Sunitha (Singer)
Encyclopedia
Sunitha Upadrashta is playback singer, anchor and dubbing artist in the Telugu Film industry, also known as Tollywood.
She has been acclaimed as a top-singer winning kudos from stalwarts like Sri S. P. Balasubrahmanyam
, M. Balamuralikrishna, Smt. P. Suseela, Smt.S. Janaki
, and others. She works as a singer, as a dubbing artiste, and as an Anchor to various channels who conduct musical programmes. She has worked as a dubbing artiste in almost 500 films in 8 years.
Utsavalu along with her guru Sri Pemmaraju Surya Rao garu.
She entered as a playback singer
in Films at her early age of 15 years. Sri Sasi Preetham, a music director has first gave her a chance to sing in the film ‘Gulabi’ and her first film song is ‘Ee vela lo Neevu’ written by Sirivennela Sitaramasastri
.
So far, she worked with music directors including Ilayaraja, Vidya sagar, M.M. Keeravani, S.V. Krishna Reddy, Koti, Raj, Vandematharam Srinivas, Mani Sharma, Ramana Gogula, S.A. Raj kumar, Sandeep choutha, Micky-J-Mayor, Devisri Prasad, R.P. Patnaik, Chakri, Nihal, Kalyani Malik, Anup, Sunil Kashyap, Saluri Vasu Rao, Madhavapeddi Suresh, Saketha Sairam, bunty etc.… There are so many super hit songs to her credit. She rendered nearly 3000 songs, in films. She has also sung songs in Kannada
, Tamil
and Malayalam
languages.
Sunitha has traveled abroad extensively as a Singer and claimed International recognition. She was invited to Telugu Association of North America –TANA in 1999, 2001. For TANA 1999 she was a part of the troop with Nagarjuna, RamyaKrishna and Tabu.
.
, Ministry
of Cultural Affairs, Delhi and she received a scholarship at the age of 8 years.
Nandi Awards
Filmfare Awards
She has been acclaimed as a top-singer winning kudos from stalwarts like Sri S. P. Balasubrahmanyam
S. P. Balasubrahmanyam
Sripathi Panditaradhyula Balasubrahmanyam is a multilingual Indian playback singer, actor, music director, voice actor and a film producer. He is referred to as S. P. B. or Balu by the media. He has won the National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer six times closely following K. J. Yesudas...
, M. Balamuralikrishna, Smt. P. Suseela, Smt.S. Janaki
S. Janaki
S. Janaki is an Indian female playback singer. Renowned for her voice modulation abilities, she has sung in many Indian languages, most frequently in Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi. Throughout a career spanning more than five decades, she has won four National Film Awards and 35...
, and others. She works as a singer, as a dubbing artiste, and as an Anchor to various channels who conduct musical programmes. She has worked as a dubbing artiste in almost 500 films in 8 years.
Personal life
Sunita was born into a Telugu Brahmin family.Her parents Sri Upadrasta Narasimha Rao and Smt. Sumathi are well known to music lovers at Vijayawada and Guntur. She married at the age of 19. Her husband Kiran works for the media. The couple have two children-one boy (Akash) and one girl (Shreya).Career
She has started her Cultural pursuit at a very early age of 3 years and got training in Music from Pemaraju Surya Rao in Karnatic Vocal and Light music from Kalaga Krishna Mohan for 8 years. She won several ‘prizes’ and ‘praises’ in various competitions ranking first and Gold Medals. Sunitha, at her very young age of 10 years, participated in Tyagaraja AradhanaTyagaraja Aradhana
Tyagaraja Aradhana is an annual Carnatic music festival held in January and February. Many exponents of Carnatic music come to perform and are watched by thousands of ardent fans of Indian classical music....
Utsavalu along with her guru Sri Pemmaraju Surya Rao garu.
