K S Chithra

Acknowledged as the ‘Nightingale of South India’, film playback singer and Carnatic musician, K S Chithra has recorded more than 25,000 songs in multiple regional and foreign languages in the course of her four decade-long career. Celebrated as a cultural icon of Kerala, she has collaborated extensively with music directors such as A R Rahman, Ilaiyaraja, Hamsalekha, and M M Keeravani, and has rendered several duets with K J Yesudas and S P Balasubramaniyam. Some of her best songs include Chinna kuil paadum paatu ketkudha, Kuzhaloodum kannanukku, Ninnu kori varanam, Paadariyaen padippariyaen, and Kannanule. Among her Hindi film song hits are Payalay chunmun chunmun, Saathiya tune kya kiya, Roop suhana lagta hai, O ajnabi, and Jaage hain. She has sung in various Indian languages such as Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Hindi, Bengali, Oriya, Punjabi, Gujarati, Tulu, Rajasthani, Urdu, Sanskrit, and Badaga, as well as foreign languages including Malay, Latin, Arabic, Sinhalese, English and French. Winner of six National Film Awards, eight Filmfare Awards South and 36 various state film awards, Chithra was also awarded the coveted Padma Bhushan in 2021, following the Padma Shri in 2005 for her valuable contribution to music. She also has the distinction of being the first Indian woman to be honored by the House of Commons, British Parliament, UK, and is the only singer from India to be felicitated by the Government of China at the Qinghai International Music and Water Festival. Her song Kannalane/ Kehna hi kya from the film Bombay (1995) featured in The Guardian's "1000 Songs Everyone Must Hear Before You Die" list.

Born 27 July, 1963 in Trivandrum, Kerala, into a family of musicians, Chithra first trained under her father, Krishnan Nair, who was her first teacher. Training in Carnatic music from Dr K Omanakutty, she went on to complete her Master’s in music. She debuted in Malayalam playback in 1979 courtesy M G Radhakrishnan who recorded her voice for films and private albums such as Attahasam, Snehapoorvam Meera (1982) and Njan Ekananu (1982). Performing in live concerts in India and abroad with K J Yesudas, her journey to fame began with her winning coveted awards, such as the National Film Award for songs such as Manjal prasadavum from the film Nakhakshathangal (1986), Indupushpam choodi nilkum for the film Vaishali (1989) and the Kerala State Film Award for Best Singer for the song Aayiram kannumayi from Nokkethadhoorathu Kannum Nattu (1986). She went on to earn wide recognition singing popular songs composed by music directors such as Raveendran, Shyam, S P Venkitesh, Mohan Sithara, Kannur Rajan, Ilaiyaraaja, Johnson, Ouseppachan, M. K. Arjunan, A T Ummer, Berny Ignatius, M B Sreenivasan, Mohan Sithara, Vidyasagar, Ramesh Narayan, Sharreth and M Jayachandran. Having rendered maximum Malayalam duets with K J Yesudas and M G Sreekumar, she has won umpteen Kerala State Awards. 

Her playback work in Tamil cinema started when she debuted with Ilaiyaraaja’s composition Poojaikketha poovithu from the film Neethana Antha Kuyil (1985).  Rendering the song Chinna kuyil paadum from Poove Poochudava (1985), she came to be given the title Chinnakuyil thereafter. Chithra bagged the National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer for the folk-based classical number, Paadariyaen padippariyaen from the film Sindhu Bhairavi (1986). Singing thousands of songs in Tamil films, she has worked consistently with Ilaiyaraaja, A R Rahman, Deva, S A Rajkumar, Vidyasagar, Sirpy, Yuvan Shankar Raja, G V Prakash Kumar, Harris Jayaraj and Santhosh Narayanan. Incidentally, she is the only female singer who has rendered the maximum number of Tamil film songs for A R Rahman. She won her fifth National award for Best Singer for the song Oooh la la from the film Minsara Kanavu (1997).

