Music has always been a soul-soother to all. Free from the barriers of language, music is something that connects everyone. The Indian film industry is known to have some of the most amazing musical tracks. One of the hidden gems in the Indian music industry, are the south music industries.
The south industries, time and again, have given out some of the greatest talents to the music industry. Celebrating the melodies of the south industries, here is a list of five female singers from the south industries who have successfully made a mark for themselves.
KS Chithra
Singer Krishnan Nair Shantakumari Chithra, or credited as KS Chithra is a prominent name in the music industry. Over the course of her four-decade career, she has recorded over 25,000 songs in Indian languages such as Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Hindi, etc., as well as foreign languages such as Malay, Latin, Arabic, Sinhalese, English, and French. She is regarded as a cultural icon of Kerala and is affectionately referred to as the Melody Queen of Indian Cinema. Chithra has won six National Film Awards, eight Filmfare Awards South, and 36 state film awards. She has received film awards from all four southern Indian states. Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian honour, was bestowed upon her in 2021, and Padma Shri in 2005, for her invaluable contributions to the Indian musical fraternity. Chithra is the first Indian woman to be honoured by the House of Commons of the British Parliament in the United Kingdom in 2005, and she is the only Indian singer to be honoured by the Chinese government at the Qinghai International Music and Water Festival in 2009. Some of her most famous songs include ‘Chella Chella Asha’ in Malayalam, ‘Kehna Hi Kya’ and ‘Yeh Haseen Waadiyaan’ in HIndi, ‘Rukkumani Rukkumani’ in Tamil to name a few.
SP Sailaja
S. P. Sailaja, also known as Sripathi Panditaradhyula Sailaja, is a Telugu film composer and singer. Her singing career began with the film 'Shivaranjini,' directed by Dasari Narayana Rao. She has worked in the film industries of Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, and Kannada. She has also worked as a dubbing artist for films such as Ninne Pelladutha, Aavida Maa Aavide, and others. Some of her famous tracks include ‘Vannam Konda’, ‘Oru Kili Uruguthu’, ‘En Jodi Manja Kuruvi’, and ‘Jolajo Lamma Jola’ to name a few.
Bombay Jayashri
Indian musician Jayashri Ramnath, also known as Bombay Jayashri, has sung in films in several languages, including Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, and Hindi. Jayashri is the fourth generation of musicians in her family, having been born into a musical family. In 2021, she was awarded India's fourth highest civilian honour, the Padma Shri. She is one of the most in-demand Carnatic musicians today. Jayashri won the Filmfare Awards South for Best Female Playback Singer – Tamil for her popular Tamil song ‘Vaseegara from the Tamil film ‘Minnale’. She also voiced for the Hindi version of the song ‘Zara Zara’ from the movie ‘Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein’. In 2012, she collaborated with music composer Mychael Danna on "Pi's Lullaby" from the film adaptation of Yann Martel's book Life of Pi in 2012. She too has been converged upon many awards and recognitions for her music.
Chinmayi Sripada
Indian playback singer, Chinmayi Sripada, working mainly for the South Indian film industry, is also a voice actor, television presenter and radio jockey. She is the founder and CEO of Blue Elephant Translation Services. She is frequently credited as Chinmayee and Indai Haza. She rose to prominence with her critically acclaimed song ‘Oru Deivam Thantha Poovae’ from the National Award-winning film ‘Kannathil Muthamittal’. Bollywood song ‘Holi Re’ from ‘Mangal Pandey: The Rising’, marked her Bollywood debut in. She gained more fame a year later when voiced for the songs ‘Tere Bina’ and ‘Mayya’ in the film ‘Guru’. Her first foray into Kannada playback singing was with the song ‘Beda Beda’ in 2007. ‘Oru Dheivam Thantha Poove’, ‘Sahana’, ‘Vaarayo Vaarayo’, ‘Kilimanjaro’, ‘Sara Sara’, ‘Asku Laska’, and ‘Kaathale Kaathale’ are some of her most well-known songs. She has also performed in Marathi films such as ‘Sairat’. Chinmayi has over 1,000 songs to her credit in eight different languages.
Utthara Unnikrishnan
Uthara Unnikrishnan is an Indian playback singer who won the National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer at the 62nd National Film Awards in 2015 for her rendition of the song ‘Azhage’ from the 2014 Tamil film ‘Saivam’, a family drama directed by A. L. Vijay. She was the award's youngest recipient when she received it at the age of 10. She has many hits to her name that include ‘Morrakka Mattrakkaa’, ‘Eena Meena Teeka’, ‘Kaiveesum Kaatre’, ‘Seetha Kalyana Vaibhogame’ to name a few.
