swarnalatha biography

Swarnalatha (1973 – 12 September 2010) was a Indian playback singer. From 1987 onward, she rendered nearly 7,000 songs in many languages including Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Hindi, Malayalam, Urdu, Bengali, Oriya, Punjabi and Badaga.

She won the National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer for her rendition of the song "Porale Ponnuthayi" from the film Karuththamma. The song was composed by A. R. Rahman, under whose musical direction she recorded many memorable songs. Her distinctive voice, which could effortlessly reach high octaves, quickly made her a name to reckon with in the playback music industry.

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She was born in Athikkodu near Chittur, Palakkad, Kerala, to K. C. Cherukutty and Kalyani. Her father was a good harmonium player and singer. Her mother also had interest in music. Swarnalatha was trained on the harmonium and keyboard.Swarnalatha's family later moved to Bhadravathi (Paper Town) in Shimoga District, where she had her education. Born in a family of musicians (father K. C. Cherukutty was a singer and harmonium player, while sister Saroja was her music guru initially). Swarnalatha took to music when she was in her teens.Personal life and career

In 1987, she shifted to Chennai, where she met M. S. Viswanathan. M.S.V. introduced her to the film industry through a duet with K. J. Yesudas, "Chinnanchirukiliye Kannamma" from the filmNeethikku Dhandanai.Subsequently, many other music directors approached her to perform their songs. She was recruited by legendary musicians like Ilaiyaraaja and A. R. Rahman. She also recorded a few Hindi songs, the most notable one being "Hai Rama Yeh Kya Hua" from Rangeela along with Hariharan.

She was one of the most versatile singers of her times, as she was able to sing melodies like "Maalayil Yaaro Manathodu Pesa" from Chatriyan^[2] or "Porale Ponnuthayi" from Karuthamma as well as Rahman's experimental songs like "Mukkabla" from Kadhalan or "Mottu Vittadha" from Pavithra. Swarnalatha was the first female playback singer to fetch the National Award in A. R. Rahman's music for the song "Porale Ponnuthayi". Once in an interview, she said that she was moved to tears when she finished the recording of this song and received praise from A. R. Rahman. She recorded many other memorable songs with music directors Deva, Vidyasagar, Harris Jayaraj, Anu Malik, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Raj-Koti, Yuvan Shankar Raja, Mani Sharma,Hamsalekha and many others.She had sung all the songs of Lata Mangeshkar and Shamshad Begum in the movie Anarkali(Tamil dubbed version of the Hindi movie mughal-e-Azam) and she was praised by the acclaimed Bollywood music director late Naushad Ali.

[edit]Death

Swarnalatha died at a private hospital in Chennai at the age of 37 due to cardiac arrest followed by interstitial lung disease (lung infection) after being admitted because she had difficulty in breathing. The singer had been undergoing treatment for lung infection for over a year and had not recorded for films during the period.

Legendary music composer M S Viswanathan, who gave the then 14-year old Swarnalatha a break in films, described her as a very talented singer. She is believed to have approached him first, when she wanted to launch her career in film music. He gave her a chance in the film Needhikku Thandanai. "I was shocked on hearing the news. Swarnalatha was introduced to films by me, and was highly talented in music" he said.

[edit]Awards and recognitions

She got Kalai Maamani from Government of Tamil Nadu before she was 20 years old. She won a Filmfare Award in Tamil as well for ‘Mukkala Muqabala’. She won Cinema Express Awards four times.

National Award (Silver Lotus Award)-(Rajat Kamal)

• 1994 - National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer for "Porale Ponnuthayi" from Karuththamma

Tamil Nadu State Awards

• 1991 - Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Female Playback for "Povomma Oorkolam" from Chinna Thambi
• 1994 - Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Female Playback for "Porale Ponnuthayi" from Karuththamma^[5Government awards

• 1994- Kalaimamani Award by the Government of Tamil Nadu for her contributions towards Tamil music.

