K. S. Chithra
Krishnan Nair Shantakumari Chithra, often credited as K. S. Chithra or simply Chithra, is an Indian playback singerfrom Kerala. Chithra also sings Indian classical, devotional, and popular music. She has sung in a number of Indian languages as well as Urdu, Latin, Arabic, Sinhalese and English. She has recorded more than 25,000 Songs for various films and albums. She is a recipient of six National Film Awards, six Filmfare Awards South and 31 different state film awards. She has won all the four south Indian state film awards. She was honored with India's civilian honor Padma Shri in 2005. Her song "Kannalane/Kehna Hi Kya" from the film Bombay (1995) was included in The Guardian's "1000 Songs Everyone Must Hear" list.Chithra is referred to as Chinna Kuyil (English: Little Nightingale) or Keralathinte Vanambadi (English: Nightingale of Kerala) or Nightingale of South India.
Early life
Born in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, into a family of musicians, Chithra's father, the late Krishnan Nair, was also her first guru (teacher). Her elder sister K. S. Beena is also a playback singer. Chithra received her training in Carnatic music from Dr. K. Omanakutty, passed B.A. in music with first class and third rank from the University of Kerala, and completed a master's degree in music. She was selected for the National Talent Search Scholarship from the Central Government from 1978 to 1984.
Career
Playback singing
Chithra was introduced to Malayalam playback by M. G. Radhakrishnan in 1979 and went on to become a regular singer for many Malayalam musicians, including Raveendran.Attahasam, Snehapoorvam Meera and Njan Ekananu were the first few films in which she recorded her songs.She also performed live concerts with K. J. Yesudas in India and abroad. She worked with music directors including Raveendran, Shyam, Jerry Amaldev, Mohan Sithara, Kannur Rajan and Johnson. She made her debut in the Tamil film industry through the song "Poojaikketha Poovithu" from the film Neethana Antha Kuyil, which was composed by Ilaiyaraaja. She was given the title Chinnakuyil after singing the song "Chinna Kuyil Paadum" from the 1985 released film Poove Poochudava.Director Fazil cast her for this song after Ilaiyaraaja got impressed with her song sung in original version in Malayalam for the film Nokkethadhoorathu Kannum Nattu in 1985 directed by himself.
By the mid-1980s, she had recorded many successful songs for composers in Malayalam, and numerous songs for Ilayaraja and others in Tamil, Telugu and Kannada. She is the female singer who has sung the maximum number of songs for the Academy Award winning composer A. R. Rahman for his Tamil film songs.She also sang for composers such as G. Devarajan, V. Dakshinamoorthy, M. B. Sreenivasan, M. S. Viswanathan, Ravi, M. G. Radhakrishnan, Johnson, Raveendran, Shyam, Rajan-Nagendra, K. V. Mahadevan, M. M. Keeravani, S. P. Venkatesh, Ouseppachan, Hamsalekha, Deva, Mohan Sithara, Vidyasagar, Bharadhwaj, Chakravarthy, M. Jayachandran, M. G. Sreekumar, Berny-Ignatius, Sharreth, Ramesh Narayan, Deepak Dev, Raj-Koti, S. A. Rajkumar, Mani Sharma, Harris Jayaraj, Devisri Prasad, Yuvan Shankar Raja, G. V. Prakash Kumar, Bijibal, Mejo Joseph, Sejo John, Shahabaz Aman, Alphons Joseph, S. Thaman, Rahul Raj, Gopi Sunder, Ratheesh Vegha, Achu Rajamani, Mickey J Meyer, M. Ghibran, Santhosh Narayanan and many other south Indian music directors.
She has recorded Hindi songs for music directors in Bollywood, including A. R. Rahman, Anand-Milind, Anu Malik, Rajesh Roshan, Viju Shah, Laxmikant-Pyarelal, R D Burman, Naushad Ali, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Jatin-Lalit, Sandeep Chowta, Vishal, and Sandesh. She also recorded the Hindi versions of her own Tamil songs sung for A. R. Rahman.
She recorded maximum duets with K. J. Yesudas, S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, M. G. Sreekumar, Mano and rare duets with Kannada thespian Dr.Rajkumar, and has sung maximum songs for Ilaiyaraaja, A. R. Rahman, Ravi, M. M. Keeravani, Hamsalekha, Johnson, Raveendran, M. G. Radhakrishnan, Raj-Koti, Deva, Mani Sharma, Sharreth and M. Jayachandran.
