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

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

Responses:

From: PG (@ igw2.merck.com) on: Fri Aug 15 11:53:44 EDT 1997

I don't know if Chitra is the greatest singler. Fot that matter I don't even know what a singler is.

But IMO Chitra's voice is better any TFM singer and one of the best voices in India. But she hasn't had that many evergreen hits in TFM as compared to PS/SJ. I am probably listening to more PS/SJ than of Chitra.
From: Gopal (@ host-207-53-3-71.atl.bellsouth.net) on: Fri Aug 15 12:56:58 EDT 1997

Chitra is great, but not as great as SJanaki and PSuseela.
I love her "Naan oru sindhu" from SindhuBairavi
Haunting!!
From: Gopi SAnthanam (@ neesgate.neesnet.com) on: Fri Aug 15 13:01:53 EDT 1997

Chitra is getting better . Certainly not great.
as SJ/PS.
'Yathra mozhi' ,sirachaalai -malayalam version,
were excellent.

'Raman Abullah' has a number
'pudhidhai pookkum '.She really has sung
this song sweetly . Its a haunting song
From: Kanchana (@ ww-tp03.proxy.aol.com) on: Fri Aug 15 16:20:44 EDT 1997

I like Chitra's voice a lot, and her Thamizh pronunciation is good which is a rarity by itself nowadays. "Naan oru Sindhu" was a defining song for her; her comfort levels at the higher octaves in "Uyirae" and "anjali pushpaanjali" songs were amazing.
As an upcoming artiste, I feel she'll go a long way if her talents can be showcased better (like IR brought out the versatility in SJ better), and can be given more opportunities.
Right now there is not enough of a track record to tell if she will become a PS or SJ.
From: Gopal (@ host-207-53-6-84.atl.bellsouth.net) on: Fri Aug 15 16:30:03 EDT 1997

Gopi
The song Pudhidhaai from RAbd is really a good one. I just forgot to mention that!!!
From: easwaran hariharan (@ amex.proxy.lucent.com) on: Fri Aug 15 17:05:30 EDT 1997

What I like about chitra and the reason for starting this thread is, her voice is more consistent than SJ and PS. SJ sang some songs really bad, exposing her old voice. PS is not up to the mark, at high pitches in lot of songs. So far, I find chitra very good in all of the songs, she sang. She is also very good in singing difficult hummings. Songs like anjali, one in veera ( I could not remember it now, this is the song to introduce roja in the film), puthum pudhu boomi in TT, Dream gril in the dubbed movie idayame, idayame. she is just out of this world. I did agree that she has not given evergreen songs as SJ, PS, but to me, she is better singer than both of them. It may be too early to say, but she has long carreer ahead to justify that.

e.hari
From: Makesh Kothandaraman (@ dd36-170.dub.compuserve.com) on: Fri Aug 15 19:54:44 EDT 1997

I too agree that Chitra is the best singer in TFM
now. She has a sound classical background
having trained under Prof. Omanakutty and not only that, to my knowledge, she is the only one
in TFM to have a degree in Music. She has a
bachelor's degree from Trivandrum Music college and actually went on to pursue her masters. I am not a 100 % sure that she finished
it. One thing I should admit about her is her lack of versatility compared to SJ. I feel she can do a much better job than SJ when it comes to songs that are carnatically oriented. She has completed 10 full years in TFM now and has
given a lot of wonderful melodies like

Yedhodho Ennam VaLarthaen - Punnagai Mannan

Ninukori Varnam - Agni Nakshathram

and recently,

Pudhidhai Kaetkum - Raman Abdullah

Makesh
From: Ravy (@ ww-tc02.proxy.aol.com) on: Sat Aug 16 13:06:51 EDT 1997

I have to admit Chitra sings carnatic based TF songs much better than SJ. But Hari i don't agree with you about she is better than PS when it comes to singing in high pitch. Of course
age has caught up with PS and MDs for the last few years avoid giving PS such songs. But I know you're a '71 born and probably haven't listened to PS songs when she was in her peak. Listen to Nenjam marappadhillai and ennai yedduthu thannai koduthu (padagotti) and you'll change your opinion. Remember these songs are only a sample.
From: Aravind (@ 202.42.152.9) on: Mon Aug 18 04:29:31 EDT 1997

Topic aarambiththu reNdu naaLil kannaa pinaannu post paNNIttaangappaa!! Monday office vanthu paaththaa ..........

Coming to Chitra:

I do not like her much. EnO theriyalai. kuralil oru enthuvE illai - except few songs. No doubt she has a good voice. But romba dull. sollikkara maathiri ethum illai.

