U. R. Jeevarathnam | |
|---|---|
| யூ. ஆர். ஜீவரத்தினம் | |
 U. R. Jeevarathnam in 1948 Tamil film Sri Andal | |
| Born | Unjalur R. Jeevarathnam |
| Died | 26 July 2000 Mandaveli, Chennai, India |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1937 – 1956 |
Unjalur Ramayamma Jeevaratnam [1] was an Indian actress, singer, producer and playback singer. Most of her works are in Telugu and Tamil languages.
Born in Unjalur, Erode, Madras Presidency in British India to Subramaniam and Kunjammaal. She was very much interested in music right from the time of her school days and could sing very well also. K. S. Angamuthu, a very popular comedian of that time helped her to join the Krishna Drama Company at the age of 9. She had tutelage of carnatic music from Kailasa Bhagavathar and Kunnakkudi Venkatrama Iyer. She used to watch the acting style of everyone with attention.
When Salem Modern Theatres was founded, she joined as an artiste. She made her debut through the Modern Theatres maiden film Sathi Ahalya in 1937 at the age of ten. She appeared as a celestial lady from the heaven. She appeared in other films till 1941 when was offered a main role in Bhaktha Gowri. She was a good singer and the song 'Theruvil varaandi' was a testimony to her mellifluous voice.
She had acted in films such as Poompavai, Abhimanyu, Bhojan and Devakanya. In the film Kannagi she had acted as Kaunthi Adigal (An old Jain nun in the Tamil epic Silapathikaram). She was awarded the title Isai Kuyil (Nightingale Of Music) by Swami Dhinakar at the 100th day function of Kannagi held at Thiruvarur. She appeared in many Modern Theatres productions.
After marriage, they started a film production company Mercury Films. The first production was Pona Machan Thirumbi Vanthaan (1954) with Sriram and T. D. Kusalakumari starring. The film earned a moderate profit. The second production was Vaazhvile Oru Naal (1956) with Sivaji Ganesan and G. Varalakshmi starring.
The third attempt was a film titled, Sirikkum Silai with MGR with the expectation of recovering the money that were lost in their previous films, but the production had to be given up within a few days of shooting. They tried a fourth attempt in the film Adichathu Yoham with Ravichandran which unfortunately had also to be shelved in the middle. They incurred heavy losses due to these two films.
She was also a playback singer. She sang for J Sushila and T N Rajalakshmi in Dewan Bahadur (1943), T. D. Kusalakumari in Pona Machan Thirumbi Vanthaan (1954) and G. Varalakshmi in Vaazhvile Oru Naal (1956).
She married T. S. Venkataswami who was the manager of Central Studios. After her marriage she said bid adieu to the films but she was active in stage dramas. The couple had four daughters and one son, four granddaughters and two grandsons. Her husband died on 7 April 1971. Jeevarathnam died on 26 July 2000 when she was living at Mandaveli, Chennai. Her body was cremated at her native place Unjalur. The entire film industry paid its last respects to this veteran artiste. Her son Vetrivel and his wife Jothi Paappammaa have planned to publish a book on Jeevarathnam's biography. Jeevarathnam's family happily recalls the marriage of Vetrivel which was attended by the then chief minister MGR and V. N. Janaki. MGR handed over the sacred thaali to Vetrivel and blessed the couple.
| Year | Film | Song | Language | Actor | Co-Singer | Music | Banner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1942 | Kannagi | Tamil | M. S. Saroja | S. V. Venkatraman | Jupiter Pictures | ||
| 1954 | Pona Machaan Thirumbi Vandhan | Yaar Inge Maarthavandi | Tamil | T. D. Kusalakumari | C. N. Pandurangan | Mercury Pictures | |
| Idhayam Ennum Koyil Thannil | T. D. Kusalakumari | A. M. Rajah | |||||
| 1955 | Nam Kuzhandai | Jigu Jigu Digiri Nambaadhe | Tamil | M. D. Parthasarathy | Windsor Productions | ||
| 1956 | Vaazhvile Oru Naal | Thendrale Vaaraayo | Tamil | G. Varalakshmi | T. M. Soundararajan | T. G. Lingappa | Mercury Pictures |
| Then Dhisaikkone Dharma Seemaane | G. Varalakshmi | ||||||
| Karunai Seivaaye Kamalakkannaa | G. Varalakshmi |
Harini is an Indian film playback and classical singer born and raised in Chennai. She sings predominantly in Tamil films, besides other language films such as Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi films. She was first noticed by music director A. R. Rahman at a school competition where she was one among the winners. Eventually, she was signed in to record the song "Nila Kaigiradhu" for the film Indira (1995) when she was 15. The song went on to become one of the popular songs of the year and Harini began to get singing offers from other leading film composers.
Sistla Janaki is an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer from Andhra Pradesh. She is widely referred to as "Janaki Amma" and "Nightingale of South India". She is one of the best-known playback singers in India. She has recorded over 48,000 songs in films, albums, TV and Radio which includes solos, duets, chorus and title tracks in 17 languages including Kannada, Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Sanskrit, Odia, Tulu, Urdu, Punjabi, Badaga, Bengali, Konkani and also in foreign languages such as English, Japanese, German and Sinhala; the highest number of songs in her career were in Kannada followed by Malayalam. Started in 1957 with the Tamil film Vidhiyin Vilayattu, her career has spanned over six decades. She is referred to as Gaana Kogile in Karnataka, Gaana Kokila in Telugu States and Isaikkuyil in Tamil Nadu.
Thoguluva Meenatchi Iyengar Soundararajan, popularly known as TMS, was an Indian Carnatic musician and a playback singer in Tamil cinema for over six and a half decades. He sang over 10,138 songs from 3,162 films, including devotional, semi-classical, Carnatic, classical and light music songs. He gave classical concerts starting in 1943.
