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Chitra - Greatest female singler ever to grace TFM?. Is she better than SJ,PS and others?.

Topic started by easwaran Hariharan (@ amex.proxy.lucent.com) on Fri Aug 15 11:43:59 EDT 1997.
All times in EDT +9:30 for IST.

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Responses:

• Old responses
  
• From: Srikanth (@ 75.minneapolis-06.mn.dial-access.att.net) on: Tue Jun 30 22:49:33 EDT 1998
  
  Hi,
  Any day chitra has a much better sweet voice than SJ.
  ,she has more feel or jeevan or life than SJ, SJ often sounds screachy... More than her voice, Raja had a big hand in SJ growth.
  I would say Chitra - the successor to P.Susheela.
  
  Srikanth
  
  
  Srikanth
  
  
  
• From: Srinath (@ 173-61-188.ipt.aol.com) on: Wed Jul 1 00:38:16 EDT 1998
  
  Srikanth:
  I disagree with you. Though Chitra has a sweeter voice, she has not matched SJ's expressions, atleast until now. Prime examples would be "Katril Yendan Geetham", "Oh ! ho Megham vandado" and my personal favourites, "Chinna Chinna Vanna Kuyil" and "Kannan Vandu Paaduginran".
  
  In fact, in all the above songs there are particular phrases where SJ's expression lift the song beyond the song's zenith.
  
  "Katril Yendan Geetham" - Beginning humming and '...nil enru sonnal manam, ninral podum...'
  
  "Oh! ho Megham Vandado" - '...kaalgal engeyum pogalaam, kaadal illamal vaazhalam, vanna minnalgalai ninradalaam, vazhvin sangeetham paadalam...', especially in the vanna
  "Chinna Chinna Vanna Kuyil" - '...menikkul kaatru vandu...', nejamave menikul katru vara madiri irukkum !
  
  "Kannan Vandu Paaduginran" - the whole song...SJ perfectly renders the sophistication that ought to go with a song like this !
  
  Chitra is no doubt a great singer, probably even a more qualified one. But where TFM is concerned, she is no match for SJ.
  
  BTW, SJ is supposed to be a horrible stage singer. The one stage program of her's that I saw on T.V was one that took place in Colombo and her singing was unsagikkable in that.
  
  P.S: IMHO, she even overshadowed KJY in "Vellai Pura Onru...". I consider her to be the female SPB :-)
  
  
• From: Srinath (@ 173-61-188.ipt.aol.com) on: Wed Jul 1 00:39:23 EDT 1998
  
  Closing italics
  
  
• From: badri raghavan (@ 206.103.12.125) on: Wed Jul 1 00:41:40 EDT 1998
  
  hi,
  
  i was mildly surprised to see so many entries in such a short time but then i realised that this thread has been given a fresh lease of life.
  
  chitra is a good singer, probably very good but should she be compared to susheela or janaki? or for that matter, why is there an excessive obsession of comparison in this forum? i liked the threads of "stranger in the mirror" where the strengths and weaknesses of arr and ir were discussed threadbare without comparison.
  
  in that vein, let us analyse clinically the merits and areas of improvement (euphemism for weakness) of chitra without any comparison.
  
  Strengths:
  1. she has a fine voice and well trained, that too in classical music.
  2. she has very good sruti sense
  3. her sangathis appear very effortless
  
  Areas of improvement:
  
  1. she has no control over her breath (listen to nee oru kadal sangeetham and you will hear gasps of breath after every line of chithra)
  2. she seems to have a very objective relationship with the song in the sense that her attachment levels seem less than desired. one cannot prove but only sense emotional involvement (or the lack of it) with the delivery.
  
  imho, she is an excellent find of raaja and has certainly assumed the mantle of the lead singer in tfm (my exposure to malayalam is limited and so i do not consider myself competent) but let us not brand her as the all time best.
  