In Telugu cinema, Chithra first rendered the song Paadalenu pallavaina from the dubbed version of the Tamil film Sindhu Bhairavi (1985) composed by Ilaiyaraaja. First singing Abba daanisoku in the Telugu filmAakhari Poratam (1988), she went on to become popular for Jallanta kavvinta from the film Geethanjali (1989). She received her first Nandi Award, presented by Government of Andhra Pradesh, for Kalika chilakala koliki from the film Seetharamayya Gari Manavaralu (1991). Chithra has won a total of 11 Nandi Awards as Best Female Playback Singer for various Telugu songs.

Her work in Kannada films started with the film Antharangada Mrudanga (1986), rendering the song Vasantha rajana composed by M Ranga Rao. She worked with composers such as G K Venkatesh and Satyam. Becoming a prominent singer in the Kannada film industry with her perfect diction and finesse, her solos and duets with S P Balasubrahmanyam brought her additional popularity. Recording approximately 1500 songs in Kannada cinema, she has frequently collaborated with Hamsalekha, and V Manohar, rendering maximum duets with S P Balasubrahmanyam and Rajesh Krishnan. 

Chithra’s work in Hindi cinema started in 1985, when she recorded her first Hindi song composed by S P Venkitesh; however, the film was not commercially released. Rendering a duet for the film Love (1991), composed by Anand-Milind, she went on to record approximately 200 Hindi film songs. Recording several A R Rahman compositions between 1991 and 1995, her biggest hit in Hindi film music came with Kehna hi kya from the film Bombay (1995). Rendering Payalein chunmun in the film Virasat (1997), Chithra received the National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer for the same. She collaborated frequently with music director Anu Malik, her voice used for eight songs out of 11 in the soundtrack of Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon (2003). Chithra’s Hindi film hits include Ye haseen wadiyan from Roja (1992), Yaaron sun lo from Rangeela (1995), Hum tumse na from Ziddi (1997), Payale chunmun from Virasat, Raat ka nasha from Aśoka (2001), Pyaar tune kya kiya (2001), Mere dil ka tumse hi kehna from the film Armaan (2003), and Koi mil gaya from the 2003 film of the same name. 

She has also made cameo appearances onscreen as a singer playing herself in films such as the Kannada film Mangalyam Tantunanena (1998), the Telugu production Raraju (2006), and the Malayalam film Vijay Superum Pournamiyum (2019). 

In 1995 Chithra established the Audiotracs Music Company in Chennai, which produces albums in the non-film space. She is also a highly popular singer at concerts around the world, regularly performing as part of Ilaiyaaraja’s, and A R Rahman’s troupes, also forming a popular pair with the late S P Balasubrahmanyam. Chithra has also featured on television, judging singing reality television shows in Kerala (Idea Star Singer and Josco Indian Voice), Tamil Nadu (Airtel Super Singer Junior), and in Andhra Pradesh (MAA TV) Super Singer. She has also appeared on music shows like Swarabhishekam, Super Masti, and Jhumandi Nadam. 

In the non-film music space, Chithra has several studio albums to her credit, including Ragga Raaga with Voodoo Rapper. Her private Hindi albums such as Piya Basanti and Sunset Point became very popular and won several awards. Associating with Ustad Sultan Khan for Piya Basanti which was certified Gold, her Sunset Point had eight songs written and narrated by Gulzar and rendered by Chithra and Bhupinder. Her tribute album to M S Subbulakshmi, titled My Tribute, is a collection of kritis and bhajans dedicated to the legendary singer, while she also released Nightingale: A Salute to Lataji, a musical dedication to Mangeshkar on her 80th birthday. Chithra also recorded several Malayalam albums for Yesudas, M Jayachandran and Sharreth. 

Richly awarded for her work, Chithra has won six National Film Awards, eight Filmfare Awards South and 36 various state film awards. Honoured with the Padma Bhushan in 2021 and the Padma Shri in 2005 for her valuable contribution to music, K S Chithra is the first Indian woman to be honored by the House of Commons, British Parliament, United Kingdom in 1997. 

Married to Vijay Shankar, the couple’s only child, Nandana, who was autistic, passed away in a drowning accident in Dubai in 2011 aged 8. Chithra was in Dubai at the time to participate in a concert.