ABP Southern Rising Summit 2025: Legendary playback singer Kavitha Krishnamurthy took the audience on a nostalgic journey at the ABP Southern Rising Summit during the session titled 'Magic Of Music: The 90s Swag'. With a career spanning 55 years and more than 20,000 songs across languages, the celebrated vocalist reflected on the milestones and magical collaborations that shaped her musical legacy.
‘Hawa Hawai’ — The song that changed everything
Kavitha opened up about recording the iconic 'Hawa Hawai' from Mr India, a track she credits as a major turning point.
“Hawa Hawai happened when I was not singing a lot of solos but I was dubbing a lot of songs for Laxmikant Pyarelalji for Lata ji,” she recalled. Walking into the rehearsal room, she was startled to find Javed Akhtar, Boney Kapoor and others “sitting so seriously, waiting for the new singer.”
The song, originally meant to be dubbed for Asha Bhosle, took a hilarious turn during rehearsals. “Laxmiji told me apna kagaj nikaliye, likh likjiye, ‘Chihuahua’… then he says honululu, lulu… and this went on,” she said, adding that parts of the gibberish were improvised on the spot. Later, Javed Akhtar insisted, “it needs to end with Mombasa,” which Kavitha called “a fabulous ending.”
She also revealed a small mistake that made it to the final cut. “When Laxmiji called me after six months stating that they will keep the song in my voice as it suited Sridevi ji, I said thankyou so much Laxmiiji lekin I made a mistake with one word,” she confessed. She had sung “jinu jo tumne baat chupai” instead of “Janu”, but Laxmikant assured her it suited Sridevi perfectly: “Sridevi ji ko dekho song mein aapko lagega jinu hi correct word hai.”
Despite the soaring fame the song brought her, the singer noted that “people didn’t know what I looked like. There was no social media, singers used to stay behind the screen.”
On working with Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Kavitha, who sang for Khamoshi, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and Devdas, said her collaborations with Sanjay Leela Bhansali remain among her most cherished.
“I sang for three films with him… every song turned out to be one of the best songs of my career,” she said.
Recording ‘Aaj Main Upar’ with Majrooh Sultanpuri
Sharing a memory from the 1990s, she recalled reaching the studio at 8 am to find Majrooh Sultanpuri already there.
“He was in mid 70s, not keeping well, he had asthma attack… but the whole recording he was there as if it was his first song,” she said. He guided her through the pronunciation of “khuda”, adding, “aap yaad rakhna aap khuda mat bolna khuda bolna as she is (Manisha Koirala's character) is a Goan catholic girl.”
Her favourite actor to sing for: Shabana Azmi
Kavitha named Shabana Azmi as the actor she feels most deeply connected to. “When shabana azmi emotes my singing, it always feel that it’s shabana ji singing,” she said. Watching the film Saaz, she even felt, “oh my god it’s shabana ji singing not me singing.”
Recording for A.R. Rahman
Calling Rahman “a man of few words”, she remembered recording the Bombay soundtrack without him present. His assistant handled the session.
She recorded “kuchi kuchi rukama” and “tu hi re”, after which Rahman walked in. He requested a retake of two extremely high lines from Tu Hi Re. “Those two lines were very extremely high, felt like z scale,” she laughed, but she sang them again for him.
ABP Southern Rising Summit
Since its inception, the Southern Rising Summit has become a definitive stage for understanding the momentum behind South India’s remarkable ascent. The southern states have distinguished themselves with economic dynamism powered by advanced manufacturing, a thriving IT ecosystem, and rapid strides in artificial intelligence. Their achievements in education, healthcare, demographic planning, and increasing female workforce participation further reinforce the region’s reputation as a benchmark for inclusive, future-ready development.
As ABP Network unveils the 2025 edition, the mission remains unchanged — to spotlight a region that consistently breaks new ground, embraces change with confidence, and sets the pace for the rest of the nation.