Legendary singer KS Chithra stepped away from music after her eight-year-old daughter Nandana died. Lata Mangeshkar and Ilaiyaraaja helped her return to the stage. Chithra shared, "Ilaiyaraaja Sir had asked me to come for rehearsals. He said if I didn't come, he would cancel the programme." She eventually resumed singing.
After losing her eight-year-old daughter Nandana, legendary singer KS Chithra stepped away from music. Lata Mangeshkar and Ilaiyaraaja guided her back to the stage.
Although legendary playback singer KS Chithra lit up our lives with her spellbinding voice and timeless songs, even helping us through our darkest days, nothing prepared her for the loss of her dear daughter. For Chithra and her husband, Vijay Shankar, Nandana arrived as a blessing in 2002, many years after their marriage. However, they could only be with her for eight years before losing her in a tragic mishap.
Chithra, whose name was synonymous with music, was shattered and could not return to the spotlight for quite some time. However, the "Nightingale of India" Lata Mangeshkar played a key role in bringing Chithra, lovingly referred to as the "Nightingale of Malayalam," back to the public eye. But she still couldn't resume singing. It was "Isaignani" Ilaiyaraaja who guided her back to the realm of music.
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"Ranjini Haridas (television presenter and YouTuber) and Vijay TV's Ravoofa were among those who put in significant effort to bring me back. They said they would start shooting (various shows Chithra was part of) only after I returned. Asianet channel used to send Ranjini to me every month to convince me. I didn't want to come back at all at that time. That's when I was selected for an award in Lata ji's name. It was in Hyderabad. I was not in the mental state to go. Lata ji called and said, 'You must definitely go; I will come too.' But I didn't sing even then," Chithra shared during an interview with Dhanya Varma earlier this year.
She continued, "I actually didn't sing for quite a while. I sang later after a big break. Ilaiyaraaja Sir's concert in Chennai marked my return. My sister (Beena) and my sister-in-law (Raji) stayed at our home for three to four months (after Nandana's death) until the time I started going for recordings."
How Ilaiyaraaja refused to hold concert without Chithra
"Ilaiyaraaja Sir had asked me to come for rehearsals. I said I couldn't come and that I should be allowed to stay at home for at least a year. He said if I didn't come, he would cancel the programme. Maybe he said that just to bring me, but he did say it. It had only been three months since his wife (Jeeva) died. Six months had passed since my daughter Nandana's death. 'The person who lived with me for over 30 years is gone. Yet, didn't I come for the programme? You shouldn't think like that; you must come,' he said," Chithra recalled.
Opening up about the tragedy and how music helped her continue her life after Nandana's death, she told Onmanorama in a 2021 interview, "I cannot say that I have come out of it. In fact, I keep fleeing from those memories. I am still haunted by them. But I try not to think about it by concentrating on my job. I can only keep them aside, as I can never be liberated from that grief. They won't leave me until I breathe my last."
Chithra on coping with her daughter's death
She added, "I believe that the prayers of lots of people are with me. It must be because of the grace of those prayers that opportunities came my way even after that tragedy, and I was able to sing again. I shudder to think how I would have survived those times if I didn't have any programmes or recordings. God has blessed me abundantly during those difficult times too. I am always thankful to the Lord Almighty for that."
"Lots of mothers who suffer the same grief share their stories with me. They often ask me how I have managed to come out of the pain. I haven't come out; instead, I try to forget everything by getting busy with something. There is no other way than that. My heart fills with pain, and my eyes tear up if I am sitting alone, even for a minute. That grief (over my daughter's death) is something that is unforgettable," she said.
According to a PTI report from 2011, Nandana, the playback singer's eight-year-old daughter, drowned in a swimming pool in a villa in Dubai on April 14 that year. Chithra had arrived in Dubai to participate in a concert organised by AR Rahman in Sharjah. The child studied at a school in Chennai.