From singing at her school assembly as a child, to performing in an orchestra, recording cassettes, live performances and playback, singer Kavita Raam has come a long way in her tryst with music. A popular performer during Navratri festivities, the singer has had a hectic week with back-to-back performances at garba and dandiya events, a feeling she is extremely happy with. “I grew up in a Gujarati area and am fluent in the language. The energy and vibe of garba is something else. I also look at it as a service to the goddess. I look forward to the festive season every year,” says the singer, who has sung popular Marathi tracks and has also lent her voice to some south Indian film songs.
Ask her how it feels to be back to live performances after a while and she replies, “The last two years were very tough. I almost cried for missing out on these performances and am extremely happy that we are back to live concerts now. Not just artistes, even the audience was missing this. So many people got in touch with me on social media and told me about wanting to see me perform. To get so much love is something I hadn’t thought of and this is something that keeps me going.”
Kavita is not a trained singer and she attributes her success to her passion. “I have been interested in singing since a very young age. It’s my passion. And when your passion becomes your profession, it gives you immense satisfaction. That’s exactly what happened to me,” she says.
Kavita has also been called the ‘Marathi Dandiya Queen’ and ‘Falguni Pathak of Maharashtra’. Ask her about the tag and she tells us, “All I can say is that I am quite honoured and extremely humbled at being called so. But, I still have a long way to go. Falguni Pathak is an inspiration and I can only aspire to reach the position she has. I am a proud Marathi mulgi who is trying to take garba songs to newer heights.”Kavita believes that singing is her lifeline, and while she loves live as well as playback singing, the singer says both are different. “In playback, you get to create something new and visualise the words that you are singing. When you sing live, you are basically thriving on the energy of the audience and that’s a beautiful feeling too,” she shares.
As for the trend of remakes and the culture of reels, Kavita says she doesn’t find anything wrong in it. “I think videos on social media are a fantastic avenue for artistes to reach a wider audience. Some of my songs have found their way into many reels. In fact, a title track that I had sung for a Marathi serial had become extremely popular on Tik Tok a while ago. Social media has brought popularity, reach and thereby good work for many artistes. As for remakes, I think the makers would be better equipped to talk about the right or wrongs, but if a song is remade well, it too is bound to strike a chord with people and we’ve seen that happening with a few remakes,” says Kavita.
On a concluding note, the Aaichya Gavat singer adds, “Original compositions have never gone out of fashion and neither have remixes. It’s just that the music arrangement has changed a lot over the years. From live arrangements to the use of technology and modern sounds, there is so much variety and acceptance. And today’s youth is not limited to any one kind of music. They are open to listening to experimental music and hence, I think it is important to adapt as per evolving tastes in music.”
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