  
• From: SRIKANTH (@ 174.minneapolis-06.mn.dial-access.att.net) on: Wed Jul 1 08:51:37 EDT 1998
  
  Hi,
  So you say SJ's live voice is unstandable, I also said the same - I have worked for many recordings which is also live!, I cannot stand her voice!, her voice is nothing but a screeechy sound.
  My opinion is only handfull of Raja songs of hers sounds good!.
  Chitra is more natural and melodies..more feel.
  
  No chance - Lady SPB is too much for SJ,
  She has also a crazy policy of not to sing for new Mds, they have to complete atleast 2 movies to book SJ. (BTW : Ar has used her only once that too because of Shanker).
  
  In simple words - Without Raja no SJ.
  Srikanth
  
  Srikanth
  
  
• From: raja m (@ spider-tj014.proxy.aol.com) on: Wed Jul 1 09:11:02 EDT 1998
  
  Srikanth:
  
  I too share your opinion. SJ has a screechy voice, while Chitra's voice is powerful and very pleasing to hear. SJ owed her success to IR and yes some of her songs were great. On stage SJ would sing like a robot, no movement other than her lips.
  
  When comparing Chitra to PS, my vote is for PS, she has contributed much more to TFM in terms of quality songs.
  
  
• From: Ramki (@ dante.cs.wmich.edu) on: Wed Jul 1 14:24:33 EDT 1998
  
  Srikanths ARR has used SJ more than once (Gentleman,Kaadhalan,Super Police,Rangeela(tamil version))
  
  
• From: SRIKANTH (@ 161.225.48.3) on: Wed Jul 1 14:49:25 EDT 1998
  
  Hi Ramki,
  Once - is a typo, AR has used SJ because of shanker..
  I am sorry, I am working from office!
  Srikanth
  
  
• From: Giridarapuram Suresh (@ begis50.swift.com) on: Wed Jul 1 14:50:04 EDT 1998
  
  Guys not only chithra no one so far reached the heights of SJ and no one can match her. Right from 'Singara Velane' days to 'Oru nall..' from Devadhai she has produced varities in the way she sings, I can start quoting songs but that goes a big list, one song 'Putham pudhu Kaalai' is a sample 'Oru Paanai Sothukku ...' , Please don't ever compare other singers with the genius. Chithra is very good as for as her voice is concenred but still she is far far away from SJ.
  
  
• From: ananda.um (@ 202.185.107.190) on: Thu Jul 2 01:19:53 EDT 1998
  
  A singer does not mean only singing is concerned.I think a great singer is someone who could evoke certain feeling after listening their songs. For that matter there is no one could ever match her in songs like nallathor veenai (marubadiyum),katril yenthan geetham(jonny), chinna thayaval(thalabathi), thene thenpandi(udaya geetham),puthan puthu kaalai(Alaigai O) and tell me who in the world could sing so lively a song like ponmeni uruguthe(moondram pirai)??????
  
  She is definitely could not be compared with anyone. She fits perfectly into the female SPB title.
  
  About her voice, I think you people are judging her now rather than her in peaks. she did not come so smoothly like how all those you all are comparing, do you all ever know that she had chronic asthma in the 60's and 70's? She even wanted to commit suicide at that time!!!
  
  Now she is old and her voice has deteriorated after all these years. i wondwr how Chitra's consistenty going to last after 20 years or so?
  
  I personally think that her song are alive, full of involvement and emotion is undividable for her style of singing. Chitra sing extremely well concentrating in her pitch, raga and precision not in the mood and love for a song!!!!!
  
  
• From: ananda.um (@ 202.185.107.190) on: Thu Jul 2 01:21:31 EDT 1998
  
  By the way wondwr is not a French word but simply means wonder!OOOps!
  