Chinmayi Sripada is an Indian singer and voice actress who predominantly works in Tamil and Telugu films. Noted for her wide vocal range and versatility,She rose to fame for her critically acclaimed song "Oru Deivam Thantha Poovae" from Kannathil Muthamittal, directed by Mani Ratnam and composed by A. R. Rahman. She was 15 years old when she made her singing debut in Kannathil Muthamittal. She debuted as a voice actress in Sillunu Oru Kaadhal rendering her voice for Bhumika Chawla, after being referred by one of A. R. Rahman's sound engineers. She debuted as a composer with a short lullaby titled Laali, which she also sang and released as part of Instagram's #1MinMusic.
Yajaman is a 1993 Indian Tamil-language drama film written and directed by R. V. Udayakumar. The film stars Rajinikanth, Meena and Aishwarya, with M. N. Nambiar, Manorama, Vijayakumar and Napoleon in supporting roles. It was produced by M. Saravanan, M. S. Guhan and M. Subrahmaniam of AVM Productions. The film was released on 18 February 1993 and became commercially successful, with a 175-day theatrical run.
Pasupuleti Kannamba was an Indian actress, playback singer and film producer of Telugu cinema, of Andhra Pradesh, India. She acted in more than 170 films and produced about 25 films in Telugu and Tamil languages during the 1930s to the 1960s.
Pillavalu Gajapathy Krishnaveni, more famously known as Jikki, was an Indian playback singer from Andhra Pradesh. She sang around 10,000 songs in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Sinhalese, and Hindi languages.
Rushyendramani was an Indian actress, singer, dancer, and playback singer from Andhra Pradesh. She had more than 150 movies to her credit and acted in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi films from 1935 to 1986. Her notable films include Sri Seetarama Jananam (1944), Malliswari (1951), Vipra Narayana (1954), Chintamani (1956). Her last film was Sri Shirdi Saibaba Mahathyam (1986).
Gopalan Ramanathan was an Indian music composer for Tamil movies. He is also known as Isai Methai or Sangeetha Chakravarthy and is considered to be one of the influential Tamil music composers to take Carnatic music to the masses. Notable for his association with M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar. G. Ramanathan also composed for films of Salem Modern Theatres and Coimbatore Central Studios. His career lasted until his death in 1963. During the 1950s G.Ramanathan's music dominated most of the box office hits of the then leading Tamil movie stars Shivaji Ganesan and M. G. Ramachandran.
Tenkasi Vallinayagam Rathnam hailed from Tenkasi, Madras Presidency, British India. She was a playback singer for Tamil films.
Kannupada Poguthaiya is a 1999 Indian Tamil-language drama film written and directed by Bharathi Ganesh. It stars Vijayakanth in dual lead roles as father and son. The film was released on 7 November 1999 and became a commercial success.
Jeevitham is a 1950 Indian Telugu-language social guidance film produced by A. V. Meiyappan with his company AVM Productions and directed by M. V. Raman. The film stars Vyjayanthimala in her Telugu cinema debut with S. Varalakshmi, T. R. Ramachandran and C. H. Narayana Rao forming an ensemble cast, with many actors appearing in other significant roles. Actresses Lalitha and Padmini made guest appearances as stage dancers.
Vazhvile Oru Naal is a 1956 Indian Tamil-language film, directed by A. Kasilingam and produced by U. R. Jeevarathnam. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan, G. Varalakshmi, Sriram and Rajasulochana. It was released on 21 September 1956.
Uyarndha Manithan is a 1968 Indian Tamil-language drama film written by Javar Seetharaman and directed by Krishnan–Panju. The film was produced by A. V. Meiyappan, M. Saravanan, M. Kumaran and M. Murugan under AVM Productions. It stars Sivaji Ganesan and Sowcar Janaki, while S. A. Ashokan, Major Sundarrajan, Vanisri and Sivakumar play pivotal roles. The film's soundtrack and background score were composed by M. S. Viswanathan, while the lyrics for the songs were written by Vaali.
P. R. Varalakshmi is an Indian actress. She was active in movies during the 1970s and 1980s. She was a prominent lead actress during the 1980s in Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, and Kannada films. She has acted around 600 movies in all major south Indian languages. Her debut film was Kettikaran in 1971, directed by H.S Venu.
Pona Machan Thirumbi Vandhan is a 1954 Indian Tamil-language comedy film directed by C. Srinivasa Rao. The dialogues were written by V. Seetharaman and screenplay by Mercury Films' Story Department. Based on the novel Punarjanmam by Thumilan, it stars Sriram and Kusalakumari. The film was released on 27 November 1954 and did not succeed commercially.
Cuddalore Nagarathnam Pandurangan was a noted music director who had scored music for Tamil, Kannada, Telugu and Sinhala movies. C. N. Pandurangan was an Indian music director who worked mainly in South Indian films.
Padmalatha is an Indian playback singer who was born in Chennai, India. She rose to her fame after the song "Kannale Kannale" from the movie Thani Oruvan topped the charts when the album released. She is best known for songs like "Kaadhale Kaadhale" and "Kannale Kannale" in Tamil. Her Telugu songs include "Pareshanuraaa", "Choosa Choosa", "Chali Gaali Chuudduu" and "Ghandhaari yaaro".
Chitra Iyer is an Indian playback singer who has worked in Indian and Italian films across five different industries primarily in Malayalam.
Bhaktha Gowri is a 1941 Indian Tamil language film directed by S. Nottani. The film stars S. D. Subbaiah and U. R. Jeevarathinam.