Mohan shot to fame in the seventies as
Baby Sujatha, the schoolgirl who regularly used to sing with
K. J. Yesudas in his stage shows all over the world. She recorded her first song, "Kannezhuthy Pottuthottu" when she was in the sixth standard. The song was composed by
M. K. Arjunan for the 1975 Malayalam movie
Tourist Bungalow. She recorded songs for
Shyam in
Kamam Krodham Moham and
Salil Chowdhury in
Aparadhi. Around this time, composer
M. G. Radhakrishnan got her to record many non-film songs; the biggest hit among them was "Odakkuzhal Vili". She debuted in Tamil through the song "Kaadhal Oviyam Kandein" from
Kavikuyil (1977), tuned in
Hameer Kalyani raga by
Illayaraja, but it was not included in the film. Her first released song in Tamil was "Kalai Paniyil" from the Tamil film
Gaayathri (1977), starring
Sridevi and
Rajinikanth with music by
Ilaiyaraja. She sang for Ilaiyaraaja in
Johnny,
Kavikuyil and
Ilamai Kolangal. After her marriage in 1981, she took a sabbatical from playback singing. She made a successful comeback in 1988 through
Kadathanadan Ambadi, followed by the hit
Chithram. She used to sing ad jingles in the late 1980s for
A. R. Rahman (such as the Premiere Cooker ad and the Tilda Rice ad). Then Rahman got her to sing "
Pudhu Vellai Mazhai" from
Mani Ratnam's 1992 film
Roja, which became one of the biggest hit songs in India. The backing vocals for the song "
Kadhal Roja" were also performed by Sujatha. She has had other hit songs, most of them with Rahman from films including
Pudhiya Mugam (1992),
Gentleman (1993),
Jeans and
Minsaara Kanavu (1997). She has also recorded some songs in
Hindi, including "Dil Hai Sanam" (the Hindi version of "Thee Thee") from
Chor Chor (
Thiruda Thiruda), "Ishq Bina" from
Taal, "Hai Jaana" from
Pukar and "Ishwar Allah" from
Earth, and provided backing vocals for the song "Tum Ho Meri Nigahom" from
Kabhi Na Kabhi, all of them composed by
A. R. Rahman. She has had many of her notable and successful songs under the musical direction of Rahman. She made a strong comeback in the Malayalam film industry in the mid-1990s and most of her notable Malayalam songs were composed by
Vidyasagar. Most of her hit songs from Telugu are composed by
Mani Sharma. ==Discography==