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Pulapaka Susheela (born November 13, 1935 in Andhra Pradesh) is an Indian playback singer. A recipient of 5 National Awards and numerous state awards, Susheela is widely acclaimed as a singer and is well known for her mellifluous vocal performances for thousands of film songs across South Indian languages. She is also considered to be one of the rich voiced singers whose pronunciation of the syllables to be more clear and precise in any of the languages she sung.^[1] In a career spanning more than four decades, she has recorded numerous songs in various Indian languages including Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Hindi, Bengali, Oriya, Sanskrit, Tulu, Badaga. She has also sung for Sinhalese films.

Personal life[link]

She is the daughter of Pulapaka Mukunda Rao a leading advocate in Vizianagaram.Noted banker Pulapaka Seethapathi Rao , managing director of State Bank of Hyderabad ,is her fathers younger brother.She is married to Mohan Rao; they have a son named Jayakrishna and two granddaughters named Jayashree and Subashree. Her daughter-in-law, Sandhya Jayakrishna, is a singer who debuted with A. R. Rahman in Iruvar.

Career[link]

Debut : 1950-1954[link]

Born into a music loving family, Susheela had nurtured a formal classical music training at a very young age. She used to participate in all the musical competitions both at her school and the Vizianagaram town events. She developed the crucial nuances in singing songs with apt expressions and modulations through her extensive training during these days. She also sang few songs for the All India Radio (AIR) for their private program telecasts.

In 1950, music director Pendyala Nageswara Rao was on the look out for some fresh voices to sing for his new film compositions. He approached the AIR to help him shortlist some of the finest singers who have performed for the Radio. AIR sent forward 5 singers of whom Susheela was selected after some thorough audition tests. She was immediately signed on for the Tamil film Petra Thai (1952) for a duet song "Edhuku Azhaithhai" with A. M. Raja.^[1] This was subsequently made in Telugu as Kanna Talli for which she recorded the same duet with Ghantasala. This resulted in her long term employment with AVM Studios singing for their productions alone with a fixed monthly salary. The studio owner A. V. Meiyappan hired a Tamil trainer for Susheela to hone her Tamil pronunciation skills. Thus Susheela began her illustrious career gaining abundant knowledge about music and language. She debuted into Kannada language with the film Maadidunno Maaraya in 1954.^[2]

Breakthrough : 1955 - 1960[link]

It was not easy for a newcomer to foray into the musical scene in the 1950s with the domination of eminent female vocalists like P. Leela, M. L. Vasanthakumari, Jikki among others ruling the playback industry. Yet, Susheela made her own mark with her distinct and clear vocals. The year 1955 saw Susheela raising to popularity with her back to back hit songs both in Tamil and Telugu film industries. Missamma released in 1955 had hugely popular songs backed with strong carnatic classical essence. Susheela created a huge impact among the listeners with her effortless renditions of the toughest notations. The same year released Tamil film Kanavane Kan Kanda Deivam made her a household name in Tamilnadu.^[1]

Thus began a huge legacy of Susheela, who sang in almost all the films produced since 1955 through 1960's and 1970s. The legendary Tamil musicians Viswanathan - Ramamurthy duo wrote some of the most evergreen songs of Cinema history in the voice of Susheela. Her duets with the acclaimed singers Ghantasala in Telugu, T. M. Soundararajan in Tamil and P. B. Srinivas in Kannada marked a new era of duet songs in the South Indian music industry. She, along with T. M. Soundararajan went on to record more than hundreds of songs with Viswanathan - Ramamurthy.^[1]

Successful Domination : 1960 - 1980[link]

