Sunitha Sarathy is an Indian vocalist and performer in both Indian contemporary and Western classical music genres. She is also a

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

singer who performs in various church choirs. After having won the "Virgin Voice Choice" contest – a joint initiative of

Channel V Channel '' ("V" standing for the letter, not the Roman numeral "5") is a Chinese and former Asian pay television musical network originally launched by Star TV Hong Kong (now Fox Networks Group Asia Pacific). It was part of the unit of Dis ...

and

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldw ...

in the year 2000, Sarathy debuted into film playback in the year 2002. She debuted as a playback singer with the Tamil film ''

Yei! Nee Romba Azhagey Irruke ''Yai! Nee Romba Azhaga Irukey!'' () is a 2002 Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language romantic musical film written and directed by Vasanth. Starring Shaam (actor), Shaam, Sneha (actress), Sneha, Rajiv Krishna and Jaya Re.The film narrates the s ...

'' guest-singing the prelude and interlude portions of the song "Ini Naanum Naanillai" with Srinivas and

Sujatha Mohan Sujatha Mohan (credited as Sujatha) is an Indian playback singer who is popular for singing in Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu movies. She has also sung for Kannada, Badaga, Hindi and Marathi movies. In a career spanning 48 years, she has record ...

as the lead singers. 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.

Early life

Coming 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 Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...

's ''

Ave Maria The Hail Mary ( la, Ave Maria) is a traditional Christian prayer addressing Mary, mother of Jesus, Mary, the mother of Jesus. The prayer is based on two biblical passages featured in the Gospel of Luke: the Angel Gabriel's visit to Mary (the Ann ...

'' – 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

and

. 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

Sunitha 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 ''Yai! Nee Romba Azhaga Irukey!'' () is a 2002 Indian Tamil-language romantic musical film written and directed by Vasanth. Starring Shaam, Sneha, Rajiv Krishna and Jaya Re.The film narrates the story of four youngsters who go through unrequit ...

'' in the year 2002. Soon later, composer

Harris Jayaraj Harris Jayaraj (born 8 January 1975) is an Indian composer from Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He composes soundtracks predominantly for Tamil films, while also having composed for a few films in Telugu and two films in Hindi. He has been honoured with ...

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 ''Kaakha Kaakha'' (), titled ''The Police'' in the UK, is a 2003 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film written and directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon. It stars Suriya and Jyothika, with Jeevan playing the antagonist. The film featured m ...

'' 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 Gopala Ratnam Subramaniam (born 2 June 1956), known professionally as Mani Ratnam, is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and producer who predominantly works in Tamil cinema and few Hindi, Telugu and Kannada films. Ratnam has won six Nat ...

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 ''Don 2: The King Is Back'', also known as ''Don 2'', is a 2011 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film written, co-produced and directed by Farhan Akhtar. It is the second installment in the '' Don reboot series''. Jointly produced by E ...

'', ''

Happy Days ''Happy Days'' is an American television sitcom that aired first-run on the ABC network from January 15, 1974, to July 19, 1984, with a total of 255 half-hour episodes spanning 11 seasons. Created by Garry Marshall, it was one of the most su ...

'', '' Sainikudu'', '' Cheluvina Chittara'' among others. 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 The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until th ...

. In July 2013, Sunitha Sarathy became the first solo female performer from India to be signed by AKG microphones as an endorsee July 2014 saw the launch of Sunitha Sarathy's School of Vocal Excellence, a performance oriented learning center for aspiring singers.

Notable Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sarathy, Sunitha Living people Indian women playback singers Malayalam playback singers Tamil playback singers Telugu playback singers Kannada playback singers Bollywood playback singers Indian gospel singers Indian women classical singers 21st-century Indian singers 21st-century Indian women singers Women musicians from Tamil Nadu Singers from Chennai Year of birth missing (living people)