Kalpana Raghavendar – Playback Singer of South Indian Cinema

Kalpana Raghavendar is a well-known playback singer associated with south Indian film industry. She predominantly works in Tamil films. In 2010 she shot to fame after winning Star Singer season 5, the top singing reality show on Malayalam television. She also participated in Bigg Boss Telugu Season 1. Apart from doing playback singing, she is regular with her stage shows and performances. She is the daughter of well-known character artist and musician T. S. Raghavendra. Some of her recent songs are “Kodi Parakura Kaalam,” “Penne Neeyum,” and “Thirupachi Arivaala.”

Kalpana Raghavendar was born into a musical family

Kalpana’s family carries music tradition for many generations. She was born in Chennai on 8 May 1977. Her parents and sister are associated with music and singing. Her father T. S. Raghavendra and mother Sulochana are trained Carnatic singer. Her father was an actor, who has done playback singing in films apart from composing music for a few. Raghavendra entered film industry in the 1980s, and did several memorable character roles on silver screen aside singing. Her sister Shekinah Shawn (born Prasanna Raghavendar) is an opera singer.

She marked her singing career at the age of 5

Kalpana Raghavendar was initiated to the world of music at a very young age by her parents. She took formal lessons in Carnatic music from Madurai T. Srinivasan. While continuing this music, she gave equal importance to studies as well. She completed Master of Computer Applications degree and Master of Philosophy. She recorded her first song as a child artist aside P. Susheela, Mano and M. M. Srilekh, a song composed by Saluri Vasurao.

A well-known stage artist

She continued recording songs as a child artist throughout 1990s. Her career as a full-fledged playback singer happened in 1999 with the song “Mangalagouriki” from the Telugu film Manoharam. The song was composed by Mani Sharma. Since then she has been regular in playback singing. But still she gained popularity through her stage shows. As of now she has performed nearly 3,000 stage shows worldwide. She has recorded more around 2000 songs belonging to different genres, including film songs. She became popular among Malayalam TV audience after she was declared as winner of the most popular singing reality show, Star Singer season 5.

Some of her popular songs

“Pogiren” from the Tamil film 36 Vayadhinile (2015) earned her the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer. “Ithuvarai Yarum” from Kadhaludan (2003) and “Aazhaku Neeya” from Jai (2004) are among her popular Tamil songs. Her hit Telugu songs include – “Brindavanamlo” from Palnati Brahmanayudu (2003) and “Joole Joole” from Varsham (2004). Kalpana Raghavendar is married to Prasad Prabhakar. They have a daughter named Daya Prasad.

She came to limelight in March 2025

News came out that singer Kalpana Raghavendar attempted suicide and was hospitalized, which shocked many. It was published in all leading media and journal publications too. However, once she came out of hospital, she denied the rumours. She addressed the media stating that she has no indifference with husband or daughter. However she admitted that it was an overdose of sleeping pills. Kalpana was found unconscious at her home at Hyderabad on March 5. She stated that she was stressed as she was pursuing her PhD, LLB and music career at the same time, and because of insomnia she took pills.

Kalpana Raghavendar – Some interesting and less-known facts

1. She acted in the film Punnagai Mannan at the age of six. This is her single appearance on big screen.

2. She and her younger sister Prasanna marked their singing debut together, as child artists.

3. Rather than playback singing, she is known as a public figure for her music shows.

4. A music tribute dedicated to her guru Madurai T. Srinivasan was conducted in 2013, and she was the lead singer.