Other awards

• 2002 - The song "Rakkama Kaiya Thattu" from the movie Thalapathi (1991) was among the songs listed in a BBC World Top Ten music poll. It was performed by S. P. Balasubrahmanyam and Swarnalatha

S.P.BALASUBRAHMANYAM BIOGRAPHY

Sripathi Panditaradhyula Balasubrahmanyam ; born 4 June 1946) is an Indian playback singer, actor, music director,voice actor and film producer. He is sometimes referred to as S. P. B. or Balu. He won the National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer six times. He won the Nandi Awards 25 times from Government of Andhra Pradesh.

He has sung over 40,000 songs in various Indian languages. He is the only playback singer in India to have won National Film Awards across four languages. He has also won a Filmfare Award, three Filmfare Awards South and numerous state awards from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. He is a recipient of civilian awards such as Padmashri (2001) and Padma Bhushan (2011) from the government of India.

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Early life and background

Balasubrahmanyam developed an interest towards music at an early age, studied notations and learned to play instruments such as the harmonium and flute on his own while listening to his father. His father wanted him to become an engineer, which brought him to Anantapur, where he enrolled for the Engineering course at JNTU College of Engineering Anantapur. Later he discontinued the course due to typhoid, and then joined as an Associate Member of the Institution of Engineers, Chennai. Meanwhile, he also pursued his hobby and won awards at many singing competitions. In 1964, he won the first prize in a music competition for amateur singers organised by the Madras-based Telugu Cultural Organisation, and earned his first opportunity from music director S. P. Kodandapani.Balasubrahmanyam was born to S. P. Sambamurthy in Konetammapeta of Madras Presidency, present day Nellore district in Andhra Pradesh. Balasubrahmanyam's father was a Harikathaartist who had also acted in plays. He has two brothers and five sisters. He is the elder brother of singer S.P. Sailaja.He is married to Savitri and has two children, Pallavi and S. P. B. Charan who is a playback singer and film producer as well.

After dropping out of engineering, Balasubrahmayam used to regularly visit music composers seeking for opportunities to sing. The first song that he sang for an audition was, "Nilave Ennidam Nerungadhe", a melody rendered by veteran playback singer P. B. Srinivas. It was P. B. Srinivas who used to write and give him some multi-lingual verses in Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Sanskrit, English and Urdu.^[8]

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Playback singing career

Balasubrahmanyam has sung more than 40,000 songs in different Indian languages.

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Early career: 1960s

Before becoming a cinema singer, Balasubrahmanyam was the leader of a light music troupe composed of Anirutta (on the harmonium), Ilaiyaraaja (on guitar and later on harmonium), Baskar (on percussion), and Gangai Amaran (on guitar). Balasubrahmanyam made his debut as a playback singer on 15 December 1966 with Sri Sri Sri Maryada Ramanna,a Telugu film scored by his mentor, S. P. Kodandapani.He was selected as the best singer in a singing competition which was judged by S. P. Kodandapani and the legendary singer Ghantasala.Balasubrahmanyam was selected as the best singer. He recorded his first non-Telugu song in the Kannada movie Nakkare Ade Swarga for the song "Kanasido Nanasido" with P. Susheela in 1967.

He recorded his first Tamil song in the 1969 film Shanthi Nilaiyam starring Gemini Ganesan and the song is " Eyarkai ennum illaya kanni". He sang "Aayiram Nilavae Vaa" for M.G.R in the Tamil film Aadimai Pennwhich released first before Shanthi nilayam could release. He was introduced to Malayalam film industry by R. K. Shekhar in the film Yogamullava. In 1969 he sang "Ee Kadalum Marukadalum" from the film Kadalppalam in Malayalam.

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Prominence in south: 1970s

He received his first National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer in 1980 for the Telugu film Shankarabharanam, a film directed by K. Vishwanath. In 1976, he recorded up to 23 songs, including 15 duets with P. Susheela in a single day. For Kannada composer Upendra Kumar, Balasubrahmanyam recorded 16 songs in just 6 hours. Again for Ram Laxman, he recorded six songs in 4 hours in Mumbai. Between three recording theatres in Mumbai, he sang 17 songs in a day for Anand-Milind.