My favorite songs

EthEthO eNNam vaLarththEn - p. mannan
silu silu siluvenak kaaththu - kizhakkuk karai - Deva - Bones!! Have you listened to this song
pattu vaNNa rOsaa - jeevaa - Gangai Amaran

I totally contradict with Kanchana. Her Tamil pronounciation is horrible. In most of her songs the 'La' is pronounced as 'la'. I do not blame her for that. The MD must have taken care.

Coming to her rendering in 'anjali anjali'. I am sorry. Her high pitch was horrible. Her voice was so irritating in that portion, that I never listened it. The song, otherwise, is good.

Hari

I agree with you that she is more consistent. She has sung a couple of songs in veeraa.

malaik kOyil vaasalil for Meenaa
vaadi veththalai paakku - Roja

The former is a lovely song but vaadi veththalai is just OK.

All said and done, she is no comparison to PS or SJ.

I was not able to listen to 'uyirE' even once completely. Hariharan and Chitra competed to spoil a very nice tune and emerged successful. Not to mention about the stupid picturisation, more stupid setting and the most irritating mouth opening of Aravind Swamy. (Sorry sorry diverting).
From: Rajaraman (@ 192.122.135.224) on: Mon Aug 18 06:56:41 EDT 1997

"romba dull. sollikkira maathiri Ethum illa.."

is how I felt when I heard "poojaiketha
poovithu". But she has definitely improved
a lot these days. e.g kannaalane, pulveli.
IMO She is one of the best female singers
we got now.

"romba dull.." nichaymaa illa.

Enna aravind, mood sariyillaya.. kutti
thalli irukkiye..
From: Ravy (@ eagle.vapower.com) on: Mon Aug 18 07:40:24 EDT 1997

One of Chitra favorites is 'kuzhaloodhum kannanukku' from mella thirandadhu kadhavu.

I agree with Aravind about Anjali Anjali, high pitchil 60's PSi asaikka aaL kidaiyadhu.
From: Gopi SAnthanam (@ neesgate.neesnet.com) on: Mon Aug 18 11:03:47 EDT 1997

I agree with ARvind . Chitra destroyed that song
'anjali anjali ' .Almost screeching .

Digressing
------------
how did you find Malayaisia Vasudevans's
son . I forgot his name. Hs sings in
'poonjolai' .
The song is sweet and it goes like
'un perai kettalae edhuvum thonadhu'.
From: Sathiyamurthy (@ 152.148.41.167) on: Mon Aug 18 12:54:57 EDT 1997

I agree with Ravi. Chitra is an excellent singer and I woul prefer her to SJ. But PS is in a totally different class. Some of her songs like Nenjam marappadhillai, maalai pozhudhin (bhagyalakshmi) and vasantha kaalam varumo (marakka mudiyuma), I doubt if anybody else can sing like that, particularly so effortlessly.
From: easwaran hariharan (@ amex.proxy.lucent.com) on: Mon Aug 18 13:40:35 EDT 1997

Ravy,
I did listen to all those PS old songs, they are
great. I am not talking about 1 or 2 songs. It is about over all consistency. In that respect, PS did suck lot of songs.
Arvind,
Chitra was very much dull in initial songs, but not any more. Listen to vandhalappa in chettanam ( cute song by deva), or sindhamani in the film kilakku mugam. What about rukmani rukmani from roja. Now a days, she is singing lot of fun songs like SJ did, and in my opinion, she is doing better job. I can't tolerate SJ singing in lot of songs, because she sounds very oldish.
Vaadi vettali pakku is by swarnalatha, I think.
I differ from all of you in anjali and uyere song, She is really good, and I think only vani jayaram could have done better job. I am not chitra fanatic, though I like her better than others.
e.hari
From: Ravy (@ eagle.vapower.com) on: Mon Aug 18 15:42:02 EDT 1997

To Hari:

I gave those PSsongs only as sample (i had mentioned that earlier).I think you consider only PSs recent songs for your evaluation.

It is strange some people think Chitra doesn't have enough track record. She has been singing for more that 10 years now (from Poovae poochuda vaa) and quite prolific unlike SJ's first 10 years in the industry. I think Chitra deserves a comparison with PS and SJ.
From: Aravind (@ 202.42.152.9) on: Mon Aug 18 22:21:32 EDT 1997

Rajaraman

mood ellaam nallaaththaan irukku!! I did not like Chitra ever since 'poojaikkEththa pUvithu'. Even if she sings a thuLLal song, her value additions sound artificial. They do not blend with the song like SJ.

