There are some disadvantages of not living in southern states of India. You get to know about the immense talent it possesses only when it shows its magic in Bollywood. Imagine what we would have missed had A R Rahman never composed songs for Bollywood or Hollywood. I just can’t fathom what would our lives be if that was the reality. But the talent can never be restricted, it breaks the boundaries, makes a place in the heart of its lovers in any way possible! Another such talent, as I said, she is stream of mellifluous voice – Chinmayi!
You are already captivated by her voice in Zehnaseeb (Hasee Toh Fasee) and I feel Shekhar and Chinmayi make a superb pair of playback singers. Thanks to Shekhar for bringing Chinmayi in, for singing “Titli” from Chennai express. Although Titli has been sung by Gopi Sundar, I feel his texture of voice is similar to Shekhar’s.
Few months back, Shekhar released his 3rd single, “Butterfly” which is a Telagu song, sung by him and Chinmayi. The song is about how love touches our life like a butterfly. The song is just outstanding and again it highlights how well Shekhar and Chinmayi complement each others voices! You can buy the song here with nominal charges, money goes to charity. I salute Shekhar for this outstanding effort! As Shekhar says, the song has this outstanding flying effect… which makes your heart fly in a magical world of love. You can download the lyrics and its meaning from Shekhar’s Website (Click here)
I first heard Chinmayi’s beautiful voice in one of the most soothing songs by Mithoon ever – Madno from Lamha. The most impressive thing about her singing is the ease with which she renders her voice. It directly adds to the efficacy of placing the listener in a peaceful state of mind. The way she takes different हरकतें without compromising to a single note, is just brilliant, and although I see this ability in variety of classical singers, there are very few who make us hear the actual note without giving any hard push to the voice!
Madno (Lamha): You can directly skip to 1.30 to listen to Chinmayi’s voice.
As I talk about singing series of notes with much ease, no other song can make you understand better than following song does. “Maiyya Yashoda” from Zhootha Hi Sahi is one of my favourites of Chinamyee! The combination of her with Javed Ali sounds fabulous. Give this a hear! (Go to 2.30 to listen to what I am trying to say!)
And she really enthralled us when she sang with Rahman sir in “Tere bina” – Guru. Here she sounds much mature. And yeah, there is this soothing factor too. Her voice is very stable, in control, and yet at the same time, free flowing. Skip to 1.50 to see Chinmayi perform. You will see her singing one line in low octave at the end. She sounds so different there no?
And not only these songs, she has sung the melodious “Mai Rang Sharbaton ka” from Phata Poster Nikhla Hero, “Ay Sakhi” from Raanjhana, the amazing “Anbil Avan” from “Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya“, “Mayya Mayya” from Guru and so many other beautiful songs!
Finally, she is not just a singer. She is Voice-Over Artiste, CEO of her own translation services company Blue Elephant, Linguist, RJ & TV Host too!