He is the first recipient of the "Ghantasala National Award" named after the famous and legendary singer Ghantasala Venkateswara Rao, and whom Balasubrahmanyam admires a lot. He has often referred to himself as "Ekalavya Sishya" (untutored disciple) of Ghantasala

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Bollywood entry: 1980s

Balasubrahmanyam's first break in Hindi films was Ek Duje Ke Liye (1981), for which he received the National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer.He was playback singer for Bollywoodactor Salman Khan in most of his movies from 1989 to 1995.For example, in movies like Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! and Andaz Apna Apna, all songs pictured on Salman Khan are sung by him. They were very well received and remembered even to this day due to his voice's apt setting with Salman Khan.

In the 1990s he worked with composers like Vidyasagar, M. M. Keeravani, S. A. Rajkumar, but his association with A.R.Rahman turned out be a major success.

The song "Umandu Ghumandu" from the Kannada film Ganayogi Panchakshari Gavayi (1995) was based on Hindustani classical music, for which he received his 4th National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer.

Actor

As an actor he played in films like Pakkinti Ammayi, Parvathaalu Paanakalu, Pelli Varamandi, Kalyanathasava, Malle Pandiri, Raja Hamsa, Keladi Kanmani, Minsara Kanavu, Manathil Uruthi Vendum, Thiruda Thiruda, Kanmani, Sigaram, Maya, Avvai Shanmugi, Ratchagan, Nandhini, Kadhalan, Prema Maha Yedabidargi, Maya Bazaar. He received the Nandi Award for Best Supporting Actor for the Telugu movie Pavithra Bandham (1996) from the Government of Andhra Pradesh.

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Music composer

He has composed music for around 40 films and albums like Seethamma Pelli, Bharyamani, Sandarbha, Bangaru Chilaka, Mayuri, Ramanna Shyamanna, Ksherasaagara, Devaralle Dane,Belliyappa Bangarappa beside few films like Muddina Maava, Sigaram, Unnai Charanadaithaen, Padamati Sandhya Ragam in Telugu, Hindi Tamil and Kannada languages. He also owns a production company called Kodandapani Film Circuits (now Captain cine creations) and produces film under this banner. Films like Subha Sankalpam, Bhamane Satya Bhamane were produced by him.

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Television career

He began a Tamil serial with actress Lakshmi called En Jannal Vandha directed by K. Balachander. He hosts many music shows in Telugu television including Paadutha Theeyaga on E-TV,Paadalani Undi on MAA TV, a very popular Kannada show called Ede Thumbi Haaduvenu on E-TV Kannada, and the Tamil shows Ennodu Paattu Paadungal on Jaya TV and Vaanampaadi onKalaignar TV. He also anchors a music show called Sunada Vinodini on TTD Channel. He is a judge on ETV Telugu's Paduta Teeyaga. This is a semi-classical music competition airing on Monday evenings.

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Voice actor

Balasubrahmanyam accidentally became a dubbing artist with Kamal Hassan's film Manmadha Leela, the dubbed version of Manmadha Leelai.^[28] He has also provided voice-overs for various artists, including Kamal Haasan, Rajinikanth, Salman Khan, K. Bhagyaraj, Mohan, Anil Kapoor, Girish Karnad, Gemini Ganesan, Arjun Sarja, Nagesh, Karthik and Raghuvaran in various languages. He was assigned as the default dubbing artist for Kamal Hassan in Telugu dubbed versions of Tamil films and vice versa. For the Telugu version of Dasavathaaram he gave voice to 7 characters (including the female character) out of 10 characters played by Kamal Hassan.He was awarded Best Dubbing Artist for the films Annamayya and Sri Sai Mahima.

VANI JAYARAM BIOGRAPHY

Vani Jayaram is a prominent Indian female playback singers. She has sung songs in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Marathi, Hindi and Kannada. She has thrice won the National Film Awards in play back singing.

Vani Jayaram, one of the greatest singers of our times. She has rendered classical songs in Carnatic and Hindustani styles, ghazals, light and pop songs and some popular folk songs.

