosham award in the "Best male playback singer-2010" category again for his song "Sada Siva" from "Khaleja"