Home   Forum   Wiki   Notes   Register   FAQ   Sitemap   About Us   Contact Us  

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.

---

Responses:

• Old responses
  
• From: Saravanan. (@ 213.42.1.247) on: Tue Jul 9 01:29:14 EDT 2002
  
  I too seem to remember Chinna chinna megam as by Jayachandran and Sujatha.
  
  
• From: raj (@ 4.61.193.81) on: Tue Jul 9 01:45:38 EDT 2002
  
  I sawa prog. yesterday on TV in which Chitra sang
  a few lines from a song "malargale malargale". Curious to know what movie this is from
  
  
• From: peeps (@ 203.199.207.198) on: Tue Jul 9 02:29:02 EDT 2002
  
  raj,
  Its from "Love Birds"..That song is one of ARR fav's..Very well rendered by Hariharan & Chitra..This pair have many beautiful melodies
  
  
• From: s0 (@ 128.119.85.50) on: Tue Jul 9 09:08:23 EDT 2002
  
  I was listening to "Paandiyanin Raajiyathil". You can clearly see the difference between Mano and KSC in that song. esp. when she sings " ..naan mayanga". evokes a great sensation (without even imagining Kushboo:)
  
  Did KSC sing for Kovai Sarala in "Maarugo Maarugo"?
  
  
• From: Kupps (@ 156.153.255.134) on: Tue Jul 9 09:37:44 EDT 2002
  
  yes KSC sang for Kovai Sarala. Also in vanaja girija the song oththayila ninnadhaenna ae(n) mannavanae mannavanae was sung by KSC in the voice of "innocent" oorvasi.
  
  
• From: Kaumudi (@ 136.142.153.250) on: Tue Jul 9 09:45:43 EDT 2002
  
  MS
  Last night I listened to the songs from Devadaasi and here are my thoughts about that album.
  
  Yamunanadhi ozhukum: This song is probably loosely based on kalyani ragam (I might be utterly wrong in this, but that's what I felt after listening to it many times). It starts with an alaapana of chithra, a very twisty one which starts with higher "sa" and traverses all the way down to the lower "sa" and further down and then goes all the way up to the "pa" in the higher octave. Very beautifully sung and gives a kind of intro to the rest of the song.
  
  As I mentioned earlier, the pallavi goes through some twisty phrases (gamakams) with what seems to me like a change in the basic ragam. The charanams are melodious and much less twistier than the pallavi. The tabla and flute continuously support the vocals. The two interludes between the charanams are good. One has an alapana by a male singer (sounds so so much like BMK) and the second one has some synth sounds ending with a nice flute piece. On the whole, this is a good, challenging song. Any mishandling of the song may make the listener feel miserable.
  
  Sudhamanthram and Divaaswapnam: Both these songs have the same tune top to bottom, but entirely different lyrics. They follow very much the Hindusthani style of compostions. Unnikrishnan has sung these. He has done a fine job but thoroughout the song, I couldn't help thinking KJY would have been a much better choice even if it meant tolerating a little age in his (KJY's) voice. This is a very complex tune. I am not a pundit in identifying ragas, but to me it seemed like this song has two distinct ragas in it. And what makes it complex to render and compose is that these two ragas are intertwined with each other. I don't mean in two consecutive stanzas or in two consecutive lines, but in two consecutive words of a single line of the song!! This is just mindblowing to say the least. No wonder UK found it very difficult to sing.
  
  Also UK rendered it kind of funnily in terms of the accent. For e.g. he says "nae" for "ni", "sA" (A as in bat)instead of "sa" etc. There is also a dizzy, fuzzy feeling to the rendition of the song itself. May be this was demanded by the nature of the character singing this song in the movie. The first charanam is a regular one and the second one is a faster paced one with "tabla bols" supplementing the lyrics in the song. I like the song, but melodywise, it definitely stands second to the above-mentioned chithra's song.
  
  Peeps: Add "Uyirae uyirae"(Bombay) and "Udayaadha vennila" (Priyam) to the list of melodies by HH and KSC.
  