Vani was born in Vellore in Tamil Nadu, in a family of musicians. Her mother is the disciple of Ranga Ramunaja Iyengar, a great veena exponent. Kadaloor Sreenivasa Iyengar, who taught vani�s sister music, was fascinated by her observation and grasping power. He taught her a few Deekshidar kritis when she was hardly five.The fifth daughter in a family of six daughters and three sons, Vani always secretly yearned for a career in film playback singing. Considered to be a child prodigy, Vani Jairam claims to have recognized the different ragas of Indian classical music before the age of five. Her voice was first heard on All India Radio, Madras, at the age of eight.

Vani Jairam studied Carnatic music under the tutelage of Kadalur Srinivasa Iyengar, T.R. Balasubramanian and R.S. Mani. Her Hindustani light-classical music guru was Ustad Abdul Rahman Khan.

After her marriage to Jairam she settled in Bombay, a city where she realized her dream.

In 1970, she realized her childhood ambition of becoming a film playback singer when the veteran hindi film music director, Vasant Desai chose her voice for the hindi feature film Guddi. She recorded three songs for that film. Bol Re Papi Hara, her song from the film, based on the hindustani raga Miyan Malhar, instantly made her an household name in the different corners of India. The song was awarded Tansen Samman (for best classical-based song in a hindi film,) The Lions International Best Promising Singer, The All India Cinegoers Association, and the All India Film-goers Association awards for the Best Playback Singer in 1971. Vani recorded her first tamil song for the tamil film Thaiyum Seiyum, for S.M.Subbaiah Naidu, in the year 1973.

Besides Hindi and Tamil, Vani Jairam has numerous recordings in other languages of India. These include, Gujarati, Marathi, Marwari, Hariyanvi, Malayalam, Kannada, Telugu, Oriya, Bengali and Tulu. For her work in these languages she has been awarded many prestigious awards, among which are: Best Female Playback Singer for states of Gujarat (1975), Tamil Nadu (1980) and Orissa (1984).

Vani Jairam was chosen for the Indian President's National Award for Best Female Playback Singer of 1975, for her work in M.S. Viswanathan's Aboorva Ragangal (Tamil). Her songs in the Pandit Ravi Shankar scored film Meera brought her the Film World (1979) Cine Herald (1979) and Filmfare (1980) awards for Best Playback Singer in Hindi.

Shankarabharanam (Telugu), the film scored by K.V. Mahadevan, gave Vani Jairam her second National Award as Best Playback Singer of 1980. Once again, she was awarded her third National Award for Best Playback Singer of 1991 for K.V. Mahadevan's Swathi Kiranam. She is also the youngest artiste to be awarded the Sangeet Peet Samman.    