She entered as a playback singer
Playback singer
A playback singer is a singer whose singing is prerecorded for use in movies. Playback singers record songs for soundtracks, and actors or actresses lip-sync the songs for cameras, while the actual singer does not appear on screen.-South Asia:...
in Films at her early age of 15 years. Sri Sasi Preetham, a music director has first gave her a chance to sing in the film ‘Gulabi’ and her first film song is ‘Ee vela lo Neevu’ written by Sirivennela Sitaramasastri
Sirivennela Sitaramasastri
Sirivennela Sitaramasastri is an Indian lyricist known for his works in Telugu Cinema.He is a multiple winner of Nandi Award for Best Lyricist and Filmfare Award for Best Lyricist – Telugu...
.
So far, she worked with music directors including Ilayaraja, Vidya sagar, M.M. Keeravani, S.V. Krishna Reddy, Koti, Raj, Vandematharam Srinivas, Mani Sharma, Ramana Gogula, S.A. Raj kumar, Sandeep choutha, Micky-J-Mayor, Devisri Prasad, R.P. Patnaik, Chakri, Nihal, Kalyani Malik, Anup, Sunil Kashyap, Saluri Vasu Rao, Madhavapeddi Suresh, Saketha Sairam, bunty etc.… There are so many super hit songs to her credit. She rendered nearly 3000 songs, in films. She has also sung songs in Kannada
Kannada language
Kannada or , is a language spoken in India predominantly in the state of Karnataka. Kannada, whose native speakers are called Kannadigas and number roughly 50 million, is one of the 30 most spoken languages in the world...
, Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
and Malayalam
Malayalam language
Malayalam , is one of the four major Dravidian languages of southern India. It is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India with official language status in the state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry. It is spoken by 35.9 million people...
languages.
Sunitha has traveled abroad extensively as a Singer and claimed International recognition. She was invited to Telugu Association of North America –TANA in 1999, 2001. For TANA 1999 she was a part of the troop with Nagarjuna, RamyaKrishna and Tabu.
Dubbing Artist
She has given voice for various artists like Anushka, Asin, Bhoomika, Charmi, Laila, Meera Jasmine, Soundarya, Sonali Bendre, Shriya, Genelia, Sneha, Sada, Katrina Kaif, Trisha, Kamilini Mukherji,etc.Selected Films as dubbing artist
- Manasantha NuvveManasantha NuvveManasantha Nuvve is a 2001 blockbuster Telugu film written and directed by V.N. Aditya. This film stars Uday Kiran & Reema Sen in the lead roles. The film is produced by M. S. Raju and has music composed by R. P...
(for Tanu RoyTanu RoyTanu Roy is an Indian film actress and model. A Bengali by birth, she has predominantly appeared in Telugu films apart from some Tamil, Bengali and Kannada films. She is mostly known for her item numbers in films like Mass and Hero.- Filmography :...
) - JayamJayam (2002 film)Jayam is a 2002 Telugu film directed and produced by Teja. It stars Nitin, Sadha, and Gopichand in the lead roles. The film was a huge box office hit. It was remade by M. Raja in Tamil with the same title.-Plot:...
(for sadhaSadhaSadhaf Mohammed Syed , better known as Sadha, is an Indian actress who mainly appears in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada films. Her most notable films include Jayam, Anniyan and Unnale Unnale.-Personal:...
) - IndraIndra (film)Indra is a Telugu language action film directed by B. Gopal. It stars Chiranjeevi, Sonali Bendre, and Arti Agarwal. It was dubbed into Hindi and Tamil as Indra- The Tiger and Indran respectively.- Cast :...
(for Sonali BendreSonali BendreSonali Bendre is an Indian actress and model. She has mostly starred in Bollywood films but has acted in many Telugu films as well as a number of Marathi, Tamil and Kannada films. She was also one of the four judges in the fourth season of Indian Idol and India's Got Talent...
) - Okariki OkaruOkariki OkaruOkariki Okaru is a classical movie, directed by Director-turned-Cinematographer Rasool Ellore. It starred Tamil actor, Srikanth and Aarthi Chhabria.-Synopsis:...
