One of the most celebrated, awarded, and popular Bollywood playback singers of her lifetime, K. S. Chithra was born Krishnan Nair Shantakumari Chithra on July 27, 1963 in Trivandrum, India. She began her professional singing career in 1979 performing songs in Malayalam for various films. After establishing herself in that language, she began performing in both Tamil and Telugu language films in the mid-1980s, and soon after that began recording in Kannada as well. She made her Hindi debut in 1991 and became an established superstar with “Kehna Hi Kya” from the 1995 movie Bombay. She made her debut LP, Ragga Ragga, in 1993, and would go on to record other albums including 2000’s Piya Basanti, and 2006’s My Tribute, which honored the work of the beloved singer M. S. Subbulakshmi. Her singularly melodic, beautiful voice as well as her loyalty to her roots in Kerala led to her nickname “Nightingale of South Africa”. Her prolific output includes a long association with the celebrated film composer A. R. Rahman, a relationship that has involved her recording over 100 Rahman compositions in over 50 different movies. Among the numerous international, national, and industry awards she has won, K. S. Chithra received the Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian honor bestowed by the Indian government, in 2021. That same year, she was still scoring charting hits in her home country such as “Yeh Haseen Vadiyan Yeh Khula Aasman”.
