Smita

Smita
Birth name	Smita Vallurupalli
Also known as	Smitha, Smiths
Born	(1980-09-04) 4 September 1980 Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, India
Genres	Indi-pop, playback singing
Occupation(s)	Singer, actress, television anchor and businesswoman
Website	SmitaPop.com

Smita, or Smitha, (born Smita Vallurupalli on 4 September 1980)^[1] is an Indian female playback singer whose songs have been featured in numerous Tollywood, Bollywood, Tamil and Kannada movies. She has also released numerous Indian pop albums and acted in one Telugu feature film (Malliswari).

She has over million albums sold, 200 concerts in eight countries, 75 playback songs and proved her ability to sing in six languages.

Career

Early years

Smita was four years old when she performed for the first time at her school annual day function at Vijayawada. She sang "Doe a Deer" from the film The Sound of Music which she had watched countless times. She went on to the stage, stood in front of the mike and sang the song very confidently. She was seen tapping her feet and her body swaying with the rhythm. She got a lot of applause and got noticed by everyone.

As she grew, she started going for many competitions and always returned home with some prize. She went to Bishop Cottons in Bangalore during her 6th and 7th standard. Usually the school took students from 8th standard onwards in the school choir but seeing Smita's enthusiasm and talent, the music teacher took her in the choir though she was in 6th standard. These two years played a vital role in honing her singing skills. At home she used to spend a good amount of time watching music channels on TV and used to sing and emote like the stars. By this time her parents knew for sure that she was going to do very well if she gets into singing and performing arts, but major challenge was to find the way forward.

When she finished her school and joined in intermediate in Maris Stella college at Vijayawada, a reality show by name "Padutha Theeyaga" on ETV was making waves. This is when her mother made a cassette of her song from one of her stage performances and sent to ETV. Smita got a call after one year to come for preliminaries. On 5 June 1997, she participated in the show and made her own mark. Her confidence, style and ease created a new trend in that program. She not only won the preliminaries but also won the quarter finals, semis and mini finals. She somehow lost in mega semis. Though she was disappointed about getting eliminated, her passion and determination were intact.

Later Years (Journey to Pop World)

Smita's potential as a singer was identified at a talent show in a Telugu television channel anchored by S.P.Balasubramaniam in 1997. Around this time she started trying for some playback opportunities and she did get to sing a few playback songs. This is when her parents advised her that it was more apt to choose pop singing as a career as she had a style which is more suited for making of a pop artist. "Hairabba" was a result of this decision. It was purely her talent and commitment to the project that got a company like Archies Music to launch the project.

Her career as a pop artist started in the year 2000 with the launch of her first album "Hai Rabba". This album was followed by several blockbuster albums in Telugu and Tamil. Some of her albums in Telugu has crossed sales of over one million copies with special mention to albums like "Masaka Masaka". Over the last seven years Smita has sung over seventy five playback songs in Telugu and has worked with leading music composers from the south. The song "Evaraina chusuntara" from the film "Anukokunda oka roju" composed by M.M.Keeravani won her a Filmfare award as best playback singer in Telugu films for the year 2005.

Many albums followed and became blockbusters. She created a market for Pop music in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu and kept the Pop music alive for almost a decade now.

Recent years

Sony BMG now showcases this versatile artist in her first self-titled trilingual album in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu languages. The album has just been released and it's rocking everywhere.^[2]

The recently launched album "SMITA" has nine tracks and the music has been composed by the hit duo – Sajid Wajid (of Partner & Welcome fame) and video directed & choreographed by the country's leading choreographers Bosco-Caesar. It has been released in Hindi and Tamil by the leading music company Sony BMG. The pop album is available in stores from 7 May.

In "SMITA", racy dance numbers like the first video single "Mahi Ve" which was shot on a huge set where multiple set-ups including a 20 feet wide 'lotus pool' was constructed as a part of the set, in which Smita was seated and completed in a matter of only 2 days with a troupe of 8 professional British dancers. This will be followed shortly by the second video 'Aaja Nachle', which is a hip-hopish dance number. The album also includes seductive and mischievous tracks like "Ouch" to the soothing romantic ballads "Zara Zara" and "Saawariya", followed by "Dholna" which showcases Smita's dexterity across genres and emotions.

I Candy Entertainments Pvt Ltd; is a new addition to her business. This is a production house started by her recently. This company is currently producing a popular show by name 'Tata Indicom-Dance With Me' for Maa TV.

On 27 March 2010, Smita started a one of its kind music, arts and dance school in Hyderabad by name M.A.D. Paatasaala. This is launched by hero Nagarjuna and music director Keeravani. M.A.D. Paatasaala is an ambitious project to bring all major art forms in dance, music and martial arts under one roof to provide a well designed and complete training experience for aspirants in these fields. The studio is located in SVM Mall in Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad.

Ishana

Smita is released her new album Ishana – the path of the divine on 29 February, at a media event in Hyderabad. An Isha volunteer for the past three years, Smita made the album as an offering to Sadhguru and Isha Foundation. Created for a cause, the entire proceeds from the sale of the album will go to support Isha Foundation's work in the areas of education, environment and rural initiatives.

Ishana was released to the public during the grand Mahashivarathri celebrations held at Isha Yoga Center on 20 February 2012. The album was officially launched by renowned dancer and actress Hema Malini in the presence of Sadhguru, amidst an audience of over fifty thousand people.

The media launch for Andhra Pradesh will took place that Wednesday in Hyderabad. Along with the album, two videos were also launched during the meet. The album has six audio songs and two videos that were shot at the Isha Yoga Center, primarily at the Dhyanalinga and Linga Bhairavi temples. Music for the album was composed by Nihal and the videos were directed by acclaimed cinematographer Sameer Reddy and top photographer Tarun Khiwal. Choreography was done by Vijay, whose talent was identified through Smita's home production television show "Dance with me".

Film personalities M.M Keeravani and Brahmanandam attended the music launch, while the video launch featured cinema figures S.S. Rajamouli, Krish and Siddharth.

Highlights in this decade of singing career

1. Success of "Hairabba" changed her name to Hairabba Smita.
2. Her first remix experiment in Telugu "Masaka Masaka" did enormous sales, thus creating a market for non-film music albums.
3. Tamil album "Kalakkal" created waves in Tamil Nadu and they started calling her as Kalakkal Smita.
4. Filmfare award for her song "Evaraina Choosuntara" from Anukokunda oka Roju got her laurels.
5. First Indian Pop artist to release an album in three languages simultaneously with a prestigious label like Sony BMG.

As a Business Woman

Besides pursuing her career as a pop artist, she ventured into business in the year 2002 by starting "Bubbles Hair & Beauty" at Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad which went on to become a landmark in the beauty segment in Hyderabad. She started one in Vijayawada in 2006 and also added a fitness centre by the name "ICE".

References

External links

• Official personal website