K. S. Chithra Age, Husband, Children, Family, Biography & More

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Hometown: Trivandrum

Husband: Vijayashankar

Age: 60 Years

Bio/Wiki
Nickname(s)	• Chinnakuyil (Little Nightingale of South India) • Melody Queen of Indian Cinema
Profession	Playback Singer
Physical Stats & More
Height (approx.)	in centimeters- 163 cm in meters- 1.63 m in feet & inches- 5’ 4”
Weight (approx.)	in kilograms- 80 kg in pounds- 176 lbs
Eye Colour	Black
Hair Colour	Black
Career
Debut	Film: Pranaya Vasantham song in the Malayalam language film Njan Ekananu (1982) Single: Padalenu Pallavaina Telugu song from the dubbed version of Tamil film Sindhu Bhairavi(1985) Album: Adhputham (1986) (Telugu)
Awards, Honours, Achievements	Government of India Awards • 2005: Padma Shri • 2018: Rashtrapati Award by the Ministry of Women and Child Development • 2021: Padma Bhushan National Film Awards (Best Female Playback Singer) • 2004: Song - OvvoruPookkalume – Film: Autograph – Language: Tamil • 1997: Song - Payalein Chun Mun – Film: Virasat – Language: Hindi • 1996: Song - Maana Madurai – Film: Minsaara Kanavu – Language: Tamil • 1989: Song - Indupushpam Choodi Nilkum Raathri – Film: Vaishali – Language: Malayalam • 1987: Song - Manjal Prasadavum – Film: Nakhakshathangal – Language: Malayalam • 1986: Song - Padariyen Padippariyen, Naan Oru Sindhu – Film: Sindhu Bhairavi – Language: Tamil State government awards • 1997: Kalaimamani Award by the Government of Tamil Nadu • 2011: Bharath Ratna Lata Mangeshkar Award by the Government of Andhra Pradesh • 2014: Kerala Samsthana Vanitha Rathnam (Kamala Surayya Award) by the Government of Kerala • 2018: Harivarasanam Award by the Government of Kerala Lifetime Achievement awards • 2003: Lifetime Achievement Award from Global Malayali Council London • 2003: Swaralaya Yesudas Award • 2017: V.C. Padmanabhan Memorial Award • 2019: Most Socially Committed Lifetime Achievement Award – Ishal Laila Awards 2019, Dubai • 2021: Mirchi Music’s Lifetime Achievement Award Filmfare Awards South (Best Female Playback Singer) • 2004: Language: Telugu – Song: Nuvvostanante – Film: Varsham • 2006: Language: Malayalam – Song: Kalabham Tharam – Film: Vadakkumnadhan • 2006: Language: Kannada – Song: Araluva Hoovugale – Film: Autograph • 2008: Language: Malayalam – Song: Oduvil Oru – Film: Thirakkatha • 2009: Language: Malayalam – Song: Kunnathe Konnakyum – Film: Pazhassiraja • 2013: Language: Telugu – Song: Seethammavaakitlo – Film: Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu • 2016: Language: Telugu – Song: Ee Premaki – Film: Nenu Sailaja • 2017: Language: Malayalam – Song: Nadavathil – Film: Kambhoji • 2022: Language: Malayalam – Song: Theerame – Film: Malik MTV Award • 2001: MTV International Viewer’s Choice Award for the album ‘Piya Basanti’ Limca Book of Records • 2001 - National Excellence Award
Personal Life
Date of Birth	27 July 1963 (Saturday)
Age (as of 2023)	60 Years
Birthplace	Trivandrum, Kerala
Zodiac sign	Leo
Nationality	Indian
Hometown	Trivandrum
College/University	• University of Kerala • Sathyabama University, Chennai • International Tamil University, United States
Educational Qualification	• A master’s degree in music • Honorary doctorate from Sathyabama University, Chennai (2011) • Honorary doctorate from the International Tamil University, United States (2018)
Religion	Hinduism Note: She is a devotee of Lord Krishna and always carries a miniature temple with her whenever she travels.
Food Habit	Vegetarian Note: She used to follow a non vegetarian diet initially but was always disgusted by the bones and thorns in it. Therefore, she switched to a complete vegetarian.
Relationships & More
Marital Status	Married
Marriage Date	Year, 1988
Family
Husband/Spouse	Vijayashankar
Children	Son- None Daughter- Nandana (2002-2011) Note: Nandana was born with a genetic disorder called Down’s syndrome. On 14 April 2011, she passed away after accidentally drowning in a pool in a private villa at Emirates Hills, Dubai.
Parents	Father- Krishnan Nair (musician and teacher) Mother- Santhakumari (actress)
Siblings	Brother- Mahesh (guitarist) Sister- K. S. Beena (singer)

Some Lesser Known Facts About K. S. Chithra

In 1978, K. S. Chithra qualified for the National Talent Search Scholarship programme, a central government programme, in which she received training for vocal classical music and was trained by Professor K. Omanakutty.

K.S. Chithra with her teacher Professor K. Omanakutty
During her graduation, she was one of the toppers of her university and was ranked third in her university.
Initially, she received training from her father as he was also a musician and thereafter developed an interest in singing.
K. S. Chithra was introduced to Malayalam playback singing in 1979 by M. G. Radhakrishnan. Soon, she signed many singing assignments for private albums and various Malayalam films such as Attahasam, Snehapoorvam Meera, and Njan Ekananu.
She achieved a breakthrough in her career after she performed alongside K. J. Yesudas, one of the greatest singers in the history of Indian music, at a few live concerts.
In the early 1980s, she worked with many veteran music directors such as Ravindran, Shyam, Jerry Amaldev, Kannor Rajan, and Johnson who later helped her get more singing projects.
By the mid-1980s, Chithra had become a household name and one of the most desirable female singers in the Malayalam music industry.
She made her debut in the Tamil music industry alongside Ilaiyaraaja and later recorded many other songs in Tamil that were composed by Ilaiyaraaja.

