Sulochana Chavan

Sulochana Chavan, born Sulochana Kadam, was a Marathi singer best known for her lavanis, the lively folk songs of Maharashtra. She was named for the Padma Shri in 2022 in the field of art, from Maharashtra ^[1].

A child performer

Chavan was born on 13 March 1933 ^[2]. She studied only up to the fourth standard, but loved theatre and music from early childhood, playing Krishna in a local play and Majnu in an Urdu play ^[2]. At ten she began singing professionally, and was credited as K. Sulochana ^[2].

Queen of Lavani

In 1955 she sang her first lavani, in the Marathi film Kalagi Tura, directed by Shyamrao Chavan, who taught her much about pronunciation and stress ^[2]. She became famous for Mala Ho Mhantyat Lavangi Mirchi, composed by Vasant Pawar with words by Jagdish Khebudkar ^[2]. She sang about 250 songs in 70 Hindi films and more than 5,000 in Marathi films and albums ^[2]. In 1965 she was given the title Lavani Samradnyi, the Queen of Lavani ^[2].

From 1960 she gave stage shows to raise money for schools, colleges, libraries, orphanages and hospitals across Vidarbha, Khandesh and Marathwada, and for people hit by the Panshet dam flood near Pune; in 1969 she performed for soldiers in Nagaland ^[2]. She received the Maharashtra government’s Lata Mangeshkar Award in 2010 and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 2012 ^[2].

Chavan died at her home in Mumbai on 10 December 2022 ^[3].