Kalpana Raghavendar
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Bio
Kalpana Raghavendar is an Indian playback singer, dubbing artist, songwriter, and actress born on 8 May 1980 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, into a distinguished musical family. Her father T.S. Raghavendra is a renowned playback singer, actor, and composer of Tamil and Telugu cinema; her mother Sulochana is also a singer. Her younger sister Shekinah Shawn (born Prasanna Raghavendar) is a celebrated opera singer. She began her singing journey at age five when she sang a family song alongside P. Susheela, Mano, M.M. Srilekha, and her sister, composed by Saluri Vasurao. She took formal Carnatic music training under the late Madurai T. Srinivasan. She holds a Master of Computer Applications degree and a Master of Philosophy degree. She launched her professional playback career in 1999 with the Telugu song Mangalagouriki from Manoharam (music by Mani Sharma) and has since recorded over 1,500 tracks in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, and Hindi - working with composers including A.R. Rahman, Ilaiyaraaja, K.V. Mahadevan, S.P. Balasubrahmanyam, and K.S. Chithra. She has performed in approximately 3,000 live shows worldwide. In 2010, she won the Malayalam TV singing reality show Star Singer Season 5 (Asianet). She has also served as a judge on Super Singer Junior and was the lead performer at a tribute concert for Madurai T. Srinivasan in 2013. On 2 March 2025, she was reportedly hospitalised in Hyderabad following a medical emergency. In 2017, she participated in Bigg Boss Telugu Season 1 on Star Maa and was evicted in Week 4 (Day 27), finishing 11th.
1,500+ recorded playback tracks and 3,000+ live shows in India and abroad; winner of Star Singer Season 5 (Asianet Malayalam, 2010); daughter of renowned playback singer and composer T.S. Raghavendra; judge on Super Singer Junior; Telugu film Manoharam (1999) debut song Mangalagouriki (under Mani Sharma); collaborations with A.R. Rahman, Ilaiyaraaja, and S.P. Balasubrahmanyam; first Telugu script by Mahesh Kathi in Oscar Library's permanent core collection (Minugurulu, for which she dubbed); holds MCA and MPhil degrees.