THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Mollywood heard Latha Krishna for the first time in ‘Sayam sandhye...’ for the movie ‘Sufi Paranja Kadha’. The city-based singer has also made her mark by singing ‘Pinne ennodonnum Parayathe’ for the M Padmakumar movie ‘Shikkar’ and the duet ‘Thoomallike...’ for ‘Nallavan’. More than a year since she made her debut in Malayalam film singing, the singer would be heard crooning for two Tamil movies ‘Vanarasenai’ directed by Saravanasakthi and Vetriveeran’s ‘Kathal Theevu’, both of which are set to release soon. She has sung a solo ‘Pachai vayalai, pachai vayalai...’ for ‘Kathal Theevu’ and a duet for ‘Vanarasenai’.
The singer, who is familiar to Malayali TV audience with her apearance in a popular music reality show, is all smiles while speaking on her Kollywood debut. “It was my cousin who introduced me to the producer of ‘Vanarasenai’, Arivu Nidhi. After listening to my songs on a CD, he called me to sing for the film.” Though she is a debutant in Tamil movies, Latha felt it plain-sailing to sing for the movie. “I did not find the language alien as we speak Tamil at home. The pronunciation and accent therefore were so familiar for me.” She has higher expectations about the solo number. “Singing a solo can be helpful to establish our identity,” she says. Though Latha made her presence felt by singing full-length songs, she began her career by singing chorus for a couple of Malayalam films.
One wonders why she was not heard in Malayalam movies for over a year. “After the movie I last sung for in Malayalam, I focused on learning classical music under the tutelage of Trivandrum R Mahadevan,” she says.
Latha is one among the young talents who have received an opening in filmdom through reality shows. Her kitty was full with several stage shows in foreign countries including Singapore and Thailand during those times.
Born into a family of musicians, she grew up listening to her mother A Saraswathy, a Carnatic vocalist. Apart from that, there are also a bunch of artists in her family who are good violinists, flautists and the like. “To be frank, I was too lazy during my childhood days to sit through music lessons with my mother. But she made me learn the basics before she let me have my way” she chuckles. Now she is also learning music from Parassala Ponnammal.
While waiting to make her mark in playback singing, she is also looking forward to the release of the devotional album ‘Devidasa’ composed by Trivandrum R Mahadevan.