Sujatha Mohan is a renowned Indian

playback singer A playback singer, as they are usually known in South Asian cinema, or ghost singer in Western cinema, is a singer whose performance is pre-recorded for use in films. Playback singers record songs for soundtracks, and the performers lip-sync the ...

known for her contributions to a wide range of Indian film industries, particularly in

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, Tamil, and Telugu cinema. Over her decades-long career, she has also recorded songs in other languages including

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

, Badaga,

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, and Marathi, among others. , she had sung more than 18,000 songs.Widely celebrated as the Melody Queen of South India, Sujatha is affectionately called Bhava Gayika in Kerala for her emotive singing, and Innisai Kuyil (Nightingale of Music) in Tamil Nadu, reflecting her sweet and expressive vocal style.She has worked with a wide array of prominent music composers such as A. R. Rahman,

Ilaiyaraaja Ilaiyaraaja (born R. Gnanathesikan) is an Indian musician, composer, arranger, conductor, orchestrator, multi-instrumentalist, lyricist and playback singer popular for his works in Indian cinema, predominately in Tamil cinema, Tamil in addition ...

, M. M. Keeravani, Koti, Vidyasagar, S. A. Rajkumar, and Mani Sharma, and has frequently performed duets with legendary playback singers including K. J. Yesudas, Hariharan, and S. P. Balasubrahmanyam.Her unique voice often described as husky yet melodious along with her ability to adapt to diverse musical styles, has earned her a devoted following across generations of music lovers.

Personal life

Sujatha Mohan is the granddaughter of Paravoor T. K. Narayana Pillai, the first

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...

of the erstwhile State of Travancore–Cochin after India gained

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. Her father, the late Dr. Vijayendran died when she was two years old. She completed her graduation in Economics from the St. Teresa's College, Ernakulam. She married Dr. V. Krishna Mohan on 9 May 1981. Her only daughter, Shweta Mohan, is also a singer. Radhika Thilak and G. Venugopal are her cousins.

Vocal struggles

Sujatha Mohan experienced severe vocal issues for three years in the late 2010s. She struggled even to speak, making it impossible for her to take up singing assignments. Though she was unable to perform, she worked extensively to regain her voice and eventually resumed singing, including recording songs again.

Career

Mohan shot to fame in the seventies as ''Baby Sujatha'', the schoolgirl who regularly used to sing with K. J. Yesudas in his stage shows all over the world. She recorded her first song, "Kannezhuthy Pottuthottu" when she was in the sixth standard. The song was composed by

M. K. Arjunan Maliyekkal Kochukunju Arjunan (1 March 1936 – 6 April 2020) was an Indian film and theatre composer, known for his works in Malayalam cinema and the theatre of Kerala. He was fondly referred to as ''Arjunan Master''. Early life Arjunan was ...

for the 1975 Malayalam movie ''Tourist Bungalow''. She recorded songs for Shyam in ''Kamam Krodham Moham'' and Salil Chowdhury in ''Aparadhi''. Around this time, composer M. G. Radhakrishnan got her to record many non-film songs; the biggest hit among them was "Odakkuzhal Vili". She debuted in Tamil through the song "Kaadhal Oviyam Kandein" from '' Kavikuyil'' (1977), tuned in ''Hameer Kalyani'' raga by Illayaraja, but it was not included in the film. Her first released song in Tamil was "Kalai Paniyil" from the Tamil film '' Gaayathri'' (1977), starring Sridevi and Rajinikanth with music by Ilaiyaraja. She sang for Ilaiyaraaja in ''

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'', ''Kavikuyil'' and ''Ilamai Kolangal''. After her marriage in 1981, she took a sabbatical from playback singing. She made a successful comeback in 1988 through ''Kadathanadan Ambadi'', followed by the hit '' Chithram''. She used to sing ad jingles in the late 1980s for A. R. Rahman (such as the Premiere Cooker ad and the Tilda Rice ad). Then Rahman got her to sing " Pudhu Vellai Mazhai" from Mani Ratnam's 1992 film '' Roja'', which became one of the biggest hit songs in India. The backing vocals for the song " Kadhal Roja" were also performed by Sujatha. She has had other hit songs, most of them with Rahman from films including '' Pudhiya Mugam'' (1992), ''

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'' (1993), ''