  
  
• From: MS (@ 129.252.25.241) on: Tue Jul 9 15:45:30 EDT 2002
  
  Kaumudi - thx a lot for that review. I will try to obtain the CD now.
  
  Some more chitra's numbers to remember:
  
  (1) Neela raavil ninnu ninde(M) - KJY-Chitra - Shri ragam based. Composer = jhonson (I think)
  
  (2) Ponnil kuLichchu ninnu chandrika vasantham (M)- from Sallapam - KJY-Chitra (KJY is more loveable)
  
  (3) AmbiLi kala choodum nin thiru jadaiyile(M) - Awesome composition from Raveendran in the movie rajashilpi. This song starts with dhanyaasi goes to kalyaaNa vasantham and then runs to naattai kurinchi. I have nothing but praises for Chitra's rendition in this song.
  
  (4) PrEmodharaayay (M) - from movie kamaladhaLam by KJY-KSC - Set in kaambodhi. Very good composn by raveendran
  
  (5) Jaamu rathtthiri jaabilamma (tel) - SPB/KSC - A lilting number from Maragathamani in which SPB is just absolutely loveable. Chitra does the finishing touches. Though it strictly is not an out and out Chitra's number, it deserves a place in everybody's shelf. This would go as one of those simplistic, but imaginatively orchestrated by MaragathamaNiin the settings for a jungle. Movei - KshaNam KshaNam
  
  (6) kaNgaLil enna eeramo - from Uzavan by ARR. HAs a beautiful tinge of sadness and comes close to the feel of sondham vandhadhu.
  
  (7) kaaththu kaaththu - A very unconventional song from ARR from film Uzavan. the string sections and chitra's voice seem to be in a mild question answer session
  
  (8) podi nadaiya pOravare - Would not qualify as a gem but one of those songs which showed that chitra can sing with a tinge of mischief. from the movie kadalOrak kavithaigaL by IR
  
  (9) PulveLi pulveLi - Really beautiful singing by Chitra . composed by DEva, though the original is by Rod Stewart I think.
  
  (10) aalappOl velappol - set mildly in raaga maaNd, from the movie ejamaan. a very nice melody.
  
  (11) En swaasak kaatre - The intelaced humming of hitra is beautiful. Starts in mohanam and ends in neelaambari.
  
  (12) theeNdaai mei theeNdaai - Neat song set in Shree ragam. Awesome reNdition by both SPB and KSC
  
  
• From: aruvi (@ 24.102.22.125) on: Tue Jul 9 16:46:32 EDT 2002
  
  Some sweet numbers...
  
  1)Ravi varman - nice humming...(Vasanthi)
  2)Vaa Vaa Vaa Kanna Vaa - nice melody
  3)Ennuyire - nice song
  4)Methuva methuva - extremely nice
  5)Poonthendrale nee pEseeva - not too many people ever mention this song...but I really like it. The composer was SAR film was manasukkul mathaappoo.
  5)kasthuri maan kuttiya - a nice lullaby
  6)Vachan vachan manasa thiranthu vachaan - nice folk song
  7)thath thith thom - azhagan, sounds like a very difficult song but very sweet.
  
  SPB-KSC classic number in telugu "Abbanee Theeyani debba"'s Tamil version was something I really liked as a kid....goes like "Sammatham thanthudean nambu"
  
  Priya priyathama raagaalu with Mano is really good.
  
  
  Latest Mallu songs of Chithra that I like are
  1)Katte nee
  2)Yahi Raadhe
  3)Ariyaathe Ariyaathe
  4)Ente Thenkaasipenkuttiye
  5)A number with Biju Menon for the film Dhruvam...I can't recall the lyrics
  
  All time fav's in Mallu are:
  1)Kalarivizhakku
  2)Aa rathri
  3)Ponnaambal
  4)Kannaam thumbi
  5)Sangeethame
  Etc, Etc, Etc
  
  
• From: AVR (@ 143.127.3.10) on: Thu Jul 11 07:54:01 EDT 2002
  
  Are the Devadaasi songs by Sharath available anywhere on the net, please?
  