The early 1960s saw Susheela grow as an undisputed lead female singer across all the south Indian language films putting all the older veteran singers to the background. The other famed singer S. Janaki who, later went on to rule the playback industry, had just begun her career and was singing for some insignificant films. The year 1960 saw Susheela entering the Malayalam films with the V. Dakshinamurthy compositions for the film Seetha. From then, she went on to record numerous hit songs with all the Malayalam composers like G. Devarajan, M. K. Arjunan among others. She recorded many Malayalam duets with the veteran singer K. J. Yesudas.Her association with Viswanathan - Ramamurthy fetched her the very first National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer in the year 1969 for her prolific rendition of "Naalai Intha Velai Paarthu" for the Tamil film Uyarndha Manidhan. The same song got her the Tamil Nadu State Award as well.^[3] Thereby, Susheela became one of the first recipients of the most dignified National awards in India. It was during these years the Nightingale of India, Lata Mangeshkar developed a strong friendship with Susheela and praised all her works frequently.

The 1970s also saw Susheela in her prime form winning almost all the awards both Nationally and in all the four states of Southern India. She also recorded couple of Hindi songs during this period. It was in this era that she sang few notable songs for another prolific Indian music director Illayaraja. Though Janaki took over the leading position in the late 70's with her strong association with Ilayaraja, Susheela was still opted by several music directors for her legendary vocals.

Shift to Non-films : 1980's- 2000's[link]

With S. Janaki taking over the Southern film songs center stage from the 1980s and K. S. Chitra beginning her career, Susheela slowly shifted her focus from films to Devotionals and Light Music. She also concentrated more on stage shows across the Globe where many associations world wide invited her to perform for their organized shows. She recorded more than 1000 devotional songs for various audio companies. In 1988, acclaimed music composer Naushad insisted her to sing "Janaki Jaane" for his Malayalam film Dhwani. She also recorded few of her career best songs for Illayaraja, A. R. Rahman and others in the 1990s. "Kannukku Mai Azhagu" from the film Pudhiya Mugam (1993) composed by Rahman was praised all over for its lyrical content and rendition.

P. Susheela Trust : 2008 - Present[link]

The P Susheela Trust, formed in 2008, has a monthly pension payment scheme and a few musicians in need are being benefited through it. On every November 13 there would be a musical concert during which a senior artist (s) chosen by a panel is conferred with the Lifetime Achievement awards and the P Susheela Trust award. The proceedings of the concert would go towards the Trust maintenance.^[4]

The Lifetime achievement awards so far has been conferred upon T. M. Soundararajan and P. B. Srinivas. The recipients of the Trust’s awards so far are S. Janaki, S. P. Balasubramaniam and K. J. Yesudas.

Awards and recognition[link]

She was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India in January 2008. In 2001, the Andhra Pradesh Government honored her with the Raghupathi Venkaiah Award for lifetime achievement in Telugu cinema. In 2005, she received the Special Jury Swaralaya Yesudas Award for outstanding performance in music. She was honoured with the Life Time Achievement Award by the Filmfare in the year 2006. In 2011, she was honoured with the Devarajan Sangeetha Award.

National Film Awards[link]

She received the National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer five times:

State Awards[link]

Discography[link]

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

References[link]

External links[link]

• P. Susheela's official website
• P. Susheela at IMDb
• A poem about P. Suseela யாழ் சுதாகர்... 'சுசீலாவுக்கும் அமுதென்று பேர்...'
• Listen to Susheela's and others Tamil/Hindi/Telugu songs
• All 771 Malayalam songs of P Susheela
• P Susheela at MSI

S. P. Sailaja
Sailaja in 1999
Background information
Origin	Andhra Pradesh, India
Genres	playback singing, Indian classical
Occupations	Singer, voice actor
Years active	1978–2003

Sripathi Panditaradhyula Sailaja (Telugu: శ్రీపతి పండితారాధ్యుల శైలజ) is an Indian singer. She has lent her voice to Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada films. She has sung about 5000 songs to date.

Early life[link]

She was born in Konetammapeta in the Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh . Her father SP Sambamurthy was a well-known exponent of Harikatha and her brother S. P. Balasubrahmanyam is a prolific singer in Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam and many other languages.

Career[link]

Voice acting[link]

Sailaja has occasionally worked as a voice actor and spoken dubbing for various artistes including Tabu, Sonali Bendre and Sridevi among others.

