Sunitha Upadrashta

Biography

Sunitha Upadrashta, known mononymously as Sunitha, is an Indian playback singer and dubbing artist who primarily works in Telugu cinema.
Sunitha made her playback singing debut in 1995 with the film Gulabi, and as a dubbing artist she has lent her voice to over 110 actresses in more than 750 films. She is recognised as an anchor and host for music-based and flagship programmes, including the foundation-laying ceremony of Amaravati in 2015. She has also been a judge on music reality shows on several television channels, notably Padutha Theeyaga, the long-running programme on ETV launched and hosted by S. P. Balasubrahmanyam.
Sunitha has performed as a singer in 19 countries, including the United States (almost annually since 1999), the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Malaysia, Uganda, Nigeria, Tanzania, South Africa, Australia, Scotland, Ireland, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Japan, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, and Mauritius.
Sunitha is a recipient of nine Nandi Awards and two Filmfare Awards South in various categories. At the age of 15 she received a National Award from All India Radio in the light music category. She won her first Nandi Award in 1999, followed by consecutive awards from 2002 to 2006 and again from 2010 to 2012. In 2011 she was conferred the Lata Mangeshkar Best Singer Award by the Government of Andhra Pradesh.

Early and personal life

Sunitha was born into a music-loving family on 10 May 1978 in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh. At the age of six she began training in Carnatic vocals under Pemmaraju Surya Rao and in light music under Kalaga Krishna Mohan. She had the opportunity to perform in concerts from a young age, including programmes featured by All India Radio. At the age of thirteen she participated in the Tyagaraja Aradhana Utsavalu along with her guru Pemmaraju Surya Rao, and later received a scholarship from the Government of India to pursue her musical training.
In 1997, at the age of nineteen, she married Kiran Kumar Goparaju, a media professional. They have two children, Akash and Shreya, but the couple later divorced. In January 2021 Sunitha married businessman Rama Krishna Veerapaneni in the presence of family members and close friends.
Following in her mother's footsteps, daughter Shreya made her playback singing debut with the song "Tick Tick Tick" in the Telugu film Savyasachi.

Playback singing

Sunitha began her playback singing career at the age of seventeen when music director Sashi Preetham gave her an opportunity to sing in the film Gulabi. Her first song was "Ee Vela Lo Neevu", written by Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry. In 1997 she sang a solo track for the Kannada film Bhoomi Geetha, composed by Ilayaraja, and also rendered title songs for Telugu television serials such as Ruturagalu and Antarangalu. In 1999, for the title song of Antarangalu, she received her first Nandi Award from the then undivided state of Andhra Pradesh.
Over the course of her career Sunitha has recorded nearly 3,000 songs in South Indian films, singing in Telugu, Tamil, and Kannada, and has collaborated with many music directors, including Ilayaraja, Vidyasagar, M.M. Keeravani, A.R Rahman, S.V. Krishna Reddy, Vandematharam Srinivas, Mani Sharma, Ramana Gogula, S.A. Raj Kumar, Sandeep Choutha, Mickey J. Mayer, Devisri Prasad, R.P. Patnaik, Chakri, Anup Rubens, Sunil Kashyap, Madhavapeddi Suresh, V. Harikrishna, Jassie Gift, S. Thaman,and others.

Dubbing artist

Sunitha began her career as a dubbing artist in 1998 with the film Choodalani Vundi, providing her voice for Soundarya, who co-starred with Chiranjeevi. She went on to become one of the leading dubbing artists in the Telugu film industry, voicing more than 110 actresses in over 750 films, and reportedly voicing as many as 60 films in a single year. Her 750th film as a dubbing artist was Gautamiputra Satakarni in 2017, in which she lent her voice to Shriya Saran.

Telugu

Sunitha's work as a playback singer in Telugu includes:

Kannada

Sunitha's work as a playback singer in Kannada includes:

Tamil

Sunitha's work as a playback singer in Tamil includes:

Non-film songs

Sunitha has sung the title songs for several Telugu television serials and has also worked as a dubbing artist for the series Andam.

