Singer KS Chitra Turns 50!

published on July 28, 2013

This is a prestigious moment for all mayalaees that their favourite singer Chitra turns 50 today.

Chitra was only 16 years old when she was first introduced to film music. Until then, her father had been her guru and she had trained in carnatic music under various music stalwarts, along with her sister, Beena.

She has lent her voice to Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Oriya, Hindi, Assamese, Bengali, Badaga, Sanskrit, Tulu, Urdu and Punjabi songs.

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, Snehapurvam Meera and Njaan 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 and that was a turning point in her career. Veteran music directors such as Raveendran, Shyam, Jerry Amaldev, Mohan Sithara, Kannoor Rajan and Johnson also helped her move up in her career ladder.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 1984 directed by himself.

By the mid-eighties, she became the most sought after female singer in Malayalam and Tamil. She recorded many hit songs for the most famous composers in Malayalam and numerous songs for Ilaiyaraaja in Tamil. She has been accredited as the only female singer to have sung the maximum number of songs for the Academy Award winning composer A. R. Rahman for his Tamil film songs. She also sang for veteran composers such as G. Devarajan, M. B. Sreenivasan, M. S. Viswanathan, M. G. Radhakrishnan, Johnson, Ilayaraja, Rajan-Nagendra, K. V. Mahadevan, S. P. Venkatesh, Ouseppachan, Hamsalekha, Deva, Vidyasagar, Bharadhwaj, Chakravarthy, M. Jayachandran, M. G. Sreekumar, M. M. Keeravani, Sharreth, Deepak Dev, Raj-Koti, S. A. Rajkumar, Mani Sharma, Harris Jayaraj, Devisri Prasad, G. V. Prakash Kumar and many other south Indian music directors.

She has recorded many memorable Hindi songs for various music directors in Bollywood, namely A. R. Rahman, Anand-Milind, Anu Malik, Rajesh Roshan, Viju Shah, Laxmikant-Pyarelal, R D Burman, Naushad Ali, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Jatin-Lalit and many others. She also recorded the Hindi versions of her own Tamil songs sung for A. R. Rahman.

Though this singer’s voice can lift sorrow and make one feel extremely cheerful, her own life was plagued by tragedy when her daughter drowned in a swimming pool, few years back. Her 8 year old daughter, Nandana, a child with special needs, had wandered off near the swimming pool and slipped into the water. She died within minutes, plunging Chitra into a world of grief and sadness. The singer has been a changed woman ever since.

As Chitra  turns 50, Janam TV wish her a very happy birthday and thank god for giving us this nightingale, with an effortlessly melodious voice!