P.SUSHEELA BIOGRAPHY

P.Susheela hails from a music family but she was the first to sing in her family. Born in Vizianagaram in Andhra Pradesh, Susheela is the daughter of Sheshavatataram and Mukund Rao, a leading criminal lawyer of his time. She studied classical music in Maharaja`s Music College, Vizianagaram under the tutelage, of the famous violinist Dwaram Venkatasamy Naidu. With a first class diploma, Susheela went to Madras for higher studies in music in the Music Academy under the principalship of Musiri Subramania Iyer. She started giving classical music performances in public and also through All India Radio, Madras, Vijayawada, and Bangalore and Hyderabad stations. Married to Dr. Mohan Rao, who had kept himself away from the limelight of his wife`s career, but had been very supportive to her. Susheela is grateful to him for providing a congenial domestic harmony and environment so that her music career flourished. She has one son P. Susheela has rendered a song composed by A. R. Rahman for the Tamil movie ``Indian.`` Susheela`s career spanning a period of three to four decades is a very satisfying one to the artiste. Susheela, always fascinated by film music, was thrilled when she was called to record a song for a film, ``Kannatalli`` in Telugu, and in Tamil her first playback was for ``Petra Thai``. `Music is God`s gift to me”, she says. She sung with A.M. Raja under the direction of Pendyala Nageswara Rao. Her melodious voice caught the attention of other music directors and she became a much sought after playback singer. There was no Tamil movie without songs by her. Susheela has sung for all the South Indian language films. Her songs in movies like ``Pava Manippu,`` ``Palum Pazhamum,`` ``Parthal Pasitheerum,`` ``Uthama Puthiran,`` etc. still remain favourites of film music lovers. P.Susheela sings effortlessly and with comprehension. The depth of the lyrics is brought out very well. There is no strain while singing. While recording in film studios, recording theatre or while giving public performances of light music concerts, Susheela is composed, calm, totally devoid of gimmicks or mannerisms. In this she is very much like Lata Mangeshkar who is a picture of composure and dignity. Susheela has sung a lot of songs under the music direction of composers Viswanathan-Ramamurthi, and has rendered the maximum of songs with T. M. Soundararajan. She has worked with music directors Subbiah Naidu, G. Ramanathan, K. V. Mahadevan, Viswanathan-Ramamurthi, Devarajan, Raghavan Master, Babu, and Dakshinamurthi, in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada. Since Susheela feels music nowadays is too much noise a playback singer of her calibre may not be able to sing such songs and so these days one rarely hears a Susheela song in a movie but she has not bid adieu to film playback. She is willing to sing for any music director, but it should be a song with meaning and melody.`` Like the song ``Kanaka Mai Azhagu`` in ``Puthiya Mugam.`` The song so melodiously sung comes across as a whiff of fresh air and the picturisation is also good. It fetched a golden disc award to Susheela. She looks on her career with satisfaction Honours and Titles: She is the recipient of the National Award for female playback singer in 1969, 1971, 1977, 1983, 1984 and has also bagged the Tamil Nadu State Award, the Kerala State Government Award and from her home State Andhra Pradesh she has won the Best Playback Artiste Award given by the Madras Film Fans Associations and during the Indo-Pakistan war she entertained the jawans at the war front. The Government of Tamil Nadu has honoured her with the title of ``Kalaimamani`` and again in the year 1991 she won the Tamil Nadu State Government Award as best playback artiste for 1990-91. In August 1992 Susheela was conferred the honourary Doctorate at Washington, U.S. by the North American Alumni Association. Susheela is now turning more and more to devotional music and has recorded quite a few cassettes. People who heard her in the 50`s feel no difference when they heard her it ``Pudia Mugam`` and ``Indian.

S.JANAKI BIOGRAPHY

S. Janaki

Born On: April23, 1938
Born In: Repalle village, Andhra Pradesh
Career: Playback singer
Nationality: Indian

Popularly known as the 'Melody Queen of South India' because of her voice modulation capabilities, S. Janaki is a devotee of Lord Krishna and Shirdi Sai Baba. Due to her versatility in the knowledge of languages, she has sung numerous songs in several Indian languages and a few foreign languages. Along with being a versatile singer, she is also a wonderful lyricist and music composer in Tamil and Telugu movies. She has sung more than 20,000 songs by now in different languages and won 4 National Awards for Best Female Playback Singer and 31 awards from different states, which is, itself, a huge achievement. She has worked with almost all the music directors of her time. She, along with S.P. Balasubramanyam and Ilaiyaraaja, is one of the most popular singing combinations in South India.

Early Life
S. Janaki was born in a Telugu Brahmin family in Pallapatla, Repalle village, in Guntur district of Madras Presidency, now Andhra Pradesh. Like other music geniuses, she had been extremely devoted to music right from her childhood. Her keenness to know more about music resulted in her first stage performance just at the age of 3. In order to learn the basics of music and become a professional singer, she took formal training in music from Sree Paidiswamy, a Nadswaram Vidwan. On her uncle's advice, she moved to Chennai and joined AVM Studios as a singer and there began her career with a Tamil film 'Vidhiyin Vilayattu' in 1957 under the music directorship of T. Chalapati Rao.

