Vasundhara Das

Vasundhara Das (born 27 October 1977) is an Indian singer, actress, composer, entrepreneur, speaker, songwriter and environmental activist.

Vasundhara Das
Das at an event in 2008
Born (1977-10-27) 27 October 1977
Bangalore, Karnataka, India
OccupationSinger, actor, composer, entrepreneur, speaker, songwriter
Years active1998–present
Spouse(s)
Roberto Narain
(
m. 2012)

Vasundhara's films include Hey Ram (Tamil/Hindi), Monsoon Wedding (English), Citizen (Tamil), Ravana Prabhu (Malayalam), Lankesh Patrike (Kannada) and several others. Vasundhara has worked with composers such as A. R. Rahman, Vijaya Bhaskar, Yuvan Shankar Raja and G. V. Prakash Kumar to name a few.

Vasundhara's current focus is on music composition at her Bangalore based studio called The Active. She has also been involved in several independent projects such as Channel V Jammin', BBC's HIV awareness anthem for India 'Har Kadam', Mission Ustaad, Arya, Global Rhythms, Nylon Soundz and most recently, The Shah Hussain Project, a collaborative album with Sufi singer Mir Mukhtiyar Ali.

She won the Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer - Tamil for the film Mudhalvan[1]

Personal life

She was born into a Tamil Hebbar Iyengar Brahmin family on 27 October 1977 in Bangalore, Karnataka and studied at Cluny Convent High School, Bangalore, Sri Vidya Mandir, Bangalore and Mount Carmel College, Bangalore, graduating in Economics, Statistics and Mathematics. She began training in Hindustani classical music under her grandmother Indira Das and later trained under Lalita Kaikini and Pandit Parameshwar Hegde.

In her college days, she was a lead singer of a girl band and was soprano in the college choir. In an interview, she states that - "I got booed off the first time I sang on stage".[2] She is a polyglot and speaks Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, English, Malayalam, and Spanish. In 2012, Vasundhara married her long-time friend, Roberto Narain, a drummer.[3]

Career

As an actress
Vasundhara at the MTV Immies Awards

In 1999, Vasundhara began acting with Kamal Hassan in the film Hey Ram. She played the lead actress alongside Mohanlal in the Malayalam movie Raavana Prabhu, with Ajith Kumar in the Tamil movie Citizen and with Darshan in the Kannada movie Lankesh Patrike. She also starred in Mira Nair's movie Monsoon Wedding.

Music

She worked with playback singing career with A. R. Rahman's Tamil film Mudhalvan, for which she sang the song "Shakalaka Baby", and thereby winning the Filmfare Best Female Playback Singer Award 2001. She has a French single out in France called L'ete Indien in collaboration with Paris-based Agrumes Studio. She was a founding member of Arya, a world music band that has performed in Europe and America and broke up in 2004.

Other Work

As a speaker, she has given talks at conferences like INK Talks in association with TED, Confederation of Indian Industries' Conference for Women Entrepreneurs, AIMA's 7th National Brand Summit, TEDx and The Mentor Conclave. She wrote the inaugural blog post for IIT Kanpur's eCell Blog. As an entrepreneur, Vasundhara, along with partner Roberto Narain run DRUMJAM, a company that uses the medium of music and rhythm for corporate training, team building and community building. Her studio with partner Roberto Narain, The Active, has produced The Shah Hussain Project, an album of contemporary Sufi music. Also, she has done a critically acclaimed play Wake up Call with an off-Broadway Theatre company, Chilsag Chillies in 2012.

Filmography
YearTitleRoleLanguageNotes
2000Hey RamMythili IyengarTamil/ HindiDebut feature film
2001Monsoon WeddingAditi VermaHindi/English
2001CitizenIndhuTamil
2001RavanaprabhuMundackal JanakiMalayalam
2003Lankesh PatrikePreethiKannada
2003Film StarLila, An InmateHindi
2004VajramGeminiMalayalam
2004Pathar BezubaanKalpana VarmaHindi
2006Kudiyon Ka Hai ZamanaNatashaHindi
2006CorporateHerselfHindi
2007Ek DastakAkanshaHindi

Discography
Year Movie Song Title Composer Co-Singer
1999 Mudhalvan "Shakalaka Baby" A. R. Rahman Pravin Mani
2000 Rhythm "Ayyo Pathikichu" A. R. Rahman Udit Narayan
Azad "Sonare"Mani Sharma Udit Narayan
Kushi "Kattipudi Kattipudida"Deva Shankar Mahadevan
Moodu Mukkalaata "Prema Vikramarkudu" M. M. Srilekha S. P. Balasubrahmanyam
2001 Citizen "Pookari Pookari" Deva Shankar Mahadevan
"I Like You"
Lagaan "O Rey Chhori" A. R. Rahman Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik
2002 Adrustam "Hollywood Handsome" Dhina Karthik
2003 Boys "Sarigame" A. R. Rahman Lucky Ali
"Dating"
Misamma "Ney Padithe Lokamey Padadha"Vandemataram Srinivas
Juniors "Night Jorugunnadi" Chakri Tippu
Mee Intikosthe Yem Istharu Maa Intikosthe Yem Testharu "Cienmallo Gani" Ghantadi Krishna
Kal Ho Naa Ho "its the tme to disco"Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy KK, Loy Mendonsa, Shaan, sadhna sargam
2004 Sye "Sye"M. M. Keeravani Kalyani Malik, Smita
"Ganga AC"
Thumsup "Vanitha Vanitha" Jeevan Thamos
Manmadha "Thathai Thathai" Yuvan Shankar Raja Devi Sri Prasad
Monalisa "Kurrakaru Hero" Valisha Babji Shankar Mahadevan
2005 Aparichithudu "Naaku Neeku Nokia" Harris Jayaraj Kunal Ganjawala
2006 Happy "I Hate You" Yuvan Shankar Raja Ranjith
Mayabazaar "Andulona Undi"K. M. Radha Krishnan K. M. Radha Krishnan
Hanumanthu "Neevu Kottina" Vandemataram Srinivas Naveen
Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna "Where's The Party Tonight?"Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy Joi Barua, Shaan
Sarada Saradaga "Yenno Janma Janmala" S. V. Krishna Reddy Kunal Ganjawala
2007 Vijayadasami "Deepavali" Srikanth Deva Naveen
Sillunu Oru Kaadhal "Machhakkari" A. R. Rahman Shankar Mahadevan
2008 Ullasamga Utsahamga "Chakori" G. V. Prakash Kumar Benny Dayal
2012 Yamudiki Mogudu: Ee Nela Thakkuvodu "Narottama Narottama" Koti
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gollark: Fascinating.

References
  1. "47th Annual Filmfare South Best Playback Singer : Santosh : Free Down…". archive.is. 5 February 2017. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  2. "Musical Queen Reviving the Roots of Music". Retrieved 21 January 2015.
  3. "Manglorean – Vasundhara wedding". Archived from the original on 20 December 2013. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
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