I have noticed that people who like PS more than SJ, like Chitra too. I have observed this trend in the tastes of many of my friends too. I will defenitely rate SJ higher than PS and so....

Ravy

I think by having a track record Chitra does not qualify to become one's favourite singer. It is a proven fact that she has a track record. But taste differs. I do not like her much. Nobody can deny that she is a successful contributor to TFM.

yappaa!! Chitraavukku periya rasigar manRamE irukkum pOla irukkE.

BTW, I have seen the name of one K.S.Chitra in few cassettes, CDs. I did not get a chance to listen to those. Are these Chitras the same?
From: Sathiyamurthy (@ 152.148.41.167) on: Tue Aug 19 13:19:19 EDT 1997

Hari
You can't dismiss the number of great songs given by PS as just 1 or 2. The list collected in another thread ran more than 200 and the fact that they are remembered even after 25-40 years speaks for their quality. Songs like vasantha kaalam varumo and ennai eduthu have almost no music at all and she has sung them so gracefully and effortlessly. I can't think of anybody else being able to do that except K.J.Jesudoss.
From: easwaran hariharan (@ amex.proxy.lucent.com) on: Tue Aug 19 16:18:27 EDT 1997

Sathiyamurthy,
I have no doubt that PS sang lot of good songs, which I probably would not have heard. The ones I listened, which I think are also popular, most of the songs I did not like. Though it is comforting to know that they are from late 60's to latest and not in 50's and 60's.. I liked lot of songs her like nenjam marapaduillai, unnai kannatha kannum, vasandhathil oru nall, alayamaniyan osai and others. There are lot of songs like punnagai mannan, unnum parthu kondu irundhal, thalatu annai unnai thalatu, naan malorodu, love birds, I did not like her voice, which is way different from her other songs. Same thing is true for janaki also. That's what I meant voice is not consistent. You can't say the same thing about chitra or for that matter vani jayaram. Their voice is always consistent. In chitra's case, lot of her good songs does not
get noticed. Everyone thinks she is only good in classical or light melodious songs. But I think she is also good in fast dance numbers also.

e.hari
From: Ravy (@ eagle.vapower.com) on: Wed Aug 20 08:23:03 EDT 1997

Hari:

After sometime it becomes pointless. Tastes differ vastly. When there is a divided opinion about even one song (anjalee, anjalee) it is impossible to get a consensus. Thanks for your input - i enjoyed it.
From: Kitcha (@ dhcp80-34.ee.ufl.edu) on: Wed Aug 20 22:03:17 EDT 1997

I know I'll receive brickbats for this but I think
Sujatha is a better singer than Chitra. And if she gets enough oppurtunities like KSC,she would
be doing great in the years to come.

Personal opinion folks.So,don't start bashing me out.
From: Aravind (@ 202.42.152.9) on: Wed Aug 20 22:59:17 EDT 1997

Hail Kitchaa

Sujatha is much better than Chitra.
From: Kanchana (@ ww-tk02.proxy.aol.com) on: Fri Aug 22 10:17:05 EDT 1997

One note to Hari on the consistency issue re PS:
In those days (do I sound like an extinct dinosaur?), playback singers did change their pitch and tonality to "fit" the actor/actresses' voices so that it seemed more "natural". You can distinctly hear the difference in pitch when PS sings for Saroja Devi (higher pitched) versus some others; TMS similarly altered his voice a bit when he sang for Shivaji versus MGR.
In the later days and today, when even dialogues are playbacks, it seems as if the voice match criterion does not exist-- so singers can sing in their "real" voices and be consistent.

In my personal opinion, PS is a great singer who has showcased her versatility over multiple decades well. Chitra has talent and is yet to prove herself in TFM.

A sideline to a discussant's comment that Chitra's Thamizh pronunciation is atrocious and she cannot differentiate between L and l---
"Mazhai thuLidhaan enna seyyumoa
Moongil Kaattinil thee vizhum pozhudhu
Moongil Kaadenru aayinaL maadhu"--L,l,zh sounds thru the song KannaaLanae were pronounced perfectly. In these days of Sun TV Thamizh where Thamizh is spoken with a western accent in TN media, it is all relative, isn't it?

Well, everything is a matter of personal taste, as the more knowledgeable people have said above!
From: Thenraja Kaliappan (@ 167.193.67.47) on: Fri Aug 22 11:42:59 EDT 1997

I have read Yesudas saying Sujatha a better singer than Chithra.
From: Shashi (@ 137.197.35.41) on: Fri Aug 22 14:38:49 EDT 1997

I completely agree with Arvind's observation that people who like PS like Chitra over SJ. I am one among these people.