Acting[link]

Sailaja has acted in a single film Saagara Sangamam, a Telugu venture directed by K. Viswanath, in which she played the role of a classical dancer; it was later dubbed into Tamil as Salangai Oli.

Personal life[link]

She is married to Subhalekha Sudhakar, a Tollywood actor. The couple have a son, Sreekar.

Besides a playback singer, she is also a classical dancer.

Filmography[link]

Actress[link]

Playback singer[link]

• Unnai Charanadainthaen (2003)
• Mrugaraaju (2001)
• Aawaragaadu (2000)
• Annamayya (1997)
• Subha Sankalpam (1995)
• Aagraham (1993)
• Siva Shakthi (1991)
• Pelli Pusthakam (1991)
• Appula Appa Rao (1991)
• Suthradharulu (1990)
• Kokila (1989)
• Raja Chinna Roja (1989)
• Swara Kalpana (1989)
• Bava Marudula Sawal (1988)
• Rudra Veena (1988)
• Swayam Krushi (1987)
• Sri Kanaka Mahalakshmi Recording Dance Troupe (1987)
• Magadheerudu (1986)
• Padamati Sandhya Ragam (1986)
• Mr. Bharath (1986)
• Sirivennela (1986)
• Thazhuvaatha Kaigal (1986)
• Sur Sangam (1985)
• Jackie (1985)
• Swathi (1985)
• Swathi Muthyam (1985)
• Mayuri (1984)
• Janani Janmabhoomi (1984)
• Rendu Jella Sita (1983)
• Saagara Sangamam (1983)
• Sitaara (1983)
• Subhalekha (1982)
• Aagaaya Gangai (1982)
• Seethakoka Chilaka (1981)
• Vamsa Vriksham (1980)
• Mosagadu (1980)
• Sankarabharanam (1979)
• Mana Voori Pandavulu (1978)
• Pranam Kareedu (1978)
• Shivaranjani (1978)

Dubbing artist[link]

• Vasantha Kokila (for Sridevi) (1983)
• Guna (for Rekha) (1991)
• Ninne Pelladutha (for Tabu) (1996)
• Aavida Maa Aavide (for Tabu) (1998)
• Murari (for Sonali Bendre) (2001)

External links[link]

• Sailaja S. P. at the Internet Movie Database

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Lourde-Mary Rajeswari Eswari(L. R. Eswari) "L.R.ஈஸ்வரி"is a Veteran playback singer of the Tamil movie industry. She also sang in other languages like Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Tulu, and English.^[1] She has won Kalaimamani, the Tamil Nadu's state award for her contributions to the film industry.

Early life[link]

She was born in Chennai into a Roman Catholic family to Anthony Devraj and Regina Mary Nirmala. Her ancestors were from Paramagudi near Madurai. Her full name is Lourde-Mary Rajeshwari. Since there was already another established singer with the name of M.S.Rajeshwari her name was abbreivated into L.R.Eshwari. She did not have any formal training in singing. Her mother was a chorus singer in films. Eshwari used to accompany her mother to the studios and soon began singing in the chorus herself, but quickly got a break to lend her voice as lead-singer. Her first break came from Sri K.V.Mahadevan in 1958 in the movie 'Periya Idaththu Sammandham', her first solo song recorded in this movie was 'ivarey thaan avarey'. But major recognition came from the song 'vaarai en thozhi vaaraayo' from the movie 'paasa malar' (1961) sung under the baton of Viswanathan-Ramamurthy, which composers explored and exploited her vocal abilities to the maximum extent possible over the next 20 years.

Career[link]

She sang under the direction of famous composers like M.S.Viswanathan, K. V. Mahadevan, Ilayaraja and Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan. Her unique voice was considered to be suited for peppy numbers in the movies, be it a dance tune, folk song or a devotional track. Her song "Vaarayo Thozhi" from Paasa Malar was a popular choice for wedding music.

