It was her sister who was the cynosure of all eyes! Bina was blessed with a divine voice and graceful presence and late Krishnan Nair pinned all his hopes on the elder daughter. However, amidst all the music classes and time invested on Bina, time and again, his younger daughter Chitra would suddenly surprise him by belting out difficult Carnatic ragas with great ease. When she was in ninth standard her father applied for a Cultural Talent Search Scholarship from the central goverment and Chitra shone like a beacon at the selections. Not many people would have dreamed that the simple girl from an obsolete village in Kerala will go on to win six national awards in playback singing in 4 different Indian languages! She was initiated into film music by M.G. Radhakrishnan who had named his recording studio "Chitranjali" even before he met her. The turning point in the singer's life came from Dr. K.J. Yesudas who took her on his live concert tours all over India. Legendary music director Ilayaraja gave her the first break in Sindhu Bhairavi and Chitra won her first national award. What followed is history and offers came pouring in from cine music directors all over India. Soon, she had recorded more then 12,000 films songs in eight different Indian languages of about 4000 non-film songs.
Nightingale of the South India
`Piya Basanti Re...' is a rage all over India. The song has given an identity to the nightingale of the south, Ms K S Chitra. Though Ms Chitra has sung several songs for Hindi films, this is the first song that has catapulted her to the centrestage in Bollywood. The five time National Award singer (incidentally one of them came for the Hindi film Virasat in 1997), has got her due in Piya Basanti Re, an album by Sony Music. And she is immensely pleased with the accolades. "One is thrilled that one's voice is now immediately recognised," she says softly.
Bi Amr Al Hob..
A few weeks ago, the young Saudi singer Jawad Al Ali released his new 2009 album titled "Bi Amr Al Hob."
What distinguishes Jawad Al Ali from the scores of other Rotana-supported Khaleeji singers? This determining factor is clearly his passion for fusion and global interpretation of music. His musical style is more similar to that of the Kuwaiti group Guitara than to his fellow Saudis such as Abdo or Abdul Majeed Abdullah. Jawad most definitely isn't afraid to take advantage of the influence of the Khaleej's massive
