Her Story
And you? When will you begin that long journey into yourself?
The voice behind some of Malayalam's iconic songs, Sithara Krishnakumar is one of the most successful solo artists who have emerged out of the Malayalam music space in the last decade. Spreading her wings across borders with her music, she has proved her mettle as a playback singer, recording songs in multiple Indian languages and as an independent musician.
Trained in Carnatic and Hindustani musical traditions, she's a recognized Ghazal singer too. A graded artiste of All India Radio, a three-time winner of Kerala State Film Award for Best Singer, she's performed in concerts and stage shows across the world and has collaborated with several popular musical artists and bands in Kerala. Having shared stage with stalwarts like K.J Yesudas, S.P Balasubramaniyam. Sithara was born on July 1, 1986, in Thenhipalam, a little town 35 kilometres from Malappuram, in the south Indian state of Kerala to K. M. Krishnakumar and Saly.
Hailing from a family inclined to classical arts, Sithara showed a keen interest in music from a very early age. She used to imitate and hum along songs with her father with immense interest, and her enthusiastic parents decided on developing her vocal skills.
Her early gurus Sri Ramanattukara Sathish and Pala CK Ramachandran nurtured her talent and helped mould her into a fine Carnatic music artiste. Sithara also received training in Classical dance from Kalamandalam Vinodini. She attended St. Paul's Higher Secondary School Thenhipalam, GMHSS Calicut University Campus School and NNM Higher Secondary School, Chelembra. A regular face at School Youth Festivals, she has bagged numerous awards in music and dance categories.
Sithara did her graduation in English Literature from Farook College and secured her master's degree from Calicut University. Her multifaceted talents never went unnoticed. She has won prizes in Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, classical music and light music at youth festivals. Also, she was the first student to bring the title of 'Kalathilakam' (which honoured the best girl champion) at Calicut University Youth Festival to the college and she retained the title for two consecutive years (2005-2006).
Music has been a companion for Sithara, in both good and bad times. She always found inspiration in music, be it Indian Classical, Sufi, Jazz or Blues. Hailing from a family deeply involved with Carnatic music, she was the first one who set out to pursue singing as a career and thus widen her knowledge horizon. Later on, Sithara started her formal training in Hindustani music under Sri Vijayasenan and Ustad Fiyaz Khan. During her University years, she emerged winner of several musical talent shows like Asianet Saptha Swarangal (2004), Kairali TV Gandharva Sangeetham (Seniors) and Jeevan TV Voice 2004. Other than a master's degree in English Literature, she holds master's degrees in Hindustani Khayal and Vocal music from Rabindra Bharati University.
On August 31, 2007, Sithara married the love of her life, Dr. Sajish M, a renowned Cardiologist, who currently practises at Aster Medcity Hospital, Kochi. He's also a film producer as part of a 3 member doctors-filmmakers collective called Doctor's Dilemma. The couple has a daughter, Saawan Rithu. Fondly called Sayu, she's also a known face to Malayalam television audiences. She made her first little step to the movie industry after being made part of a short film 'Saakshathkaaram' made by Prof. Sudesh Balan of IIT Bombay.
As an artiste, she has performed at numerous stage shows - Hindustani, Carnatic and Ghazal concerts in and outside India. For her, the sense of excitement borne out of the emotional connect with the audience is priceless. She loves experimenting with genres like Pop, Folk and Fusion, which has made her well-liked among traditional and new generation listeners alike. Sithara's playback singing career started with the song 'Pammi Pammi' from the Malayalam film Athishayan in 2007. Since then, she has worked with noted composers like Ouseppachan, M. Jayachandran, G. V. Prakash Kumar, Prashant Pillai, Amit Trivedi, Gopi Sundar, Bijibal, Shaan Rahman, among others. She has rendered her voice to over 300 film songs including Malayalam and other Indian languages. Her works are of various genres.
In 2012, The retro song 'Ennundodi' from the film Celluloid fetched her the first Kerala State Film Award. Her career took a new turn post the recognition. Sithara loves travelling and has performed at concerts and stage shows across the world and lent her voice to over 300 film songs across all the four South Indian languages. Her works encompass various genres and her deep rooted understanding of music at different levels paved way for her foray into independent music scene and composing soundtracks for films later on.
She launched her musical band Eastraga which focuses on a mix of female oriented songs backed by a team of renowned musicians like Rison, Sushanth, Abhijith Sreenivasan, Paulson, Thanuj, Jitu Oommen Thomas and Sarfaraz Khan. The band made their first performances at JTPac, Tripunithura followed by a gig at Pariyaram Medical College along with Sachin Warrier, Job Kurian and Roopa.
In 2017, she released her first single, Ente Akasham. Composed and written by herself, it was a fitting tribute to all those women who work late at night. The music video was officially released at a program held by Kerala State Women's Development Corporation to commemorate International Women's Day.
Sithara turned film music composer with the film Udalaazham along with Mithun Jayaraj. The film was produced by Doctor's Dilemma - the doctors-filmmakers collective which includes her husband Dr. Sajish. The soundtrack of the film was widely appreciated by critics and public alike. She also composed the soundtrack of the Malayalam film 'Katha Paranja Katha' along with Jaison J Nair, the same year. She composed the title track for Anuyatra campaign, an initiative of the Department of Social Justice for the differently abled. Musician P. Jayachandran provided vocals for the track.
After Eastraga, she is the soul of the six-member band - Project Malabaricus, which features contemporary folk and classical songs. Entering the independent music scene through the coveted music show "Music Mojo" on Kappa TV, Malabaricus has made a name for themselves with celebrated stage performances and iconic releases. The band has held shows in India and across the world and has digital hits running into millions. Project Malabaricus recently performed at Expo 2020 Dubai, considered to be the largest cultural gathering in the world.
As an effort to thank all the gurus who have walked before us laying the path to learning for an eternity, a music video featuring her dance performance titled "Shri Gurubhyo Namah" was made. Produced under the aegis Project Malabaricus, the video was released on October 14th by actor Manju Warrier. A regular face to the television crowd, being one of the judges for the popular reality show "Super 4", Sithara made her debut on the silver screen, appearing in a cameo role in the Malayalam film Gana Gandharvan directed by Ramesh Pisharody. Sithara's desire is to learn and explore the cultural aspects of different schools of music.