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'' and '' Minsaara Kanavu'' (1997). She has also recorded some songs in

, including "Dil Hai Sanam" (the Hindi version of "Thee Thee") from '' Chor Chor'' (''Thiruda Thiruda''), "Ishq Bina" from '' Taal'', "Hai Jaana" from '' Pukar'' and "Ishwar Allah" from ''

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'', and provided backing vocals for the song "Tum Ho Meri Nigahom" from '' Kabhi Na Kabhi'', all of them composed by A. R. Rahman. She has had many of her notable and successful songs under the musical direction of Rahman. She made a strong comeback in the Malayalam film industry in the mid-1990s and most of her notable Malayalam songs were composed by Vidyasagar. Most of her hit songs from Telugu are composed by Mani Sharma.

Discography

Awards

Mohan has received several awards and recognitions for her work in the South Indian film musical world. She was awarded the

Kalaimamani The Kalaimamani is the highest civilian award in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. These awards are given by the ''Tamil Nadu Iyal Isai Nataka Mandram'' (literature, music and theatre), a unit of the Directorate of Art and Culture, Government ...

award by the Government of Indian state Tamil Nadu in 2021. She has also received Kerala and Tamil Nadu state awards.

Kerala State Film Awards

Tamil Nadu State Film Awards Tamil Nadu State Film Awards were given for excellence in Cinema of Tamil Nadu, Tamil cinema in India. They were given annually to honour the best talents and provide encouragement and incentive to the South Indian film industry by the Governmen ...

Kerala Film Critics Association Awards

South Indian International Movie Awards

Other prominent awards and nominations

* 1997 - Dinakaran Cinema Awards for Best Female Playback Singer - ''Surya Vamsam'' * 1997 - Cinema Express Awards for Best Female Playback Singer - ''Surya Vamsam'' * 1998 - Dinakaran Cinema Awards for Best Female Playback Singer - '' Unnidathil Ennai Koduthen'' * 2015 –

Asiavision Awards Asiavision Awards have been held annually since 2006 to honor the artistes and technicians of Indian cinema and television & is organized under the leadership of renowned journalist Nissar Syed. More than 40,000 people across United Arab Emirates ...

for Best Female Playback Singer – ''Ottamandaram'' * 2014 – Thikkurishi Award (shared with Shewta) for movie ''Ottamandaram'' * 2013 – JFW magazine Women Achievers Award * 2009 – Swaralaya Yesudas Award * 2008 – Best female singer award in GMMA (Gulf Malayalam Music Awards) * The Film Critics award 11 times * Raju Pilakkad Film Award * South Indian Bank women's achiever's award 2017 *

Mirchi Music Awards ''Mirchi Music Awards'' are presented annually by ''Radio Mirchi'' to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the Hindi language film music industry of India. The awards, given in seventeen different categories, were i ...

2018: Lifetime achievement * Kamukara Purushothaman Kamukara Award 2019: Lifetime achievement (award from P. Susheela) * Kalaimamani 2021

Malayalam album songs

* "Maathey" - (2025) * "Ilamyel Kondu Njaan" – ''Ithal'' (2016) * "Maayumee thaazvarayooram" – ''Album'' (2015) * "Vaadyaghosham" – ''Kerala Piravi Day'' (2014) * "Kanna Neeyengupoi" – ''Nandagopalam'' (2013) * "Kayalthirakalil Kanneeralakalil" – ''Kulirmazhayai'' (2011) * "Athramel Athramel" – ''Danaha'' (2011) * "Ravereyayittum" – ''Pranayamarmaram'' (2009) * "Ee Manjil" – ''Spandanam'' (2010) * "Ennennum" – (2010) * "Manju Peyyume" – ''Purple'' (2009)

TV shows

Mohan has judged popular reality shows over South Indian television across Malayalam and Tamil languages. ;As judge

References

External links

*
Mohan's official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mohan, Sujatha Living people Indian women playback singers Kerala State Film Award winners Telugu playback singers Tamil playback singers Malayalam playback singers Kannada playback singers Tamil Nadu State Film Awards winners Bollywood playback singers Film musicians from Kerala 20th-century Indian singers Singers from Thiruvananthapuram 21st-century Indian singers Women musicians from Kerala 20th-century Indian women singers 21st-century Indian women singers 1963 births St. Teresa's College alumni Kerala Film Critics Awards winners