K. S. Chithra with Ilaiyaraaja
In 1985, she recorded her first Hindi language song which was composed by S. P. Venkitesh, but it was never released.
She holds the record for being the female singer to sing the maximum number of Tamil songs composed by A. R. Rahman .
K. S. Chithra’s first original Telugu song was ‘Abba Daanisoku’ from the film Aakhari Poratam (1988).
In 1989, she gained popularity amongst the Telugu-speaking people after the release of the song Jallanta Kavvinta from the movie Geethanjali.
In 1993, she recorded her first album, ‘Ragga Raaga,’ which featured Voodoo Rapper.
K. S. Chithra has featured alongside Lata Mangeshkar , Pankaj Udhas , Ghulam Ali , and Asha Bhosle in various ghazal albums.

K. S. Chithra (left) along with Asha Bhosle
In 2000, she signed a contract with Sony Music as one of their exclusive artists.
As an exclusive artist for Sony Music, she released two superhit pop albums titled Piya Basanti, and Sunset Point.
She became widely known after the release of the album ‘Piya Basanti’ and came to be known as ‘Piya Basanti Chitra’ in the northern region of India. For the Piya Basanti album, she worked alongside Ustad Sultan Khan.
She has performed at various live concerts alongside singers such as S. P. B. Charan , S. P. Sailaja, Sunitha Upadrashta Karthik, and Shweta Mohan.

K. S. Chithra performing at a live concert
In 2006, she dedicated an album named ‘My Tribute’ to M. S. Subbulakshmi, the first musician to be awarded Bharat Ratna. The album contains a collection of songs dedicated to Subbulakshmi.
In 2009, she performed a rendition of ‘Tunga Tarange Gange’ at the Qinghai International Musical Journey on Water and Life concert.
In 2009, she dedicated an album named ‘Nightingale: A Salute to Lataji’ as a tribute to Lata Mangeshkar on her 80th birthday.
Her song Chinna Kuyil Paadum from the film Poove Poochudava, which was released in 1985, earned her the title of ‘chinnakuyil’ (Little Nightingale of South India).
In an interview, she mentioned that she aimed to become a music teacher, but she eventually became a playback singer.
The first ever song she recorded was a riddle song, which was recorded at a studio in Thiruvananthapuram.

K. S. Chithra at her first song recording
She has sung over 25000 songs in various Indian languages such as Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Hindi, Oriya, Bengali, Bhaduga, and Punjabi. She has also sung in various other languages such as Latin, Arabic, Sinhalese, English, and French.
According to Chithra, she gets nervous every time she has to perform live on a stage even after being in the music industry for more than four decades.
She enjoys learning new languages. She learnt the basics of Telugu from the legendary playback singer Balasubrahmanyam , and Tamil from Latika, a singer.
She practised her Tamil pronunciation by listening to cassettes of S Janaki, an Indian playback singer.
As an ardent devotee of Lord Krishna, she has sung many kirtans on Lord Krishna, which are included in the album ‘Krishnapriya.’

K. S. Chithra performing a song from the album Krishnapriya
She is the only singer from India to perform live in the House of Commons, London.
In 2001, she became the first Indian female singer from South India to perform live in the Royal Albert Hall, London. She was titled the Golden Voice of India by the Royal Albert Hall.
According to K. S. Chithra, her favourite song amongst all her national award-winning songs is the ‘Paadariyen Padippariyen’ song from the Tamil film ‘Sindhu Bhairavi.’
According to K. S. Chithra, her top 3 favourite songs from all of her songs are ‘Varmukelae’ from the film “Mazha,” ‘Ethetho Ennam Valarthean’ from ‘Punnagai Mannan,’ and ‘Khanahai Kiya’ from ‘Bombay.’
In 2001, she became the first singer from South India to get the MTV Award.
K. S. Chithra has served as a member of the judge’s panel on various reality TV shows like Idea Star Singer, Josco Indian Voice, and Airtel Super Singer Junior.
From 1985 to 1995, she won the Best Playback Singer at the Kerala State Awards 11 times in a row. She has won the reward 16 times and is the highest recipient of Kerala State Awards.
She holds the record for being the oldest singer to win the Filmfare Awards South at 59 years of age for the Malayalam song ‘Theerame’ and also the oldest nominated female singer ever at the age of 59 for the Tamil song ‘Yennuyire.’
She holds the record of receiving the highest number of national awards won by a female singer in India.
On completion of her 40 years in the Indian film industry in 2019, she was honoured by Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi, sovereign ruler of the Emirate of Sharjah.
In 2003, she became the first Indian woman to be honoured by the British Parliament at the House of Commons in the United Kingdom.
In 2009, her song ‘Kannalane (Kehna Hi Kya)’ from the film Bombay (1995) was included in The Guardian’s “1000 Songs Everyone Must Hear” list.
In 2012, she launched a fundraising organisation, Sneha Nandana, with Asianet Cable Vision (ACV) on completion of her three decades in the music industry to support musicians who’ve retired due to financial or health issues.

K. S. Chithra at an event organised by ACV Snehanandana Charitable Trust
According to Chithra, being in a cinema hall hampers her singing quality due to which she never goes to a cinema hall before any live performances.
During the COVID-19 lockdown, she created a separate album, Loka Samastha Sukhino Bhavanthu, to do online concerts for charity purposes and gave some music lessons to kids.
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