Private albums

Sunitha has recorded numerous private albums, with Meera Padavali and Aanota–Manasu Palike Vela, composed by her guru Kalaga Krishna Mohan, among her most recognised works. She is featured in the devotional album Sri Ramachandra Krupalu, a bhajan by Tulsidas, produced by sunithamusic.com, and her album Chandrashekara Ashtakam, composed by Sai Madhukar, is also notable.
Other private albums include Raghuram, Sai Sudha, Sri Venkateswara Tatwanidhi, Sri Vallabha Bhakthi Geethalu, Sai Darshanam, Sri Chidvilasam, Amma Durgamma, Pahimaam, Sri Rama Charanam, Govinda Ganamrutham, Saye Dhaivam, and Bathuku Paata.

Performances

Sunitha has performed extensively as a live artist in 19 countries, including the United States (almost annually since 1999), the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Malaysia, Uganda, Nigeria, Tanzania, South Africa, Australia, Scotland, Ireland, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Japan, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, and Mauritius.
In 2009 she launched her concert series Melodious Moments with Sunitha, expanding it in 2019 with performances in five U.S. cities: San Jose, Charlotte, Cleveland, Los Angeles, and Indianapolis, with the Indianapolis event held at the Old National Center. Following this success the series debuted in India with a concert at Shilpakala Vedika, Hyderabad on 4 August 2019, which was later extended to other cities and towns across the Telugu-speaking states.
Sunitha's other notable performances include the foundation-laying ceremony for Amaravati, the bicentennial celebrations of Secunderabad organised by the Government of Andhra Pradesh, the golden jubilee celebrations of the state assembly, and a rendition of "Vande Mataram" with S. P. Balasubrahmanyam at the Congress plenary session commemorating 50 years of Indian independence.

Television appearances

Sunitha has anchored, hosted, and performed as a singer in many music programs and live shows on various Telugu television channels. She has presented over 500 programs on AIR, DD channel, ETV, Gemini TV, and MAA TV.

Short films

Sunitha played the lead role in her first short film Raagam, which was nominated in the short film category of the South Indian International Movie Awards (SIIMA) in 2017.

Nandi Awards

Nandi Award for Best Female Playback Singer for TV film Antha Rangaalu (1999)
Nandi Award for Best Female Dubbing Artist for the movie Jayam (2002)
Nandi Award for Best Female Playback Singer for the Movie Athade Oka Sainyam (2003)
Nandi Award for Best Female Dubbing Artist for the movie Anand (voice of the Kamalinee Mukherjee) (2004)
Nandi Award for Best Female Dubbing Artist for the movie Pothe Poni (2005)
Nandi Award for Best Female Playback Singer for the movie Godavari (2006)
Nandi Award for Best Female Playback Singer for TV film Anthahpuram (2010)
Nandi Award for a TV film called Mamathala Kovela (2011)
Nandi Award for Best Female Dubbing Artist for the movie Sri Rama Rajyam (voice of the Nayantara) (2012)

Filmfare Awards

Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer - Kannada (2010) for the movie Cheluveye Ninne Nodalu for the song "O Priyathama"
Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer - Telugu (2014) for the movie Oohalu Gusagusalade for the song "Em Sandehamledu"
Nominated: Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer - Telugu (2009) for the movie Pravarakhyudu for the song "Neela Neela Mabbulu"
Nominated: Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer - Telugu (2010) for the movie Vedam for the song "Egiripothe"
Nominated: Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer - Kannada (2010) for the movie Modalasala for the song "Prathama"

Other Awards

TV Award 2009 for Best Female Playback Singer presented by Delhi Telugu Academy in Hyderabad on 8 August 2010
Lata Mangeshkar Best Singer Award for 2011 presented by the State Government
TSR TV9 Best Playback Singer Aaward for the song "Em Sandeham ledu" in 2014
NTR Memorial Award 2015
Singer of the Decade Award in 2016 presented by Zee Apsara Awards
Prestigious Indywood Academy Award as best playback singer for the song "Chivaraku migiledhi" from the epic biopic Mahanati in 2018
Vishishta seva puraskar by "I Stand for the Nation" NGO in 2019