Lathika ( ml, ലതിക) is an Indian

playback singer A playback singer, also known as a ghost singer, is a singer whose singing is pre-recorded for use in films. Playback singers record songs for soundtracks, and actors or actresses lip-sync the songs for cameras; the actual singer does not app ...

whose voice held sway over the music charts in the late 1980s-early 1990s in the Malayalam film industry. She has lent her voice mainly for Malayalam and Tamil film songs for over 300 films. Some of her hit songs of that time are ‘Kathodu Kathoram…' and ‘Devadoothar Padi…'(''

Kathodu Kathoram ''Kaathodu Kaathoram'' is a 1985 Indian Malayalam-language drama film, directed by Bharathan, and starring Mammootty and Saritha in the lead roles. Bharathan himself composed the title song, while the rest of the songs and background score were ...

''), ‘Poo Venam Pooppada Venam...' (''

Oru Minnaminunginte Nurunguvettam ''Oru Minnaminunginte Nurunguvettam'' () is a 1987 Malayalam-language drama film directed by Bharathan, written by John Paul and produced by M. G. Gopinath and Babu Thiruvalla. The film stars Nedumudi Venu, Sharada and Parvathy in lead roles ...

''), and ‘Tharum Thalirum...' (''

Chilambu ''Chilampu'' is a 1986 Indian Malayalam-language film. Directed by Bharathan, this film is about the revenge by a young man against his uncle who grabbed his family properties by expelling his mother and grandfather from the house. Rahman, Th ...

'').

Career

Lathika debuted at the age of 16 with the scene ''"Pushpathalpathin.."'' composed by

Kannur Rajan Kannur Rajan (24 June 1940 – 7 April 1995) was a music composer from Kerala, India. Though his songs are less in numbers, they are noted as emotional and nostalgic in the Malayalam film songs. He was the father-in-law of currently famous mu ...

for

I. V. Sasi Irruppam Veedu Sasidaran (28 March 1947 – 24 October 2017), better known as I. V. Sasi, was an Indian film director who made over 110 films predominantly in Malayalam, in addition to Tamil and Hindi languages. In 2015, he was awarded the J. ...

's ‘Abhinandam' (1976). She sang the duet with K. J. Yesudas, who, she says, has always been her mentor. Over the years Lathika also has had the "good fortune" to sing in the debut films of some of the most famous composers in Malayalam including Ravindran Master (‘Choola'), Ouseppachan (‘Kathodu Kathoram') and S.P. Venkatesh (‘Rajavinte Makan'). Although Lathika, had earlier sung playback for a number of songs and was a star on the ganamela circuit in and around Kollam and Tamil Nadu, it wasn't until she was introduced to Bharathan that she began to be noticed in the music industry. It was music director

Raveendran Madhavan Raveendran ( ml, മാധവൻ രവീന്ദ്രൻ ), (born Kulathupuzha, Kollam, 9 November 1943 – died Chennai, Tamil Nadu, 3 March 2005), fondly known as ''Raveendran Master'', was a popular South Indian music composer an ...

, who introduced her to film director

Bharathan Bharathan (14 November 1946 – 30 July 1998) was an Indian film maker, artist, and art director. Bharathan is noted for being the founder of a new school of film making in Malayalam cinema, along with Padmarajan and K. G. George, in th ...

. She sang the song ‘Varnangal Gandhangal...' in his ‘Chamaram' (1980), for which Raveendran Master composed this one song he others were composed by M. G. Radhakrishnan. Then her turn came for the music production of ‘Ithiri Poove Chuvanna Poove' (1984) when they needed a female artist to hum a pallavi. In those days S. Janaki was the reigning melody queen and such a senior artist couldn't be brought in only to hum a few lines. That's when

suggested her name. She was called for an audition and

liked her voice so much that he gave her the song ‘Pon Pularoli…' to sing. From that time onwards, Bharathan ensured that Lathika got to sing in almost all his films, such as ‘Dum Dum Dum Dhundhubinatham…' ('' Vaishali'') and ‘Hridayaraga…' (''

Amaram ''Amaram'' () is a 1991 Indian Malayalam drama film directed by Bharathan and written by A. K. Lohithadas. It stars Mammootty, Maathu, K. P. A. C. Lalitha, Ashokan, Murali, Chitra, and Kuthiravattam Pappu in the main roles. The film's score ...

''), to name a few. Her last song for him was ‘Othiri Othiri Mohangal…' in '' Vengalam''. Nilaavinte poomgavil... from the movie 'Sreekrishna Parunthu' is one of her most popular song. Her other notable songs include 'Poovulla Meda Kaanan....' from the film 'Pandu pandoru rajakumari' along with G. Venugopal, Aathma Sugandham from the movie 'Bhadrachitta' etc. Throughout her career, Lathika has had several songs credited to other singers, especially K.S. Chitra, by popular media and persons. This has been attributed to slight similarities between her songs and Chithra's. The singer has always been uncomplaining about the matter. As of August 2016, her latest rendition for a movie is for a 2016 Malayalam movie

Guppy The guppy (), also known as millionfish and rainbow fish, is one of the world's most widely distributed tropical fish and one of the most popular freshwater aquarium fish species. It is a member of the family Poeciliidae and, like almost all ...

in which she sang the song "Athiraliyum karakaviyum" along with

Vijay Yesudas Vijay Yesudas (born 23 March 1979) is an Indian playback singer and actor. He has sung over 1000 film songs. Vijay works predominantly in the South Indian film industry, mostly in Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, and Hindi. He is the son of ...

Present life

Currently she is serving as lecturer in music at the Swathi Thirunal College of Music, Thiruvananthapuram. She has been promoted as Asst. Professor and serving the same college.

References

External links

*
Lathika at MSI
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lathika Living people Singers from Kerala Indian women playback singers Tamil playback singers Malayalam playback singers Year of birth missing (living people) Musicians from Kollam Film musicians from Kerala 21st-century Indian singers 20th-century Indian singers 21st-century Indian women singers Women musicians from Kerala 20th-century Indian women singers