I would characterize a singer by both voice quality and ability to modulate it. The first characteristic is God given/inborn/innate... whatever you want to call it. The second quality is acquired and does give a sense of personal improvisation on whatever they already have.

When you analyze singers from the above two characteristics described, IMO PS and Chitra have a great God-given melliflous voice and score higher than SJ. SJ on the other hand scores higher in the personal improvisation category. Anybody who has heard a SJ oldie by Raja "Thaam tha Theem tha, raagam uLam paadum kaaviyam...." will realize this fact and Raja did utilize SJ to his maximum taking advantage of her excellent voice modulation capabilities.

In conclusion however, I still feel PS has also demonstrated tremendous capability for voice modulation and overall she scores high in both the above categories.

Regarding pronounciation I think PS>SJ>Chitra but inspite of good prounciation at high pitches both SJ's and Vani J's words lack clarity. Chitra retains amazing clarity at high pitches and this is at times her drawback as you can still pick out even minor pronounciation problems. As far as PS the only pronounciation problem I have noticed so far is the word Ragasiyam pronounced as Regasiyam in the famous "unakku mattum unakku mattum regasiyam solven.." song.

If you listen to:
1. Un nenja thoTu chollu... in Rajathi Raja &
2. Poonkaaviyam pesum oviyam in Karpooramullai, you can compare PS and Chitra.
They both do a wonderful job. Difference PS sounds mature( don't want to say old) and Chitra sounds younger. However, PS carries the song more smoothly than Chitra. By that I mean the better singer you are the gaps between the words dont glare out to be empty spaces but are filled by sustaining/prolonging the end notes of the words. This is particularly well handled by PS.

Any comments?
From: Ravy (@ ww-tk02.proxy.aol.com) on: Sat Aug 23 08:52:46 EDT 1997

Shashi:

That was one good analysis. I agree PS's pronounciation is very good except for a few hithces here and there as you have pointed out.

There is one another PS mis-pronounciation I can recall is, PArththa gyabagam illaiyo from Pudhiya paravai: instead of pArththa PS pronounced that as pArdha. This may be due to
the character (sowkar janaki singing in a night-club) for which PS was rendering her voice.
From: Pagalavan (@ batboy.cisco.com) on: Sat Aug 23 12:12:48 EDT 1997

Sashi:
Good to see your mention about "thaam thaa theemthaa.." song of "palil oru iravu". This is the first song written by IR himself in TFM.

While comparing pronunciation skills of PS,SJ and Chitra, my observation is that SJ always sings "senDRu" as "shenDRu" and more like that..in many songs. Ofcourse, she has the excellent modulations (among the three). Have you noticed these little annoyance in SJ's songs ??
From: Thomas (@ access-isdn1-12.oz.psu.edu) on: Sat Aug 23 23:29:51 EDT 1997

Hari:
Chithra is one of the greatest female singers of our time!!! She is more versatile than any others old or new. How many other female singers from the south has managed to sing in Tamil, Malayalam, Telungu, Hindi and even Oriya. She reigns supreme in Tamil and Malayalam! She is gaining enormous popularity in the Hindi industry these days also, her recent ventures in Ziddi and Pardes prove that. She has won her 4th National Award this year for her brief but electrifying part in "Maana Madhura" from 'Minsara Kanavu.' Chithra has won the Kerala state award for 10 years in a row. Her octaves soar beyond limits, "Anjali, Anjali" and "Uyire Uyire" prove that! As for her pronounciation, the girl is a Malayalee, but she probably pronces better Tamil than the "Sun TV Tamizh" generation. Listen to the way her voice soars in "Maana Madhura". WOW!!! Chithra has yet to conquer the Hindi industry, but she is definitely on her way. Judging from her popularity she is the undisputed queen of Tamil and Malayalam music!!! And this years national award is another jewel in the crown of the amazing K.S.Chithra!
From: Aravind (@ 202.42.152.9) on: Sun Aug 24 23:34:20 EDT 1997

Shashi

100% right. SJ lacks clarity in many songs. Whenever she is overcome with enthu in the fast paced songs, she loses clarity.

Your other obsevation of 'gaps' in Chitra's songs was also a nice one. I am very much irritated when I listen to such songs. Chitra gives no value additions to the song.

One more song where PS might have slipped,

thanimayilE inimai kaaNa mudiyumaa?
nalliravinilE sooriyanum theriyumaa

PS says 'nalliravu' instead of 'naLLiravu'. (You may argue that 'nalliravu' (good night!!!) also makes sense.)

