Oct 16, 2010 12:57 AM
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(Updated Nov 23, 2010 05:33 AM)
About Chitra: Chitra Singh is a renowned Indian Urdu/Hindi ghazals singer. She is married to Jagjit Singh, who is also a prominent ghazal singer.They form a highly popular duet team and are considered pioneers in modern ghazal singing. Chitra was a very versatile artist. Her hobbies range from Music, Bharatnatyam ( she is an excellent dancer too) to painting and gardening
With Jagjeet Singh: Chitra Singh met Jagjit Singh in Mumbai (then known as Bombay), India, in the late 1960s, and they started a musical career together by singing jingles for various advertisements.The duo sang and composed some of the greatest songs of all time.Jagjit along with Chitra is said to revive and save the dying ghazal form in India. When Jagjit met Chitra, she was on the verge of a divorce. After her divorce, she married Jagjit and the couple were blessed with a son Vivek.
During that time Lata and Asha were the two crowning queens in Bollywood. Almost all the songs went to them and other singers were hardly given any chance. Even Chitra had to suffer the same fate. However, she supported Jagjit and the couple together moved away from the Mainstream and focussed on Parallel cinema. The rest is History.
Her Style of singing: Chitra started taking Ghazals seriously and within no time along with Jagjit, released lot of albums. What made her so different was her crystal clear pronounciation and clear transparent pitch. She also had an amazing control of low notes and she is the only singer who could match the depth of Jagjit. The famous Sudershan Faqir once commented "if any one is listening to a foreign language song and Chitra happens to be the singer, then the person will immediately fall in love with the language. She makes every language beautiful". Another famous writer Moradabadi once commented " If Chitra sings a Punjabi songs, she sounds like a Punjabi, and if she sings a Bengali song, she soulds like a Bengali. She makes everything around her beautiful." Chitra had an amazing range. She could sing all types of songs with ease. She was a very beautiful lady and in those days she was called the "Diva".
The Struggle: She was a great support to Jagjit during his tough times. In his own words the Maestro tells that " Chitra was the most beautiful woman I had seen in my life." About her dedication toward her family and love for music, he says " Chitra used to hold the 20 day old baby literally in her hand while singing over the microphone." Such was the financial condition of the couple.
Albums: Chitra and Jagjit Singh released many superhit albums together, the most notable ones are
Desire, Milestone, Someone Somewhere, Ecstacy, The Unforgettables, A Sound Affair and many more.
The Tragedy: Even their career saw super success and they achieved worldwide success. This time a tragedy stuck and they lost their son in a car accident. Chitra stopped singing. She lost her voice and with that the world lost the voice of the greatest female ghazal singer. In 1990, Vivek died in a car accident and Chitra stopped singing. Such was a caring and loving mother in her. Till date no one has even dared to take her position in ghazal singing and the vaccum will always be there.
She was a very doting mother as well. Monalisa ( daughter from her first marriage commented once that , dad ( Jagjit singh) is a source of inspiration for the world and Chitra was his source of inspiration."
It is said that Lata was asked to sing the songs of Chitra ( after she stopped singing) to revive ghazals along with Jagjit. She refused to sing Chitra's songs and another Ghazal album called " Sajda" was released instead with new composition. When Sudershan Faqir was asked about this, he said " Good that Lata refused to singh Chitra's songs. Lata can get the pitch, tune and romance in the song. But from where will she get the purity of Chitra's voice? The purity of a true wife and mother?"
Even today, millions of her fans await her return.
When I listen to her songs, I feel her presence. It is righly said, she makes everything beautiful around her.
Chitra - Thy name is Purity.
Some of her most famous soulful songs
Solo:
Aankh se aankh mila
Humko dushman ki nagahon se
Wo nahi milta mujhe
Ye na thi hamari qismat
Jahan jahan mujhe sehra
Yun zindagi ki raah me majboor
Tu nahi to zindagi me aur kya
With Jagjeet:
Mere jaise ban jaoge
Socha nahi acha bura
Suna tha ki wo aayenge anjuman
Sunte hain ki mil jaati hai
Baad muddat unhe dehkar yun laga
Kaun kehta hai ki mohabat ki zubaan
Famous Bengali songs:
Famous Punjabi Songs:
Umraan de sarvar
