Sithara (singer)

Sithara Krishnakumar (born 1 July 1986) is an Indian singer. Popularly known by her first name, Sithara is a playback singer^[2] in Malayalam who has also recorded songs for a number of Tamil, Telugu and Kannada films. Trained in Hindustani and Carnatic classical music^[3] traditions, she is also a recognised ghazal singer.^[4] She travels extensively in India and abroad and has performed at more than a hundred stage shows. Folk^[5] and fusion being her other areas of interest, she has collaborated with various popular musical bands in Kerala. She launched her musical band Eastraga^[6] which focuses on a mix of female oriented songs backed by a team of renowned musicians like Rison, Sushanth, Abhijith Sreenivasan, Paulson, Thanuj, Jitu Oommen Thomas and Sarfaraz Khan.

Personal life

Sithara was born in Kozhikode, Kerala to Dr. K. M. Krishnakumar, noted academician and his wife Saly Krishnakumar. Born into a family inclined to classical arts, Sithara was introduced to the world of music as a child and started singing at an early age of four. She attended St.Paul's Higher secondary School, Thenhipalam and Calicut University Campus School. She did her graduation in English Literature from Farook College, Feroke^[7] and went on to pursue her Master's degree in the subject from Calicut University, Kerala. She is married to Dr. M. Sajish (Clinical Cardiologist) on 31 August 2009 and is currently residing at Aluva, Kerala. The couple had a baby girl born on 9 June 2013.

Professional life

She started off her art life as a dancer and eventually became a playback singer.She was trained in Carnatic Music by Sri Ramanattukara Sathish and Palai CK Ramachandran. Sithara also received extensive education in Hindustani Classical music from Ustad Fiyaz Khan. She is also a classical dancer trained by Kalamandalam Vinodini. For her multifaceted talents, she was accoladed with the Kalathilakam title^[8] in Calicut University Arts Festival for two consecutive years(2005 and 2006). She holds Masters' degrees in Hindustani Khyal Music and Vocal Music from Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata.^[9]

Sithara performing with Shankar Mahadevan at Wayanad Maholsavam 2012

Career

Sithara started off her playback singing career in the year 2007 with the song Pammi Pammi in Vinayan's Malayalam film Athishayan. Formerly, she was the winner of several musical talent shows like Asianet Saptha Swarangal (2004), Kairali TV Gandharva Sangeetham (Seniors) and Jeevan TV Voice 2004 which served to bring her multifarious talents to the fore. She also won Jeevan TV's 20 million Apple Megastars in 2008. She has gained a good reputation as a devoted Ghazal singer and a passionate stage performer of other vocal genres. So far she has worked with noted composers like Rajamani, Ouseppachan, M. Jayachandran, G. V. Prakash Kumar, Berny Ignatius and Palash Sen and rendered her voice to over fifty film songs including Malayalam and other Indian languages. She is all set to launch a Ghazal album^[10] and her own production on ethnic music of Kerala.^[11] Her works are of various genres and conveys the deep rooted understanding of music at many different levels.^[12]

In 2017, she recorded a single titled Ente Akasham,^[13] written and composed by herself, dedicated to femininity. The work is her two-month-long effort to picturize the life of night-time female workers. It officially got released at a programme held by Kerala State Women’s Development Corporation to commemorate International Women's Day in Thiruvananthapuram.

She is set to debut as a film music composer for the film Udalazham, produced under the banner Doctor’s Dilemma - a doctor's collective which includes her husband Dr. M.Sajish.^[14]

Awards

Sithara has been recognised with several musical awards and nominations for her musical talent. She won the Kerala State Award for the Best Female Singer (2012) for 'Enundodee' from the film Celluloid.^[15] She won Baburaj Memorial Award for the Best Female Singer in 2002, Swaralaya Kairali Yesudas Award in 2004, Drishya Award^[16] for the Best Female Album Singer in 2009, Mohammed Rafi Memorial Award in 2011, Vayalar Samskarika Vedi Award in 2011, Channel-L Award,^[17] Kannur Rajan Memorial Award^[18] and "Mirchi Music Award" by Radio Mirchi for the Best Female Playback Singer in Tamil for 2012. She also got nominated for the Best Female Playback Singer Award at Star Vijay Awards and FilmFare Awards South^[19] in 2013. She received the Best Female Playback Singer award in Malayalam at South Indian International Movie Awards (SIIMA) in 2014 and Anand TV award for Best Female Playback Singer of the year in 2016. In 2017, she jointly received the Asianet Film Awards' Best Popular Duet Song^[20] with Unni Menon and Mangalam Music Awards for Best Female Singer.^[21] She also received the Best Female Playback Singer award at Red FM Malayalam Music Awards 2017.

Discography

Albums

Malayalam^[23]

Discography (other languages)

Tamil

Kannada

Telugu

Television shows

Upcoming Projects

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sithara (vocalist).

• Official Website
• Sithara Krishnakumar on IMDb
• Facebook