(for Aarti Chhabria) - NenunnanuNenunnanuNenunnanu is a 2004 Telugu film written and directed by V.N. Aditya. This film stars Akkineni Nagarjuna, Shriya Saran, and Arti Agarwal in the lead roles. Music by M.M. Keeravani was a big asset to the film. This movie was then dubbed in tamil as Chandramadhiand in hindi as "vishwa - the he man".-...
(for Shriya) - AnandAnand (2004 film)Anand is a 2004 Telugu film that was directed, produced and written by Sekhar Kammula. According to Kammula, the film means ..contentment, happiness. The lead roles are played by Raja and Kamalinee Mukherjee. The film was well received by critics and owing to its success at the box office, it was...
(for Kamalinee MukherjeeKamalinee MukherjeeKamalinee Mukherjee is an Indian actress. She has predominantly appeared in Telugu films as well as in a few Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi and Kannada language films....
) - Mr & Mrs Sailaja KrishnamurthyMr & Mrs Sailaja KrishnamurthyMr & Mrs Sailajakrishnamurthy is a 2004 Telugu film which stars Sivaji, Laila Mehdin, and Dharmavarapu Subramanyam. This film was directed by director Siva Nageswara Rao.The movie was Produced by Atluri Purnachandra Rao on Lakshmi Productions Banner...
(for LailaLaila MehdinLaila Mehdin is an Indian actress. She has acted in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi language films. She is probably best known for her critically acclaimed and award-winning performances in the Bala-directed films Nandha and Pithamagan.-Career:She made her debut in the Telugu film...
) - GodavariGodavari (film)Godavari is a 2006 Telugu musical, romantic film that was written and directed by Sekhar Kammula. G.V.G. Raju produced the film. Sumanth and Kamalinee Mukherjee played the lead roles. The film was a success at box office in addition to receiving several Nandi and Filmfare awards. Music of the film...
(for Kamalinee MukherjeeKamalinee MukherjeeKamalinee Mukherjee is an Indian actress. She has predominantly appeared in Telugu films as well as in a few Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi and Kannada language films....
) - SimhaSimha (film)Simha is a 2010 Telugu film directed by Boyapati Seenu. The film stars Nandamuri Balakrishna, Nayantara, Adithya Menon, Sneha Ullal in the lead roles while Namitha, Kota Srinivasa Rao and others plays supporting roles. The film's music is by Chakri. Paruchuri Kiriti produced the film under the...
(for NayantaraNayantaraNayantara , is an Indian film actress. She made her acting debut in 2003 in the Malayalam film Manassinakkare. She debuted in Tamil cinema with Ayya and in Telugu cinema with Lakshmi , following which she starred alongside popular lead actors...
)
Anchor
She anchored many music based programmes and live shows on Gemini TV, MAA TV, ETV and DoordarshanDoorDarshan
Doordarshan is an Indian public service broadcaster, a division of Prasar Bharati. It is one of the largest broadcasting organizations in India in terms of the infrastructure of studios and transmitters. Recently, it has also started Digital Terrestrial Transmitters. On September 15, 2009,...
.
National Awards
As a student, she received First National Award for Folk songs at DelhiDelhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
, Ministry
Ministry (government department)
A ministry is a specialised organisation responsible for a sector of government public administration, sometimes led by a minister or a senior public servant, that can have responsibility for one or more departments, agencies, bureaus, commissions or other smaller executive, advisory, managerial or...
of Cultural Affairs, Delhi and she received a scholarship at the age of 8 years.
- National Award from All India Radio under light music category in 1994 at the age of 15 years.
Nandi AwardsNandi AwardsThe Nandi Awards is the most Prominent award ceremony for Telugu films, Telugu Theater & Television, presented annually in Andhra Pradesh, India. "Nandi" means "bull", the awards being named after the big granite bull at Lepakshi — a cultural and historical symbol of Andhra Pradesh.Nandi...
