Friday, January 7, 2011

K.S.CHITHRA

K. S. Chithra, often credited as Chithra, is an Indian playback singer who has made her mark in the Indian (film) music playback industry. Popularly known as Chinna Kuyil (Little Nightingale) of South India,  she has lent her voice to Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Oriya, Hindi, Assamese, Bengali, Badaga and Punjabi films. She has recorded more than 15,000 film songs and is a recepient of six National Film Awards, five Filmfare Awards and more than thirty different state film awards.

Professional career
Chithra was introduced to Malayalam playback singing 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 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, 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 "Poojaikketra 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 film Poove Poochoodava. It was director Fazil who cast her for this film.
 By the mid-eighties, she became the most sought after female singer in Malayalam. She recorded many hit songs for the above listed composers and numerous songs for Ilaiyaraaja in Tamil. She has been acredited 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 and Telugu film songs. She also sang for veteran composers such as G. Devarajan, M. S. Viswanathan, K. V. Mahadevan, Ouseppachan, Deva, Vidyasagar, Bharadhwaj, Chakravarthy, M. Jayachandran, M. M. Keeravani, Hamsalekha, Sharreth, Raj-Koti, Rajan-Nagendra, S. A. Rajkumar, Mani Sharma, Harris Jayaraj, Devisri Prasad 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, Naushad, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Jatin-Lalit and many others. She also recorded the Hindi versions of her own Tamil songs sung for A. R. Rahman.
Chithra has won six National Awards for best female playback singer. She is just behind K.J. Yesudas who has won 7 national awards as a singer. This is the highest number of national awards awarded to any female playback singer. She has won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Singer 15 times and is the only female playback singer to have won the best female singer awards from all the four state governments in South India. She has won the awards for the following films:
Civilian Awards:
Filmfare Awards South:
She has also received 15 awards for the best female playback singer from Kerala State Government, 8 awards from Andhra Pradesh State Government, 4 awards from Tamil Nadu State Government and 3 awards from Karnataka State Government. She is the only playback singer to be recognised by all the four state governments in South India for her contributions.

Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)