Swarnalatha, playback singer with a difference

About the playback singer Swarnalatha of Chittur, Palakkad
I was just now listening to music when the song came out to be Mukkaala Muqablaa from the film Kadhalan of the music direction of A R Rahman.  The song was one of her hits and got her an award as well.
Swarnalatha was born in the year 1973 in the Athikode near Chittur of the Palakkad district in the state of Kerala. Her parents were K C Cherukutty and Kalyani.  Her father was a harmonium player and a singer while mother was interested in music. Swarnalatha had training in harmonium as well as keyboard. Swarnalatha started singing when she got to her teens and it was M S Viswanathan  a well known music director then gave her the first chance, after which she never looked back.

Swarnalatha in the movies

Swarnalatha was one south indian playback singer who had hits in the hindi movie world too.  Her song ' Hai rama yeh kya hua '  from the hindi movie Rangeela was a super hit which was another one from A R Rahman. She had sung many songs under the famous music directors A R rahman and Ilayaraja.
She had sung in so many languages in India namely Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, Urdu, Oriya, Bengali and many more. She has more than 7000 songs in her kitty and was just 37 years old when she passed away.  She was sick for the last year when she didn't have any assignment, she finally died on cardiac arrest because of the lung infection, which was giving her trouble every now and then.

Swarnalatha and her awards
She had got awards for many of her songs for example she got National award  for the best play back singer for the tamil song Porale Ponnuthayi  from the film Karuthamma, in the music direction of A R Rahman. A R rahman was one music director under whose music direction she had so many hits  and other memorable songs. She had a distinctive voice  and the ability to reach high octaves  quickly took her to the higher levels of the amonmg the other singers of the music industry.

National Award (Silver Lotus Award)
1995 - National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer for "Porale Ponnuthayi" from Karuththamma

State Awards1991 - Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Female Playback for "Povomma Oorkolam" from Chinna Thambi
1994 - Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Female Playback for "Porale Ponnuthayi" from Karuththamma
Tamil Nadu Government Award

1994 - Kalaimamani Award by the Tamil Nadu government for her contributions to Tamil music
Andhra Pradesh Government Award
1995 - Nandi Award for Best Female Playback Singer from the Andhra Pradesh government for her contributions to Telugu music

Filmfare Awards1994- Filmfare Best Female Playback Award for "Mukkala Mukabala" from Kadhalan
1996- Filmfare Best Female Playback Award for "Hai Rama" from Rangeela
2000- Filmfare Best Female Playback Award for "Sunta Hai" from Pukar
Other Prominent Awards1996 - Cinema Express Award for Best Female Playback Singer for "Akkadanu Nanga" from Indian
1999 - Cinema Express Award for Best Female Playback Singer for "Ulundhu Vithakkaiyilae" from Mudhalvan
2000 - Cinema Express Award for Best Female Playback Singer for "Evano oruvan" from Alaipayuthey
2002 - Cinema Express Award for Best Female Playback Singer for "Thirumana malargal" from Poovellam Un Vasam
Special Awards2002 - "Swarnalatha" (Rakkama Kaiya Thattu) song from the movie Thalapathi (1991) was the topmost in a BBC World Top Ten music poll.