She has also recorded many devotional albums in praise of the Goddess Amman which were hugely popular among the Tamil community and were played in many temples. Her "Chellatha" and "Karpoora Nayagi" numbers has won her a lot of fame among devotees. She has won the Kalaimamani Award and other states awards. Her hindi song uduthi hi chidiya from the film pistonwali , music by satyam shows her ability. She sang romantic songs filmed on heroines as well as cabarets filmed on dance-artistes and also folk songs. If she was the queen of the jazz variety music having the right verve and attitude to sing them (eg. varavendum oru pozhudhu, vandhaal ennodu, idhu verulagam), she was equally at ease with native folk numbers having the perfect vigour and vibrance to sing them (eg. vaadai kaatramma, kattodu kuzhalaada), brilliant in dance numbers owing to the rhythm and swing in her voice (eg.aadavaralaam, kangalukenna, ammaan magan enge avan, adada enna azhagu, pattathu raani), sounded natural and effortless in the most soft and whispery numbers sung with exemplery control and feel (eg.ammamma keladi thozhi, kadhodu thaan, pattu chiragu konda) and brought a rare warmth to all her romantic numbers (eg.avan kaathalithaan, kannirendum minna minna, angam puthuvidham, maranthey pochu). Her style was most unique, and she remains the most unimitable singer to this day in the indian music industry. Her voice has a very haunting quality to it, as well as a deep pathos, and for this reason she was used in many songs just for a few seconds of humming, but even those few seconds made those songs memorable in her name – Ettil ezhudhi vaiththen, kallellaam maanikka, pavazha kodiyile, nenjathai alli konjam, engeyo paarthamugam to name but a few. While quite adept and more than adequate in the usual happy, sad and peppy songs, she was the singer of choice for the unusual songs that expressed frustaration, bitterness, sarcasm etc. (eg maappillai ragasiyam sollava, ennadi ulagam, ellorum paarkka en ullaasa vazhkkai, enakku vantha indha) in which songs she excelled herself. None could parallel her in 1960s for jazz, blues and folk. Thangavalayal song sollatheriyavillai another example. Perhaps she and P.Susheela were the most popular female-duet-duo ever, they complimented each other perfectly in terms of voice and style, and sang very many popular duets in their times – unadhu malar, chiththira poovizhi, ninaithaal sirippu, thoodhu sella etc.. They seemed to share a perfect chemistry and out-did each other line after line, apparently providing each other inspiration all along the song.She sang a popular duet "Gudilona naa swamy koluvai unnadu " with S. Janaki in a Telugu movie Idalokam for music of Chakravarthy,which remains a top hit till date. She rendered several duets with S Janaki in Kannada movies as well.

She sang innumerable duets with all the leading male singers also – T. M. Soundararajan, A. L. Raghavan, P. B. Sreenivas, S.P. Balasubramaniam, K. J. Yesudas, J. P. Chandrababu, C. S. Jayaraman, S. C. Krishnan, Thiruchi Loganathan, A. M. Rajah & Jayachandran.

She also sang duets with female singers with most notably with P. Suseela , S. Janaki and others like K. Jamuna Rani and Soolamangalam Rajalakshmi.

Recognition[link]

Many of the Well-known film, Karaoke,stage,reality show singers and celebrities have undoubtedly accepted that her unique voice, modulation, clarity, high pitch, rhythm, expression,style, feel of the song, can never be replicated or reproduced or imitated by anyone. Her Voice and songs stands across generations over and remains as fresh as new in the millions of South Indian fans all over the world.

She brought a very rare life and spirit to each song she sang and will remain one of the most unique singers of our country. In some ways she was perhaps ahead of her times.

Re-entry[link]

After a long break, she made her re-entry through a rocky peppy Tamil Song "Kalasala Kalasala " from Movie Osthi 2011. Within few days of this song release, it has became a super hit and reached music box office top ratings.

Notable songs[link]

Tamil songs[link]

Telugu songs[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• L. R. Eswari at the Internet Movie Database

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