Career
Janaki recorded her first song on April 4, 1957, which was a pathos number under the music direction of T. Chalapati Rao. The very next day, she sang her very first Telugu song, "Nee Aasa Adiyaasa Chejaare Manipoosa Brathukantaa Amavaasa Lambaadolla Ramdaasa…," for the film 'M.L.A.', produced and directed by Sri Tilak, which helped her gain the requisite name and fame. It was a sorrowful number again, sung as a duet with Late Ghantasala Venkateswara Rao, which is remembered even today as one of the classics of Telugu film music. The song was penned by Sri. Arudra, and was sung under the music direction of Sri. Pendyala Nageswara Rao. She turned historic with her first experimental song (light classical), 'Singaravelane Deva' in 1958, composed by Late S. M. Subbaiah Naidu for the Tamil film 'Konjum Salangai' as her voice competed with the Nadaswaram played by Late Karaikuruchi Arunachalam. The song was appreciated and applauded by one and all in the South as well as in the North, thereby bringing in lots of laurels.

Janaki went on to sing even the Telugu version of this song, 'Nee Leela Padeda Deva' in the film 'Muripinche Muvvalu'. Subsequently in 1961, Pendyala gave her a break with a solo song "Neeli Meghaalalo Gaali Kerataalalo Neevu Paade Paata' in the film 'Baavaamaradallu' in 1961. Two years later, Janaki debuted in Malayalam films. Incidentally, her first Malayalam song turned out to be a grieving number for the film 'Minnunnathellam Ponnalla', which was recorded at AVM Studios. Pronouncing Malayalam words was a big challenge for her. But she worked hard on the language, under the guidance of music composers and lyricists, and managed to speak it clearly. A fan of hers, Leela Chacko, called her up frequently, sometimes even in the wee hours. Janaki remembers that Leela became one of her good friends, and by speaking to her, Janaki's Malayalam improved.

Comprehending her work in the industry for more than four decades, she has sung thousands of songs for almost five generations of heroines. She sang several unforgettable songs with the association of the maestros of music. She even rendered thousands of songs in Kannada; thus, leaving a lasting impression in the hearts of Kannada fans. Apart from being a prolific singer, Janaki is also a good lyricist and a very good music composer. Seeing her caliber, producer Ramoji Rao chose her as the music director for his Telugu film 'Mouna Poraatam' in 1988. She is the third lady music director in Telugu cinema, after Bhanumati and P. Leela. While she was well-versed with all the four South Indian languages, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam, she even sang in a number of other languages, such as Hindi, Sinhalese, Bengali, Oriya, English, Sanskrit, Konkani, Tulu, Saurasthra, Baduga, Japanese, and German.

Personal Life
Janaki married V. Ramprasad and lives in Chennai, along with her son Murali Krishna. Krishna has acted in some movies and has established his own audio business, while his wife, Uma Murali Krishna is a classical dancer.

Awards & Accolades
National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer for 'Senthoora Poove', '16 Vayathinile', Tamil Film, 1977
National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer for 'Ettumanoorambalathil', 'Oppol', Malayalam Film, 1981
National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer for 'Vennello godari andham', 'Sithara', Telugu Film, 1984
Kalaimamani from the Government of Tamil Nadu, 1986
National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer for 'Inji Idippazagha', 'Devar Magan', Tamil Film, 1992
Cinema 'Achiever Award' from the Government of Kerala, 2002
Special Jury Swaralaya Yesudas Award for outstanding performance in music, 2005
Honorary Doctorate from University of Mysore for contributions to Kannada Cinema, 2009

Timeline
1938: Born in Pallapatla, Repalle village, in Guntur, Madras Presidency
1957: Came to Chennai and recorded her first Tamil song for 'Vidhiyin Vilayattu'
1963: Debuted in Malayalam films with 'Minnunnathellam Ponnalla'
1977: Received first National Film Award for Tamil film '16 Vayathinile'
1981: Bagged second National Film Award for Malayalam film 'Oppol'
1984: Honored with third National Film Award for Telugu film 'Sithara'
1992: Won fourth National Film Award for Tamil film 'Devar Magan'
2009: Conferred upon with Honorary Doctorate from University of Mysore for contributions to Kannada Cinema.