Kal Ho Na Ho (Remix) - Karma

The accomplished singer and music director Ravi Bissembhar is hip and happening for Carnival 2K9 as he is very much in demand with his song Dularie. The handsome young singer has taken the second place at the recent Chutney Soca Monarch competition, winning $100,000. Commenting on his win he said, This is really the peak of my career as a performer. There are no words to describe the feeling of performing in competition before such a mammoth crowd.As one of the lead singers with the band Karma, Ravi has been travelling extensively throughout 2008 and returned for the festive season in December of last year. Having grown up amidst orchestra music, where his father Jeewanlal Bissembhar was one of the leaders of the Indian Art Orchestra, he has had first- hand knowledge of the music. It is in my blood and I could not escape it even if I tried, he said. According to Ravi, he knew it was a very demanding job and he thought about getting into another profession that would take him to different countries but it was a calling and he found himself learning the keyboards at the tender age of 12. He was later asked to do back-up singing for the main singers and he obliged as he was ready to take the music to a higher level in the country. Soon he was singing his own songs. I had the voice, the experience and the musical skill so I was naturally into the music industry. says Ravi. He remains perhaps the youngest musical producer, director, arranger, singer and one of the most sought after musical programmer in the country. We in Trinidad are a unique people. We get to appreciate the music from India and from the west. We can mix and remix and people will love us for it, he said. He is also inspired by his brother Anil, sisters Nalini and Nisha. Ravi has toured the Caribbean, USA, Canada, Guyana, Europe and Suriname. He is known for doing calypso, R&B and pop songs as part of his wide-ranging repertoire. There are love songs coming out of Hollywood that people really love and there are love songs coming out of Bollywood that fans go crazy for. I am just lucky that I can do these songs for the people, he said. The artiste notes that while he has to spend more than 12 hours a day preparing for the stage, it is rewarding to see how people respond to him on stage. He made waves with his big hit songs, Gul Yuh Start Meh, Rum is Meh Lover and Teer Cheer. Other hit songs include, Karma Slam1&2, Yeh Kahan, Mom and Dad, Badi Door, Seene Meh Dil, Ek Teira Saath, Karma Rompe, Channa Vey and his version of Mangalam Ganesham. Some of his greatest achievements include performing alongside Nitin Mukesh in 1996 and Shah Rukh Khan in 1999. He said one of his achievements was in joining the 90.5 FM family in 2002 which gave him the opportunity to play music for Kumar Sanu at the 90.5 FM cook out competition in 2004. In December of 2005 he was chosen to open the Bollywood Music Awards. Since its inauguration Karma has produce six albums, Evolution, ABC (Another Bad Creation), Party Mix, Secret 48, Karma Mangalam, Destiny and Karmasutra. Ravi spoke about his father, Jeewanlal, who died last year, noting that he started out as a vocalist but went on to master the art of bass guitar as well. Over the years he has become known to the Indian music industry as the only singer this side of the Caribbean to have the closest sounding voice to Jagjit Singh. My father was a humble individual who had a lot of courage and strength as he weathered all the storms in his silent way. He was never one to argue with anyone and I think I have learnt to have patience and be strong when things go wrong in life, he said, adding that there were many instances when things did go wrong. Ravi is also very proud of his sister Nisha who has been the main act in the band Karma as they continue to deliver their best music and songs for the local fans and those in foreign countries. In 1999, she released The Scorpion, a song that was voted one of the most popular songs of all time. Some time after, together with brothers Anil and Ravi, the band Karma was formed..