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Gems of K S Chitra

Topic started by AVR (@ 143.127.3.10) on Mon Jun 10 09:36:14 EDT 2002.
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

Off late, K S Chitra has become one of my hot favourites amongst female singers. Her voice has a unique and rich timbre which I really enjoy. lets take this opportunity to discuss songs by her in Tamil and various other languages - Malayalam, Kannada and Telugu. Her songs sung under the tutelage of Ilayaraja, AR Rehman, Ravindran et al are really excellent, moreover she has a delightful classical touch as is seen in her rendition of "alaipayuthe" and the Sindhubhairavi songs. She has done a great deal of Hindu and Christian devotional albums in Southern languages...lets discuss those. My favourite Chitra song so far remains "gopika vasantham" and her duet with SPB in the Telugu
movie Swathikiranam. What a voice and that sharpness!

So please, lets discuss her songs!! :-)
(If this topic has been discussed in full detail - similar to the Vani Jairam thread - please post a link to it). Otherwise lets make this an encyclopedia of KSC songs.

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Responses:

• Old responses
  
• From: Naaz (@ 24.87.30.219) on: Wed Jul 9 09:32:15 EDT 2003
  
  MS -
  
  Taste and Preference are individual. I'd even say that they have to be enshrined as part of "human rights" as one cannot dictate to others what should be listened to, or what shouldn't be appreciated. Some prefer meaningless escapism and others crave lyrical profundity, while there is a segment that pays great attention to background scores. I prefer the four Cs of a diamond in a song and a singer (as a Diamond is Forever :-):
  The four Cs then:
  
  Colour: The singer's voice should paint a canvas of joy, sorrow, tranquility, rage, surprise, laughter...in essence, the navarasas.
  
  Cut: This is where the singer's enunciation and pronunciation taps the music in the words - the stress and release, the emphasis and the whisper. Metric measurement in voice (also known as the sol-sandham bond.) without musical accompaniment.
  
  Clarity: The dotting of "i"s and the crossing of the "t"s, in other words. Every line should be realised, no matter what the scale. The whole essence of voice as instrument also means that the voice should have the power to pierce (when necessary) and possess poetic poise (in rendition.)
  
  Carat: 20 years from now will I remember the song - not just the tune, but the chorus, the mood, the effect and the feeling of awe when I first heard it...I still get gooseflesh when I listen to LMs Rasik Balma from Chori Chori, just the way I feel when I hear her Ai Dil-e-Nadaan from Razia Sultan.
  In other words, is the singer/song worth its weight in time? Well, only time can tell.
  
  Now -
  
  My previous exchange was with Ravi. I was merely trying elucidate the problem I have with "comparatives" especially when they are propped up as "lesser mistakes are better than greater mistakes" scaffolding. That to me misses the point, is basically what I term "weasel."
  
  But -
  
  Since you insist:
  
  Here are a few randoms - just as I type this - I am recalling these songs. These are also chartbusters and are considered Chitra (please tell me are there two Hs in the spelling of her name? Have I got it wrong all along?) "classics."
  
  Aedhaedho eNNam VaLarththAEn : The very first line has the small "na" in her rendition.
  
  In the same song "Sila PookkaL thane malargindradhu... the sila "la" is the same "la" in pookkal.
  
  Throughout this beautiful composition, all the ending "ins" are either lost, or cut or trail in fade.
  
  She replaces the Na from here in:
  
  Devanin Kovil Mudiya Neram Naan eNNa Kaetpaen...(the eNNam Na becomes eNNa instead of enna)
  
  In Medhuva Medhuva Oru Kadhal Paattu - half way through the song - "thaLam" takes on the small "la" and then reappears as the proper "La" in the end.
  
  Paadariaen Padippariaen - PaLLi becomes chinna la palli in the very first line. All the ending "ariaens" are swallowed up and end with "padippariye" "ezhuththu vaga (not vaha as she pronounces) naan ariyae..."
  
  I have also noticed these same characteristics repeated in the later songs - even as late as Bombay and Annamalai. If you still wish further examples, I am willing to commit an entire weekend to listen to KSCs songs and post her tamizh glitches, but I should think that these samples are more than just indicators.
  
  So, why not indeed! :-)
  
  
  
• From: vinner (@ 80.218.94.8) on: Wed Jul 9 10:02:46 EDT 2003
  
  Her name is written like this!
  
  K.S. Chithra
  
  to clear that point! :o)
  
  
  
• From: MS (@ 129.252.25.241) on: Wed Jul 9 14:09:09 EDT 2003
  
  Good. Now my take:
  
  (1) Edhedho eNNam - I have heard that infinite times, one reason being the necessity to write down the chords for a stage performance. As much, I have been insistent with my troupe singers to be exact in pronunciation, so much am I sensitive to the mistakes committed in the originals. I can hardly find the errors that you have pointed out in this song. Hence I cannot buy this example of yours.
  
  (2) medhuva medhuva - sorry. same case as edhedho. I do not find any error.
  
  (3) devanin kovil - don't have it with me. so could not listen.
  
  (4) paadariyen - I must admit that I have till date been swept off by her eternally sweet voice which pretty much masked all her pronunciation errors in this song. Though a school(paLLi) did not become a lizard(palli) in her pronunciation as you had claimed, I will have to agree to the fact that all the "ariyaens" are indeed swallowed up.
  
