Sunitha Upadrashta, known mononymously as Sunitha, is an Indian playback singer and a voice actor who primarily works in Telugu cinema.^[1][2] She 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 under the light music category.^[3] 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.^[4][5]

Sunitha made her playback singing debut in 1995 with the film Gulabi. She is also recognised as an anchor and host for music-based and flagship programmes, including the foundation-laying ceremony of Amaravati in 2015.^[6][7] She has been associated as a judge with several music reality shows on different television channels, notably Padutha Theeyaga, a long-running programme on ETV launched and hosted by S. P. Balasubrahmanyam.^[8][9][10] As a dubbing artist, she has lent her voice to over 110 actresses in more than 750 films.^[11][12][13]

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.^{[citation needed]}

Sunitha was born on 10 May 1978 in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh.^[14] At the age of six, she began training in Carnatic vocals under Pemmaraju Surya Rao and in light music under Kalaga Krishna Mohan. From a young age, she had opportunities to perform in several concerts, including programmes featured by All India Radio. At the age of 13, she participated in the Tyagaraja Aradhana Utsavalu along with her guru Pemmaraju Surya Rao. She later received a scholarship from the Government of India to pursue her musical training.^{[citation needed]}

She was born into a music-loving family, and her parents were fond of music. At the age of 19, she married Kiran Kumar Goparaju, a media professional. The couple later divorced. They have two children, Akash and Shreya.^[14] Shreya made her playback singing debut with the song “Tick Tick Tick” in the Telugu film Savyasachi.

In January 2021, Sunitha married businessman Rama Krishna Veerapaneni in the presence of family members and close friends.^[15][16]

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Sunitha began her playback singing career at the age of 17. She was introduced by music director Sashi Preetham, who gave her an opportunity to sing in her debut 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. She also rendered title songs for Telugu television serials such as Ruturagalu and Antarangalu. For the title song of Antarangalu, she received her first Nandi Award from the then undivided state of Andhra Pradesh in 1999.

She has collaborated with several 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.

Over the course of her career, Sunitha has recorded nearly 3,000 songs in South Indian films.^[13] She has sung in Telugu, Tamil, and Kannada.

Sunitha began her career as a dubbing artist with the film Choodalani Vundi (1998), starring Chiranjeevi and Soundarya, for whom she provided her voice. She went on to become one of the leading voice-over artists in the Telugu film industry, dubbing for more than 110 actresses in over 750 films.^[12][11][17] In a single year, she reportedly dubbed for as many as 60 films. Her 750th film as a dubbing artist was Gautamiputra Satakarni (2017), in which she lent her voice to Shriya Saran.^[18]

Selective works of singer Sunitha as a playback singer listed below:

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

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Sunitha has recorded numerous private albums. Meera Padavali and Aanota – Manasu Palike Vela, composed by her guru Kalaga Krishna Mohan, are among her most recognised works. She was also featured in the devotional album Sri Ramachandra Krupalu, a bhajan by Tulsidas, produced by sunithamusic.com.

Another notable work is Chandrashekara Ashtakam, composed by Sai Madhukar.

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.

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, which expanded in 2019 with performances in five major U.S. cities: San Jose, Charlotte, Cleveland, Indianapolis, and Los Angeles.^[20] The Indianapolis event was held at the Old National Center.^[21] Following its success, the series debuted in India with a concert at Shilpakala Vedika, Hyderabad, on 4 August 2019, later extending to various cities and towns across the Telugu-speaking states.^[22]

Her 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.