- Nandi Award from State Government of Andhra Pradesh for year 1999 as the Best female playback singer for TV film “Antha Rangaalu”
- Nandi Award from State Government of Andhra Pradesh for year 2002 as the Best Female dubbing artistNandi Award for Best Female Dubbing ArtistThe Nandi Award for Best Female Dubbing Artist winners:...
for the movie JayamJayam (2002 film)Jayam is a 2002 Telugu film directed and produced by Teja. It stars Nitin, Sadha, and Gopichand in the lead roles. The film was a huge box office hit. It was remade by M. Raja in Tamil with the same title.-Plot:... - Nandi Award from State Government of Andhra Pradesh for year 2003 as the Best Female playback singerNandi Award for Best Female Playback SingerThe Nandi Award for Best Female Playback Singer winners:...
for the Movie “Athade oka Sainyam” - Nandi Award from State Government of Andhra Pradesh for year 2004 as the Best Female dubbing artistNandi Award for Best Female Dubbing ArtistThe Nandi Award for Best Female Dubbing Artist winners:...
for the movie AnandAnand (2004 film)Anand is a 2004 Telugu film that was directed, produced and written by Sekhar Kammula. According to Kammula, the film means ..contentment, happiness. The lead roles are played by Raja and Kamalinee Mukherjee. The film was well received by critics and owing to its success at the box office, it was...
(Voice of the Kamalinee MukherjeeKamalinee MukherjeeKamalinee Mukherjee is an Indian actress. She has predominantly appeared in Telugu films as well as in a few Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi and Kannada language films....
) - Nandi Award from State Government of Andhra Pradesh for year 2005 as the Best Female dubbing artistNandi Award for Best Female Dubbing ArtistThe Nandi Award for Best Female Dubbing Artist winners:...
for the movie “Pothe Poni”. - Nandi Award from State Government of Andhra Pradesh for year 2006 as the Best Female playback singerNandi Award for Best Female Playback SingerThe Nandi Award for Best Female Playback Singer winners:...
for the movie GodavariGodavari (film)Godavari is a 2006 Telugu musical, romantic film that was written and directed by Sekhar Kammula. G.V.G. Raju produced the film. Sumanth and Kamalinee Mukherjee played the lead roles. The film was a success at box office in addition to receiving several Nandi and Filmfare awards. Music of the film...
Filmfare AwardsFilmfare Awards SouthFilmfare Awards South is the South Indian segment of the annual Filmfare Awards, presented by The Times Group to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the South Indian film industry. The awards are separately given for Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films...
- Won : Best Female Playback Singer (201058th Filmfare Awards SouthThe 58th Filmfare Awards South ceremony honoring the winners and nominees of the best of South Indian cinema in 2010 was held on July 2, 2011 in Hyderabad, India.-Tamil:*Nominations** 9 nominations: Aayirathil Oruvan...
) for the movie Cheluveye Ninne NodaluCheluveye Ninne NodaluCheluveye Ninne Nodalu is a Indian Kannada language movie directed by debutent Raghu Ram starring Shivarajkumar and Sonal Chauhan in the lead, which is shot at the 7 wonders of the world.-Music:...
to the song "O Priyathama" - Nominated : Best Female PlaybackFilmfare Best Female Playback Award (Telugu)The Telugu Filmfare Best Female Playback Award is given by the Filmfare magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Telugu films.The award was first given in 2004. Here is a list of the award winners and the films for which they won....
(200957th Filmfare Awards SouthThe 57th Filmfare Awards South ceremony honoring the winners and nominees of the best of South Indian cinema in 2009 was held on August 7, 2010 in Chennai, India.-Nominations:...
) for the movie PravarakhyuduPravarakhyuduPravarakhyudu is a 2009 Telugu film Produced by Ganesh Indukuri on Tolly 2 holly films banner and directed by Madan . The film stars Jagapati Babu and Priyamani in the lead roles. The film has music scored by M.M. Keeravani...
to the song "Neela Neela Mabbulu" - Nominated : Best Female PlaybackFilmfare Best Female Playback Award (Telugu)The Telugu Filmfare Best Female Playback Award is given by the Filmfare magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Telugu films.The award was first given in 2004. Here is a list of the award winners and the films for which they won....