  But I guess that was way back in 1985 ? Great. It is almost 20 yrs now since she sang that. OR to put it in a different fashion, she was a malayali singer in her debut years (just like sadhana). To me a singer with as good a voice of Chitra has to be given some "dead time" where they process their errors genuinely to correct themselves. It becomes a problem, when the artist does not make a genuine effort to correct him/herself. The allowance was given to SPB and KJY. Even in the formative years, KJY had sung some songs with absolutely enviable pronunciation. Leave alone singing the song, just try reading out the lines of "vEdham nee iniya naadham nee" fast. Anybody would find it hard with such a tongue twister. For SPB, though his pronunciation was a li'l bad in the early days(I know u have a problem with li'l bad or colossally bad), for example, "mangaiyaril maharaani", he is the only person who could have done justice to the song "omkaari bhagavathi shankari" - a genuine tongue twister in the film asokan by ARR. For chitra I recommend deva's composition with 108 amman names. And the good thing in Chitra's pronunciation is that I have to really dewax my ears to find her errors out even in those songs of her formative years which is definitely NOT the case with sadhana.
  
  There is one more dimension to this. Statistically I find that it is easy for a non-tamil south indian singer to do a pretty good job singing in tamil rather than those who come from north to render such songs (devan et al are not in this sampling). I guess the the underlyring similarity between the languages help this cause very much. SS has been singing for almost 5 yrs now I guess (or more). I have to really labour and dig deep into Chitra's debut songs to find errors. I have to put almost the same effort in magnitude to find one song of sadhana which is completely free of errors.
  
  Case rests.
  
  
• From: Naaz (@ 24.87.30.219) on: Wed Jul 9 18:11:27 EDT 2003
  
  vinner -
  
  Thank you for the "authoritative" spelling. I'll use it in my future posts.
  
  MS -
  
  Thanks for the response. You're right - let's give it a rest.
  
  
• From: Lord LabakkuDas (@ 202.54.153.21) on: Thu Jul 10 02:58:04 EDT 2003
  
  Naaz,
  "let's give it a rest"
  ippidi sonna eppidi? engalukku pozhudhu poga vendama? please please Chitra pathi ethavadhu sollungalen..
  
  
• From: Naaz (@ 24.87.30.219) on: Thu Jul 10 10:43:47 EDT 2003
  
  Labakku -
  
  Umakku Pozhudhu Poga...Idhenna Vidiya Vidiya Ramayanama? :-)
  Chithravin Padalgalai Aaraindhup Pesa Ingu Neyargalukku Kuraichchal Illai...
  Ennai Vidungal. Avargalai Anaiyungal. :-)
  
  
• From: Kaumudi (@ ) on: Tue Aug 5 11:30:32 EDT 2003
  
  Guys
  A long while ago someone (raja g/sriram/av???) posted the mp3 link of Chithra's song "Madhuram gayathi", a composition by Sharath. Can someone repost that mp3 link because I think I lost that mp3 on my computer. Thanks for the help.
  
  
• From: sveety (@ 154.5.43.98) on: Tue Aug 5 20:18:18 EDT 2003
  
  ksc is the best
  
  
• From: sriram (@ 163.181.251.10) on: Wed Aug 6 12:13:57 EDT 2003
  
  kaumudi, saw this only now. what's your email address?
  
  
• From: Kaumudi (@ 136.142.153.250) on: Wed Aug 6 16:58:16 EDT 2003
  
  Oh, sorry, didn't realise that you would email me. You could send the mp3 to tangirags@hotmail.com.
  
  Thanks so much sriram - I appreciate this timely help.
  
  
• From: S. Nathan (@ 209.250.153.18) on: Sat Aug 9 14:08:42 EDT 2003
  
  Could somebody tell me the Tamil movie for which Chitra sang the song "Chinna Chinna Kanavugale Kannaa". I'd appreciate your early response.
  
  
• From: ganesh (@ ) on: Wed Mar 10 12:29:37 EST 2004
  
  Hello can anybody tellme where the song link for devanin kovil song sung by chitra
  
  
• From: aruvi (@ 66.185.84.206) on: Wed Mar 10 13:28:04 EST 2004
  
  Ganesh,
  Go to musicindiaonline.com. It's available there.
  
  
• From: aruvi (@ 66.185.84.206) on: Wed Mar 10 13:32:47 EST 2004
  
  S.Nathan,
  
  I believe the film is 'Thuraimugam' starring Arunpandiyan and Shobana.
  
  
• From: Kaumudi (@ 136.142.153.89) on: Wed Mar 10 16:29:22 EST 2004
  
  I have just finished listening to "Aaro viral meetti" from Pranaya varnankal by Chitra. Man, what a soothing rendition! I really loved the whole peaceful atmosphere that the song created and with Chitra's vocals, it was heavenly. One notices that there are no sharp edges but only smooth curves in the song sung by Chitra. In comparison, I find Jesudas' version very harsh sounding.
  
  Varmanjaladiya from this movie by Sujata is another fascinating number.
  
  
• From: rajaG (@ 207.43.195.13) on: Wed Mar 10 18:13:12 EST 2004
  
  aruvi: Have you heard the songs from Veendum - A Poetry of Love sung by Chitra and composed by Sharath (my guess)? They are mind blowing!
  
  
• From: AV (@ 132.206.73.160) on: Wed Mar 10 21:37:04 EST 2004
  
  In comparison, I find Jesudas' version very harsh sounding.
  ==========================
  
  Given the current state of Yesudas' voice, this is hardly a surprise. So many of his recent songs are so utterly off key.
  
  
• From: aruvi (@ 66.185.84.206) on: Wed Mar 10 23:08:14 EST 2004
  
  RajaG
  I haven't, but I will try to find the album. Thanks for the info.
  
  

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