When Kavita Seth says she has been singing since she gained consciousness, it doesn’t sound conceited. Here is a singer who takes her craft seriously and not the trappings that come with it. “I don’t know anything else,” says Kavita as we settle for a chat at India Habitat Centre’s All American Diner restaurant. Well, not quite for Kavita’s culinary skills are well known in the industry. Like Asha Bhosle, she is known to pamper her colleagues with home-cooked food. And her connection with Habitat Centre goes back a long way. It was here that she was discovered by Satish Kaushik. “He came for my sufi concert and said that the industry doesn’t have such a voice and that he will introduce me,” reminisces Kavita, who has just come up with an album, combining the kalaam of Amir Khusaru with trance music. Her younger son Kanishk has composed the music. “ Trance with Khusrau is a new experiment and I hope listeners will appreciate this blend of sufi lyrics and trance music,” says Kavita. In esraj, the two have found the instrument that gels the two strains. There is a contemporary adaptation of the Khusrau’s thought in the video as in “Aaj Rang”, the colour is red denoting the bloodshed that happens in the name of ideologies.
With a cup of cappuccino, Kavita rewinds to her growing up years in Bareilly. “My father used to take me to the Ala Hazrat dargah and from there I picked up the sufi colour. I took formal training from Pandit N.D. Sharma. It was early 80s. We were growing up listening to Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle. I was singing but singing in films never occurred to me because at that time there was scope only for sweet voices. In those days small towns didn’t have many opportunities. When I was 16-17 I remember once O.P. Nayyar came to Bareilly and he listened to me performing at an annual function where I won the first prize. He asked me to come to Mumbai.” She told this to her father and he said she should get married first and if my husband allows me then I should pursue a career in singing. In most middle class families those days singing was appreciated but as just one of the hobbies that would help the girl in finding a good husband. And after graduation, parents used to start finding the right match. It happened to me as well. I was married off when I was 20.”
Fortunately, she found a very supportive life partner. “He made me realise my dreams. He was an engineer with no connection with music but he used to take me wherever there was an opportunity for me to express my talent. After having two kids I did my post graduation in Hindi from Delhi University.”
It was during her stay at Jorbagh that she discovered the food culture of Delhi. “Khana aur gaana became my two passions. I don’t allow the music to come in the way of my culinary choices. I enjoy chatar patar. From moong dal ke laddoo and aloo chaat of Lajpat Nagar to Murthal ke paranthe, I explored every nook and cranny of NCR. It is only with icy stuff that I maintain a distance.”
Vegetarian sampler makes an entry and Kavita picks mozzarella sticks. “When I am at home you will often find me in the kitchen. I am always experimenting. Recently, I have created a combination of paneer and corn which has become a quite a hit. The downside is I often end up burning my delicacies when I am into riyaaz . I have stopped minding about milk but when my kheer becomes a casualty of my riyaaz, it hurts,” says Kavita keeping a straight face.
Kavita has sung popular numbers like “Iktara” in Wake Up Sid and “Tum Hi Ho Bandhu” in Cocktail but still she is not prolific in Bollywood. “It is good that different voices are getting a chance and I have reached Mumbai at the right time but nothing is easy in the industry. When I met Mahesh Bhatt he called it sarhad paar wali awaaz. I felt he must have said it to many but he offered me “Mujhe Mat Roko” for Gangster . Then for three years I didn’t get any song. I was told your voice is husky and it has base so you should try item and double meaning songs. I was clear that I won’t sing anything vulgar. I was happy with my concerts and contrary to popular opinion youngsters do like non-film songs. And thanks to social media the word spreads fast,” says Kavita with nachos giving crispy company.
Kavita also doesn’t like how producers use sufi songs in romantic situations. “I felt bad when Satish Kaushik picturised “Zindagi Ko Sanwaar De Maula” on the first night after marriage in Vaada . It is not that there is a lack of sensitive souls in the industry. Take Ashutosh Gowarikar whose picturisation of “Khwaja Mere Khwaja” takes the composition to a divine level but lack of cinematic situations often limit the options,” says Kavita. So when she accepted to sing “Tum Hi Ho Bandhu”, her confidant Amit Trivedi saw it as breaking of shackles.
It was with Amit that she came to limelight with “Iktaara”. “I sang the male version of ‘Iktaara’, ‘Rooh Ka Banjara’ in the scratch version. I used to sing that every day in my home. One day Amit called me to say that the tune has been selected by Karan Johar (the producer of Wake Up Sid ) but the poetry has been changed. The song was flowing in my veins and I said I won’t sing. He said Javed Akhtar has written it. It was also equally good but somehow I could not part ways with ‘Rooh Ka Banjara’ and was feeling bad for Amitabh Bhattacharya (who had written it) as well. It took Amit a long time to convince me.”
Now she realises that it happens with big production houses. “Karan Johar wanted to reach the masses and ‘Rooh Ka Banjara’ had a strong Punjabi flavour. Javed sahib simplified it and it worked. Many people say that when they are under stress they listen to this song.” While recording “Tum Hi Ho Bandhu”, Kavita says she didn’t know that it will be picturised on a beach with a 17-year-old will dancing away. “It was more difficult for me than ‘Iktara’ because it was consistently on high pitch something I don’t like but Pritam made me do it.”
Kavita’s life came to a halt when her husband passed away in 2011 but she picked up the reins of her life. “As a single parent my responsibilities increased. When my elder son was preparing for IIT, I took a two year break from concerts for I was needed at home.”
Diabetes has cut down her intake of sweets but then with Kavita who misses saccharine?
