Roopa was born to a mid-class Brahmin family from Kerala. Though music did not run in the family, it was probably her parent’s keen interest in Carnatic music, which she grew up listening that had an impact on her. She started her vocal training in Carnatic music at a tender age of five under Dr. Malini Hariharan and Shri. Tamarakkadu Govindan Nambootiri and now continues to learn from Shri. P. Unnikrishanan. She started learning carnatic violin under the tutelage of Shri Suni Bhaskar later Shri. T.H Subrahmaniyam and now takes advance lessons from Shri. Kalaimamani Embar Kannan.
Roopa knew her destiny was in music, and choose to do both her Bachelors and Masters in music from Maharaja’s College, Ernakulam and RLV College, Tripunithura, respectively, each time emerging as a first rank holder.
Roopa emerged as a winning musician right from her school days, where she bagged awards for many music competition, including emerging the State winner in Carnatic Music for the M.G Unversity youth festivals. Her talent also received National recognition when she received the National Scholarship for young Carnatic musician. She bagged the Swaralaya Kairali Yesudas Award for the best upcoming female voice.
However, Roopa rose to fame through the Reality show series Super Star Global aired on Amrita Television. She was often noted for her selection of songs, which were not intimidated by peer pressure or competition, but a rare collection of songs, those which were described as gems in the film music discography. Along with winning the title, she also won tens of thousands of fans who follow her to date.
The growing number of hits on her Social Media Accounts are a testimony for the same. However, she did not continue to haul on it by doing back to back live shows, instead focused on polishing her talent through deeper studies and her then new priority, her family.
~ FIRST BREAK ~
Roopa’s first break as a playback singer came with the Malayalam movie Madambi, directed by Shri. B.Unnikrishnan; when Music Director Shri. M.Jayachandran chose her to sing ‘Ende Sharike’ which won her critical acclaim. Roopa moved to Chennai after getting married and continued to work as a playback singer in the Tamil and Telugu Music Industries. It is probably her profound understanding of the grammar of music that makes her a favourite for Music Directors.
Apart from being one of the most preferred playback singers of recent time, she is also one of the very few lady violinists from Kerala who plays violin for the Re-Recordings in Malayalam/Tamil Movie industry. She also has cherished moments of playing violin for a song directed by the ‘Mellisai Mannar’, late Shri. M.S.Vishawanathan. She was also the featured singer for the legendary late Kalamandalam HyderAli’s Dance Drama – Salabhanjika.
She features in the International Music Album, Experience the feel of India along with Naresh Iyer. Roopa Also holds the credit of having accompanied Padmabhooshan Dr. K.J Yesudas for his concert in connection to his 60th Birthday celebrations.
Roopa’s musical brilliance and ability to connect with her audience through her music has made her one of the most sought after singer and violinist. She has a bouquet of international tours up her sleeve to keep her on her toes while she is not recording. She has accompanied big names like Shri Dakshinamoothi, S.P.Balasubramanium, Shri Vidhyadharan, K.S Chitra, Srinivas, Sujatha Mohan, M.Jayachandran, Alphons Joseph, Unnimenon, Vijay Prakash, G Venugopal, Stephen Devassy and many more.
Her Violin concerts range from Carnatic Kutcheris to Jugalbandis and Fusion Music. Roopa has released her first album titled ‘Beyond Time’ – A violin medley of two compositions by M. Jayachandran. As she dwells deeper into the realms of music, she create a unique signature there, and meditates on how it can surpass the test time...
