Amazing re-entry by Sujatha

Noted playback singer Sujatha, who started singing at the age of seven with the legend K.J. Yesudas, ventured into playback singing at age 12 after completing almost 2,500 stage shows as `Baby Sujatha'. Sujatha, now one of the successful playback singers in the South, has sung nearly 4,000 songs in all Indian languages. But when she talks about her re-entry after the marriage as a singer, she feels that she is very lucky.

Sujatha hails from a family that is deeply interested in music. "I was always encouraged by my parents to sing at a tender age; my first stage performance was at a relative's marriage where I sung a number by K.J. Janaki. After an year, I was called to sing on stage with K.J. Yesydas. This was my first break as professional singer. I would have given 2,500 stage performances with Yesudas. At that time, I was called 'Baby Sujatha'."

When music director M.K. Arjunan asked her to sing a song for Tourist Bungalow, she was in Kochi, Kerala. That was her first recording. "Then I was in Class six. Later, Yesudas introduced me to Ilayaraja, who gave me an opportunity to sing 'Kadhal Ovium' in Kavikkuil. It was a semi-classical number but did not feature in the film. He gave me another song 'Kalaipani' in Gayathri. My third song was 'Oru Inia' in Johny. But I was still a kid."

She lost her father and her mother could not accompany her to Chennai where most of the recordings took place. "I was unable to go often to Chennai for recording. So I lost out on a lot of opportunities. I did not concentrate much on film songs, but was more into stage performances. It was only after marriage that I moved to Chennai and began singing in films."

After getting married to Dr. Krishna Mohan, noted director Priyadarshan brought her back into playback singing with Chitram, the all-time musical super hit of Mohanlal. "I can call it my re-entry. I never thought that I would come back. I sang 'Puthu Vellai' in Roja. This song took me to greater heights in my career," Sujatha says.