K. P. Udayabhanu | |
|---|---|
| Born | Bhanuprakash (1936-06-06)6 June 1936 |
| Died | 5 January 2014(2014-01-05) (aged 77) Thiruvananthapuram,Kerala, India |
| Occupations | |
| Years active | 1958 – 2010 |
Kizhakke Potta Udayabhanu (born Bhanuprakash; 6 June 1936 – 5 January 2014) was an Indian playback singer and music director, mainly inMalayalam films. In 2009, he was awarded thePadma Shri, India's fourth highestcivilian honour.[1][2]
He represented India at the 1985ABU Popular Song Contest.[3]
Udayabhanu was born to N. S. Varma and Ammu Nethyaramma at Tharur in the present-dayPalakkad district.[4] He was the nephew of music scholar K. P. Appukutta Menon[4] andfreedom fighterK. P. Kesava Menon.[5] Udayabhanu spent his childhood in Singapore, where his father ran a business.[5] Following his mother's death, he returned to India at the age of seven.[5] Udayabhanu joined the Thyagaraja Sangeetha Vidyalaya inKalpathy and started learning music under the guidance of Erode Viswanatha Iyer,Palghat Mani Iyer,M. D. Ramanathan,Palghat Srirama Bhagavathar, and Flute Krishna Iyer.[4] Udayabhanu married singer Vijayalekshmi in 1970 and they had a son, Rajeev Udayabhanu.[1] Vijayalekshmi died in 2007.[6]
Udayabhanu started his career as an announcer inAll India Radio in 1956, where he worked for 38 years.[4] In 1964–65, he worked as music teacher atLawrence School, Lovedale,[7] but quit it in 1965 and rejoined All India Radio in the same year.[8] He was also thePublic Relations Officer toK. Karunakaran twice.[1][8]
His favourite singers wereK. J. Yesudas andK. S. Chithra.[8]M. Balamuralikrishna was his favouriteCarnatic musician.[8]Bade Gulam Ali Khan andBhimsen Joshi were his favouriteHindustani musicians.[8]
Udayabhanu died on 5 January 2014 at his home inThiruvananthapuram.[9][10] He was suffering fromParkinson's disease.[4]Aparna Balamurali, a popular young actress and singer, is his grandniece, being the daughter of his nephew Balamurali, who is himself a professional musician.
Udayabhanu recorded his first film songEnthinithra panchasara for the filmNairu Pidicha Pulivalu in 1958.[6] In his career, he sang more than 50 songs.[4] The most notable songs areKananachayayil aadumeykkan (Ramanan),Anuraga nadakathin (Ninamaninja Kalpadukal),Ponvalayillenkilum (Kutti Kuppayam),Thamara Thumbi Vava (Puthiya Akasam Puthiya Bhoomi),Vellinakshathrame ninne nokki (Ramanan),Chudukanneeralen (Laila Majnu),Tharame tharame (Laila Majnu),Vadaruthee malarini (Sathyabhama),Pennale pennale (Chemmeen),Pennayi pirannenkil,Viralonnillenkilum (Veluthambi Dalawa, andVelutha penne velutha penne (Nairu Pidicha Pulivalu).[4][11] His last song wasKaatu Paranjathum recorded for the 2010 filmThanthonni.[4][6] He sang this song after a break of 40 years from his last recorded film song.[1] He composed music for the filmsSamasya,Velichamillatha Veedhi, andMayilpeeli.[4][8] The songsKili chilachu fromSamasya andIndu sundarasmitham thookum fromMayil Peeli and several light music hits were broadcast through all India radio like 'oru pattu paduvan', 'athramelinnum nilavine' etc... were highly popular.[1][8]
In 1984, Udayabhanu launched the musical troupeOld is Gold which has conducted several stage shows in India and abroad.[1] Udayabhanu represented India at the Asia Pacific Popular Song contest in Singapore in 1985. He was also the chief conductor of the Drums of India music programme which was organised as part of the Republic Day celebrations in 1985.[1] He was the chief conductor and composer ofBharatiyam conducted inThiruvananthapuram. He conducted choral groups in all Indian languages from Delhi Central Production Unit and DelhiDoordarshan.[7] He composed 32 poems by renowned Kerala poets in connection with the Golden Jubilee celebrations of Independence.[1] He conducted music for more than 100 patriotic songs. Of these, more than 80 were inMalayalam.[8] The rest were inTamil,Telugu,Kannada,Hindi,Bengali,Gujarati,Punjabi,Assamese,Sindhi,Kashmiri,Marathi, andOriya.[8]
According to Malayalam film historian Balagopal, Udayabhanu's voice was specially suited for sad songs in melodramatic films of the 1960s and 1970s.[12]