Pagalavan

SJ does a lot of such things. Her Telugu accent is seen (heard) in many songs - 'sha' replacing 'sa'. In the song 'nIlak kuyilE' (magudi), she sings 'paadhuvEn' instead of 'paaduvEn'. You need to listen to this song in a Walkman to decipher this.

Thomas

Chitra is a good singer by all means. No doubt about that. Just because she has sung in more than 4 languages, it does not mean that she is good. Even if she sings well in one language, she can be considered a good singer. Chitra succeeds in that.

I double-checked with many of my Telugu friends and they are satisfied with her Telugu pronounciation also. Though I am not satisfied with her Tamil, she is FAR better than present day singers. Her mistakes are not done purposely and she can be excused for that. Singers introduced by ARR, including himself, purposefully pronounce Tamil in a wrong way which is very, very irritating.

BTW, thank you for clarifying (though not directly) that Chitra and K.S.Chitra are the same.
From: Kitcha (@ dhcp232-185.eel.ufl.edu) on: Wed Aug 27 15:23:18 EDT 1997

Aravind:
I tune in rather infrequently into this page.Came to see your reply just now.Thanks a lot and if I could borrow your expression...
Hail Aravind (and Sujatha too!)
From: srini (@ 1cust40.max2.cleveland.oh.ms.uu.net) on: Tue Sep 2 22:25:54 EDT 1997

Just a day ago while listening to Uyire in my car( after a long time) I was nearing my home but I chose to drive an extra block to let the song finish. She is undoubtedly the singer of present and future. SJs versatility is unbeatable though. . She can sing a carnatic song as proficiently as a silukku song .
From: V.J. Mathew (@ 202.141.3.9) on: Thu Mar 19 04:33:51 EST 1998

Chitra is simply fantastic!
From: max (@ olt27pub162.bluewin.ch) on: Thu Mar 19 11:22:05 EST 1998

Do you know a kind of hat called chitra(s)?
Please help me to find! Thanks, max.
From: aruvi (@ ww-tb01.proxy.aol.com) on: Tue Mar 31 02:33:20 EST 1998

Chitra happens to be one of the best female singers of India. This is not to say that the other singers are not good. Different people have different tastes. Susheela was great. So was Janaki. After these two, Chitra came to be the most prominent singer in TFM. The woman holds a lot of respect for her senior singers. She is crazy about Janaki. Sha has said that. As far as singing good songs, she has sung many. In the olden days few songs came out with few singers. This not the case now. People tend to forget the songs since they keep hearing new ones all the time. Also, try to compare the lyrical quality of the songwriters of the olden days to what we have now. Susheela and Janaki both became stars in a time period where there was not mush competition. Like some of you have said,she may not be everyone's favourite. But that doesn't give us the right to make a judgement on how good a singer she or anyone else is. It is up to the MD's to compose hit songs. The singers sing what and how they are told to. They are not given there own choice. What I have said above was a way to justify the position of not just Chitra but every singer in the TFM industry.
From: aruvi (@ ww-tb01.proxy.aol.com) on: Tue Mar 31 02:35:05 EST 1998

Chitra happens to be one of the best female singers of India. This is not to say that the other singers are not good. Different people have different tastes. Susheela was great. So was Janaki. After these two, Chitra came to be the most prominent singer in TFM. The woman holds a lot of respect for her senior singers. She is crazy about Janaki. She has said that. As far as singing good songs, she has sung many. In the olden days few songs came out with few singers. This is not the case now. People tend to forget the songs since they keep hearing new ones all the time. Also, try to compare the lyrical quality of the songwriters of the olden days to what we have now. Susheela and Janaki both became stars in a time period where there was not mush competition. Like some of you have said,she may not be everyone's favourite. But that doesn't give us the right to make a judgement on how good a singer she or anyone else is. It is up to the MD's to compose hit songs. The singers sing what and how they are told to. They are not given there own choice. What I have said above was a way to justify the position of not just Chitra but every singer in the TFM industry.
From: G. Varghese (@ 142.194.172.217) on: Mon May 11 00:25:47 EDT 1998

I wonder whether anyone still reads this thread!

Chitra has won the 1997 national award for best female vocalist for her song in the Hindi film VIRASAT. This movie is a re-make of THEVAR MAGAN
and is directed by Priyadarshan.
From: ananda.um (@ 202.185.108.224) on: Tue Jun 30 21:52:06 EDT 1998

For me many of her songs are dead I mean there is no life in it there is no feeling, involvement like how SJ would do in her songs. She is a very good singer but I listen to songs that evoke mood and feling not songs which has great precision in its quqlity or so! For me SJ is the best and tha very best!

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