  
• From: Veera Akkoor (@ 1cust161.tnt2.det1.da.uu.net) on: Sat Jul 4 13:54:40 EDT 1998
  
  SJ had a versatile voice. What I mean by that is she could sing for any age group. Ex "Amma nee enge" from "Rusi Kanda poonai" and "daddy daddy" from Mouna Geethalgal. It was a great asset to IR and others. Moreover who can forget the lingering melodies of SJ in "Sendoorapoove" and "Annakili". I would say IR had a big hand in SJ's growth. The irony being SJ got her National Award for "Singaravelane thro MSV( I think). Anyway SJ and SPB were the golden duet pair of TFM after TMS and PS. SJ's Telugu numbers were marvellous.
  
  Coming to Chitra no doubt she is a good singer,but her pronounciation is very accented. It is a pity all three female leads are either from Andhra or Kerala. Her songs in Malayalam were good especially from "Kalapani". She is I think more of a classical mould.
  
  PS is the only natural voiced singer in the TFM I presume apart from Vani Jayaram. She no doubt has class but her voice is sterotyped and the voice graph is pretty standard unless exploited by MD's like MSV and KVM. IR has also tried a great number with PS. "Vatapathra Sai"from "Swathimuthyam". "Padavandador Gaanam" from "Ilamai kalangal".
  
  The next female lead I would appreciate is "Vani Jayaram". You cannot expect anyone to fit the slot of Vani. Can you forget" Yezhu Swarangalukul" or "Naadham ennum Koyil"? Vani's duet with KJY in Andaman Kaadali was a gem. Vani Jayaram had the wide knowledge to sing various languages. She sang in Hindi. How many of us know she even sang in "Oriya".? I have heard many of her songs in Oriya.
  
  I am surprised so far no one mentioned Vani's name.
  
  My vote would be
  
  1.Vani 2. PS 3. SJ 4.Chitra.
  
  Thanks
  
  Veera Akkoor.
  
  
• From: M.Muhelen ,Malaysia (@ 202.188.179.195) on: Tue Jul 28 02:32:29 EDT 1998
  
  Hello I'm new to this column.Hope you'll accept me.
  
  Actually SJ is a great singer.No one can challange her.Even Kamal prefer to sing with her.
  
  Is there any one not agree with me after listening to "Kanmani Anbodu" from Guna,"Sunthari Neeyum" from MMKM and "Inji Iduppalaki" from Thevar Magan.
  
  
• From: Vasanth (@ mira.cc.umanitoba.ca) on: Tue Jul 28 10:54:21 EDT 1998
  
  Iam glad that atleast there was one soul (Veera Akkor) who appreciates Vani Jayaram. True she has been one of the gifted singers-trained in both Carnatic and Hindustani music. When she sang her first song under the tutelage of Vasant Desai in the Hindi film-Guddi, she did create a big sensation winning the Tansen award, for which one of Lata's song too was in the competition. Lata was indeed paranoid about Vani's success and made sure that she quit Bombay. Vani sang for a brief time in Hindi with almost all the famous MDs, she even sang for the fim Pakeezah with Naushad (the song was never featured in the fim). I think it was MSV who introduced her to TFM. Her first song in Tamil-Malligai fetched her the National award.
  Even on the other day when I was listening to the song-Kelungal kavithai-from Punnagai Mannan, no one except Vani could have done justice to this fast paced song with a lot of modulations. All her songs with Shankar -Ganesh were gems. They made sure that she sang atleast one song in all their films. I wish she contd. singing in Tamil films. I guess right now she is more into bhajans and kirtans. Even her songs in the fim Meera(MD-Pt. Ravishankar)fetched her an award. I do like SJ a lot but I woudl also consider Vani to be one of the great singers of TFM.
  
  
• From: Vani_fan (@ 203-18-225.ipt.aol.com) on: Tue Jul 28 21:37:52 EDT 1998
  
  Thanks to Veera Akkoor and Vasanth for mentioning Vani. Somehow
  Vani Jayaram didnt get the attention and fame she
  deserves.
  
  

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