(201058th Filmfare Awards SouthThe 58th Filmfare Awards South ceremony honoring the winners and nominees of the best of South Indian cinema in 2010 was held on July 2, 2011 in Hyderabad, India.-Tamil:*Nominations** 9 nominations: Aayirathil Oruvan...
) for the movie VedamVedam (film)Vedam is a 2010 Telugu drama film written and directed by Krish, starring Allu Arjun, Manoj Kumar Manchu, Anushka Shetty, Manoj Bajpai,Saranya Ponvannan, Deeksha Seth, Lekha Washington, and Siya Gautham. The film was critically acclaimed, received several accolades including four Filmfare Awards...
to the song "Egiripothe" - Nominated : Best Female Playback Singer (201058th Filmfare Awards SouthThe 58th Filmfare Awards South ceremony honoring the winners and nominees of the best of South Indian cinema in 2010 was held on July 2, 2011 in Hyderabad, India.-Tamil:*Nominations** 9 nominations: Aayirathil Oruvan...
) for the movie ModalasalaModalasalaModalasala is a 2010 Kannada Movie Directed by Purushottham C Somanathapura and Produced by Yogesh Narayan, Mallikarjun Sankanagoudar. The Movie Stars: Yash, Bhama, Rangayana Raghu, Tara and Avinash in lead roles...
to the song "Prathama"
Other Awards
- Vamsi Berkeley Award as Best female playback singer in year 1999.
- Vaartha Vasavi Award as a best playback singer (2000)
- Bharata Muni Award (2000)
- Cine Goers Award for Best Dubbing (2002)
- Dasari Award as a best playback singer (2003)
- Best Playback Singer award from European Telugu Association, London (2003)
- Kalavedika Art Award as an All rounder for excellent performance as a Singer, Anchor and Movie dubbing artist (2003)
- Sangam P Susheela Youth Award honored with Gold Medal (2004)
- Sangam P Susheelawa Youth Award for year 2004 honored with Gold Medal.
- Vamsi Berkeley Award as Best female playback singer in year 2005
- 'Best female play back singer of tollywood 2010' award for the song “Hrudaya Vedana” from the film “Aa Intlo” music scored by sri Koti. This award was given by “Radio Mirchi” in a grand function held at Chennai on Saturday 17 July 2010.
- TV Award 2009 for Best Female Playback Singer presented by Delhi Telugu Academy in Hyderabad on August 8, 2010.
- TSR - TV9 Award for Best playback singer - female (2010) was presented on April 10, 2011 in Hyderabad.
- Lata Mangeshkar Best Singer Award for 2011 was presented by the State Government at 2nd Lata Mangeshkar Music Awards - 2011 function on September 28, 2011 at Ravindra BharathiRavindra BharathiRavindra Bharathi is an auditorium located in Hyderabad, India. It was named after the Nobel laureate, Rabindranath Tagore.It is the cultural landmark for the locals, which has big auditorium, besides a gallery and a conference hall....
, Hyderabad.
Performances
- She gave her first performance at age 3.
- She gave her first programme in Light Music in AIR in the year 1995 at the age of 16.
- She has given about 500 programmes so far in AIR, DoordarshanDoorDarshanDoordarshan is an Indian public service broadcaster, a division of Prasar Bharati. It is one of the largest broadcasting organizations in India in terms of the infrastructure of studios and transmitters. Recently, it has also started Digital Terrestrial Transmitters. On September 15, 2009,...
, ETV, Gemini TV, and MAA TV - She has also given programmes abroad, at KuwaitKuwaitThe State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
, DubaiDubaiDubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...
, Malaysia, SingaporeSingaporeSingapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, USA, PhilippinesPhilippinesThe Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
etc. - She has dubbed 700700Year 700 was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 700 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- North America :* The Mount Edziza volcanic complex...
films.
External links
- http://www.singersunitha.com/
- http://www.idlebrain.com/celeb/interview/sunitha.html
- http://www.bitra.com/www/sunita/home.html
- http://ragalahari.com/interview.asp?whose=sunitha