Another was that the old custom of having a variety of singers render playback was giving way to a practice of having only two or three singers per film. One was that particular film music composers and film directors had begun avoiding them for various reasons. Unfortunately they were not given many opportunities to sing in Tamil movies.
This was not due to any shortcoming on their part. Vasanthakumari, Tiruchi Loganathan, etc., were on the decline in Tamil films. Rajah, Jikki, Chidambaram Jeyaraman, M.L. Some of her memorable numbers with Soundararajan were “Mugathinil Mugam Parkalam ” (Thangappadumai), ” Nenjil kudiyirukkum” (Irumbuthirai), “Thendral urangidakkoodumadi” (Sangili Thevan), “Thalaiyam Poomudichu” (Bhagapirivinai), “Sundari Soundari” (Thookku thookki), “Igalogame” (Thangamalai Rahasyam) “Poovindri Manamethu” (Thangappathumai) and “Nilave Nee Intha ” (Pattinathar).Seergali and Leela also hit it off well with items like “Ellaiyillatha Inbathile” (Chakkaravarthi Thirumagal), “Kuttrala Aruviyile” (Nallavan Valvan) and “Kalathai Matrinan” (Manithan Maravillai).Īs stated earlier when I was growing up – on a diet of Tamil films and Tamil film songs – playback singers like Ghantasala, Leela, A.M. Soundararajan and Seergali Govindarajan also.Among her many duets with AM Raja were ”Vaarayo Vennilaave” in ”Missiamma”, “odameethirunthe” in “Assai Magan” and “Naan seitha Poojapalam” in “Gunasundari”. The duo hit it off perfectly in films like ‘Bhathala Bhairavi,’ ‘Maya Bhajaar’ and ‘Prema Pasam,’ with evergreen numbers like ‘Amaithi Illathen Maname,’ ‘Ennathan un Premaiyo,’ ‘Kathale Deiveega,’ ‘Neethanaa Ennai,’ ‘Aahaa Inba Nilavinile’ and ‘Veesum Thendralile,’ etc.Īpart from Ghantasala, Leela’s voice blended well with male singers like A.M. My mother would often say that the voices of Ghantasala and Leela were made for each other. Voice wise, Ghantasala was a bass and Leela a soprano but both harmonised well. Yet they were a popular pair singing in Tamil and Telugu films then. Leela was a Malayalee and Ghantasala a Telugu. Her favourite Tamil film singer duo or ‘jodi’ were Leela and the renowned singer Ghantasala. My mother too was an ardent fan of Leela. Of course in later years one listened to more old songs and realised that all those nightingales of yesteryear were unique in their own way. This made an indelible impression on me that Leela was the best singer at that impressionable age. Thereafter a voice would say that just like Leela’s songs, the Leela calendar too was the best or that like a song by Leela, the namesake calendar too gave pleasure. Most ads would first have a line from a popular song by Leela like ‘Engume Aanandham’ or ‘Konchum Salangai Oli Kettu’. The similarity of the “Leela” name between the singer and calendar was smartly used to promote the product. Radio advertisements were used greatly to market the new product. An illustrated calendar or ‘Sithirakkalendar’ was a novelty when first introduced.
The early sixties saw the “Leela stores” cum “Leela press” owner Mr.Sinnathurai bringing out an illustrated calendar in Ceylon as Sri Lanka was known then. This was due to a rather facetious reason. Despite this it was etched in my consciousness as a kid that Leela was the best singer of them all. Singers like Leela were not actively singing in Tamil films then. My years of childhood and early teens was an era where Tamil film singers like T.M. Rani, S.Janaki ,AM Rajah and Leela used to sing for Sinhala films in those days. Indian playback singers like Jamuna Rani, K. Subbiah Nayudu and Vedha composed music for Sinhala films. Film songs in Sinhala films were heavily influenced by Hindi and Tamil films. Many Sinhala films were produced in India. The Sinhala film industry was in its nascent stages and forced to rely on Indian input to a great extent. There was a time when Indian artistes and technicians played a big role in Sinhala films. Her Tamil renditions may number around 1,000. Leela has sung about 5,000 film songs in South Indian languages such as Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada and even in Bengalee and Sinhala. She was the uncrowned queen of song in the realm of Tamil films during the fifties and sixties of the last century.
The present generation of film song fans may have never heard her or even heard of P.