Apart from playback singing, she also appeared among the panel of judges in the singing reality television shows at Kerala (Idea Star Singer and Josco Indian Voice), at Tamil Nadu (Airtel Super Singer Junior), where she also won the award for Best Female Judge and at Andhra Pradesh (MAA TV Super Singer
By the mid-1980s, she had recorded many successful songs for composers in Malayalam, and numerous songs for Ilayaraja and others in Tamil, Telugu and Kannada. She is the female singer who has sung the maximum number of songs for the Academy Award winning composer A. R. Rahman for his Tamil film songs.She also sang for composers such as G. Devarajan, V. Dakshinamoorthy, M. B. Sreenivasan, M. S. Viswanathan, Ravi, M. G. Radhakrishnan, Johnson, Raveendran, Shyam, Rajan-Nagendra, K. V. Mahadevan, M. M. Keeravani, S. P. Venkatesh, Ouseppachan, Hamsalekha, Deva, Mohan Sithara, Vidyasagar, Bharadhwaj, Chakravarthy, M. Jayachandran, M. G. Sreekumar, Berny-Ignatius, Sharreth, Ramesh Narayan, Deepak Dev, Raj-Koti, S. A. Rajkumar, Mani Sharma, Harris Jayaraj, Devisri Prasad, Yuvan Shankar Raja, G. V. Prakash Kumar, Bijibal, Mejo Joseph, Sejo John, Shahabaz Aman, Alphons Joseph, S. Thaman, Rahul Raj, Gopi Sunder, Ratheesh Vegha, Achu Rajamani, Mickey J Meyer, M. Ghibran, Santhosh Narayanan and many other south Indian music directors.
She has recorded Hindi songs for music directors in Bollywood, including A. R. Rahman, Anand-Milind, Anu Malik, Rajesh Roshan, Viju Shah, Laxmikant-Pyarelal, R D Burman, Naushad Ali, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Jatin-Lalit, Sandeep Chowta, Vishal, and Sandesh. She also recorded the Hindi versions of her own Tamil songs sung for A. R. Rahman.
She recorded maximum duets with K. J. Yesudas, S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, M. G. Sreekumar, Mano and rare duets with Kannada thespian Dr.Rajkumar, and has sung maximum songs for Ilaiyaraaja, A. R. Rahman, Ravi, M. M. Keeravani, Hamsalekha, Johnson, Raveendran, M. G. Radhakrishnan, Raj-Koti, Deva, Mani Sharma, Sharreth and M. Jayachandran.
Apart from playback singing, she also appeared among the panel of judges in the singing reality television shows at Kerala (Idea Star Singer and Josco Indian Voice), at Tamil Nadu (Airtel Super Singer Junior), where she also won the award for Best Female Judge and at Andhra Pradesh (MAA TV Super Singer
Studio albums
Chithra recorded her first studio album with Voodoo Rapper for the album called Ragga Raaga in 1993. She recorded the albums in Hindi, Piya Basanti (2000) and Sunset Point. She associated with Ustad Sultan Khan for Piya Basanti which was certified Gold. Sunset Point had eight songs written and narrated by Gulzar and sung by Chithra and Bhupinder.In 2006, she released an album in dedication to M. S. Subbulakshmi named My Tribute. It is a collection of Kritis and bhajansdedicated to Subbulakshmi.In 2009 she released Nightingale: A Salute to Lataji, a musical tribute to Lata Mangeshkar on her 80th birthday. She also recorded many Malayalam albums for K. J. Yesudas, M. Jayachandran and Sharreth compositions. She also planned a ghazal album with Ghulam Ali and Asha Bhosle.
In 2014, Chithra recorded a song at a Singapore studio for A. R. Rahman's private album Raunaq written by Kapil Sibal.
Chithra has established her own recording label, Audiotracs, to promote new artists to collaborate with her as singers, lyricists and music directors.
In 2014, Chithra recorded a song at a Singapore studio for A. R. Rahman's private album Raunaq written by Kapil Sibal.
Chithra has established her own recording label, Audiotracs, to promote new artists to collaborate with her as singers, lyricists and music directors.
Personal life
She is married to Vijayashankar, an engineer and businessman and settled in Chennai. Their only daughter, Nandana, died aged eight, in a pool accident in April 2011 in Dubai.
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