  
• From: Kaumudi (@ 136.142.153.250) on: Thu Jul 11 12:27:33 EDT 2002
  
  Here are some more chitra's telugu numbers (not present in my previous list of her songs on the first page of this thread),
  1. Moosina muthyaalakae; Brahma kadigina paadamu...Keeravani...Annamayya
  2. Ennenno andaalu...IR...Chanti (the tamil version of this song is Povomaa oorholam)
  3. Kila kilamani....IR...Coolie number one (this is a foot tapping number, some nice orchestrization by IR.
  4. Kokila ko ko kokila....IR...Kokila. Good song, vintage IR melody.
  5. Kavitha chilikindi...IR...Dance master (this is the telugu version of kavidhai kaelungal by VJ for punnagai mannan. Chitra has done a good job. You can see how young her was some 10-15 years ago. I, however, prefer VJ for this song. She was superb in the tamil version).
  6. Kannullo nee roopame....Sandeep chowtha...Ninne pelladatha. This is a GEM of a song. Lovely smooth flowing melody with beautiful rendition both by chitra and hariharan. MUST listen for all KSC fans.
  7. Brindaavanamaali...Keeravani...Tappu chesi pappu koodu. This is a decent duet with KJY based on hindolam. I didn't like the beat used for this song, though.
  8. Nammavae ammayi...Harris Jairaj....Vasu. Good, lively number. KSC's voice in this song sounds very sweet!
  9. Maeghaale thakindi....Mahesh....Preminchukundaam raa. This song reminds one of IR's music. Good song with decent lyrics.
  10. Hello hello premalekha...ARRahman...Gangmaster. One of ARR's straight telugu movie, flopped bigtime, but this is a lovely, melody-filled number. Chitra was an apt choice for this song.
  11. Edapai jaarina; Manasa veena...ARRahman...Hrudayanjali. This is the dubbed version of May maadham. The songs are Enmael vizhindha and maargazhi poovae respectively. I liked KSC (instead of the new singer in tamil) for the second song. She did really well.
  12. Pannendintiki padukunte...Vidyasagar...Neetho. Nice melody with Vijay Yesudas. The way KSC "konjifies" when she says "thannannaana thannannaana" is just too good.
  
  OK, that's already a lot for now. More later
  
  
• From: s0 (@ 128.119.85.50) on: Fri Jul 12 12:02:49 EDT 2002
  
  Good list, Kaumudi.
  Another sweet song by KSC: Yaarum Vilayaadum Thottam. Nice melody from IR. very soothing.
  
  
• From: thiru (@ 63.169.243.18) on: Fri Jul 12 16:43:59 EDT 2002
  
  One of chitra's classics is 'Edhedho ennam valarthen ' from Punnagai mannan...
  
  
• From: Kaumudi (@ 136.142.153.250) on: Fri Jul 12 18:20:49 EDT 2002
  
  Recently, I was listening to Harikrishnans' (Malayalam) songs. I am not sure if any discussion was made in this thread about the songs in this movie, but this movie has 3 nice songs sung by KSC. Real gems of songs! I think, the composer was Oesupachan (I might be wrong here!). All three of them - a) Samayamithapoorva b) Ponnambal puzhairambil and c) Poojabimbam - were rendered by Chitra beautifully. Especially in the song Ponnambal, KSC has done the alapana with gamakams in the second interlude fabulously. I simply love that song. The link is http://www.malayalavedhi.com/Music/malayalavedhi2.php?q=s&s=harikrishnans&x=0&y=0
  
  Any comments on these songs?
  
  
• From: aruvi (@ 134.117.81.81) on: Fri Jul 12 19:34:11 EDT 2002
  
  Yeah...the songs are really good. They were reviewed earlier at the time of its release in Tamil. They were very good in Tamil as well. Too bad I can't find the CD's. I know it came with some version of Padayappa. Audio distributors release the CD's in a few different combinations, and Harikrishna was one of the combination for Padayyappa.
  
  

---

List all pages of this thread

Post comments