Vimala B. Varma

Last updated

Vimala B. Varma
Born
Vimala B. Varma

Nationality Indian
Occupation(s)Playback singer, Actress, Radio artist
Years active1948

Vimala B. Varma (born 1935/36) is a former Indian playback singer and actress from Kerala. She and Sarojini Menon has been credited as the first playback singers of Malayalam cinema. Vimala is also the first person to play dual roles in Malayalam ciema. [1]

Biography

Vimala became a part of Malayalam cinema in 1948 with the movie Nirmala, directed by P. V. Krishna Iyer. She was studying in the 6th standard while acted in the film. Vimala and her sister come to Salem's Modern Theater to sing background music in the movie. Later, Vimala was assigned to play the role of the heroine's younger sister in the film. [2] She played two characters in the film and became the first person to do so in Malayalam cinema. With the release of Nirmala, Vimala also became famous. Later, Vimala's father did not accept the invitation to the new film Vellinakshatram due to contract conditions. After that, she was invited to star in Malabar Productions' new film, but she declined that too and ended her film career. Vimala started singing at All India Radio, Kozhikode station in 1956 and sang over 500 light music songs. She retired from All India Radio in 1993. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malayalam cinema</span> Malayalam-language filmmaking industry of India

Malayalam cinema is an Indian film industry of Malayalam-language motion pictures. It is based in Kerala, India. The films produced in Malayalam cinema are known for their cinematography and story-driven plots. In 1982, Elippathayam won the Sutherland Trophy at the London Film Festival, and Most Original Imaginative Film of 1982 by the British Film Institute. Rajiv Anchal's Guru (1997), Salim Ahamed's Adaminte Makan Abu (2011) and Lijo Jose Pellissery's Jallikkattu (2019) were Malayalam films sent by India as its official entries for the Best Foreign Language Film category at the Academy Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Noor Jehan</span> Pakistani singer and actress

Noor Jehan, or, , also known by her honorific title Malika-e-Tarannum, was a Pakistani playback singer and actress who worked first in British India and then in the cinema of Pakistan. Her career spanned more than six decades. Considered to be one of the greatest and most influential singers in Indian subcontinent, she was given the honorific title of Malika-e-Tarannum in Pakistan. She had a command of Hindustani classical music as well as other music genres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">K. J. Yesudas</span> Indian singer

Kattassery Joseph Yesudas is an Indian playback singer and musician who sings Indian classical, devotional and film songs. He is widely considered one of the greatest singers in the history of Indian music and a cultural icon of Kerala. Yesudas is estimated to have recorded more than 50,000 songs in various Indian languages, including Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Tulu, Hindi, Odia, Bengali, Marathi as well as Arabic, English, Latin, and Russian, in a career spanning six decades. He is often referred to as Gaanagandharvan. Yesudas holds the record for singing 11 songs in different languages in a single day. He has also composed a number of Malayalam film songs during the 1970s and 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Music of Kerala</span> History of the music of Kerala

The music of Kerala has a long and rich history. It is not the same as Malayalam poetry, although most of it is poetry driven. Kerala has a rich tradition in Carnatic music. Songs formed a major part of early Malayalam literature, which traces its origin to the 9th century CE. The significance of music in the culture of Kerala can be established just by the fact that in Malayalam language, musical poetry was developed long before prose. With the development of music in the region, different branches were formed out of it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Usha Uthup</span> Indian singer & actress

Usha Uthup Iyer is an Indian pop, filmi, jazz, and playback singer who sang songs in the late 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vasundhara Das</span> Indian actress and singer

Vasundhara Das is an Indian singer, musician and former actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vineeth Sreenivasan</span> Indian actor, producer, director, writer, and musician

Vineeth Sreenivasan is an Indian playback singer, actor, film director, screenwriter, producer, lyricist, creative director and dubbing artist. He predominantly works in the Malayalam cinema. He is the son of actor and screenwriter Sreenivasan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swarnalatha</span> Indian singer

Swarnalatha was an Indian playback singer. In a career spanning almost 22 years, she recorded over 10,000 songs in many Indian languages, including Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Oriya, Punjabi, and Badaga.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">P. Susheela</span> Indian singer (born 1935)

Pulapaka Susheela, popularly known as P. Susheela, is an Indian playback singer associated with the South Indian cinema primarily from Andhra Pradesh for over six decades. She is one of the greatest and best-known playback singers in India. She has been recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as well as by the Asia Book of Records for performing a record number of songs in different Indian languages. She is also the recipient of five National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer and numerous state awards. Susheela is widely acclaimed as a singer who defined feminism in South Indian cinema and is well known for her mellifluous vocal performances for over 40,000 film and devotional songs across South Indian languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vani Jairam</span> Indian singer (1943–2023)

Vani Jairam was an Indian playback singer in Indian cinema. She is fondly referred to as the "Meera of modern India" Vani's career started in 1971 and has spanned over five decades. She did playback for over one thousand Indian movies recording over 10,000 songs. In addition, she recorded thousands of devotionals and private albums and also participated in numerous solo concerts in India and abroad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sujatha Mohan</span> Indian playback singer

Sujatha Mohan is an Indian playback singer who is popular for singing in Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu movies. She has also sung for Kannada, Badaga, Hindi and Marathi and more languages movies. As of 2021, she had recorded more than 10,000 songs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mamta Mohandas</span> Indian actress

Mamta Mohandas is an Indian actress, film producer and a playback singer who predominantly works in Malayalam,Tamil and Telugu films.She has won several accolades including two Filmfare Awards South for Best Female Playback Singer in Telugu in 2006 and for Best Actress in Malayalam in 2010 and also Kerala State Film Award for Second Best Actress in 2010. She has launched her own film production company under the banner Mamta Mohandas Productions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chinmayi Sripaada</span> Indian playback singer

Chinmayi Sripaada is an Indian playback singer, working mainly for the South Indian film industry. She is also a voice actor, composer, television presenter, radio jockey, and an entrepreneur. She is the founder and CEO of a translation services company Blue Elephant, a skincare company importing K-beauty to India - Isle Of Skin, and a medi-spa Deep Skin Dialogues in Chennai and Hyderabad. She is often credited as Chinmayee and Indai Haza. She rose to fame for her critically acclaimed song "Oru Deivam Thantha Poovae" from the National Award winning movie 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 Dubbing Artist in director Krishna's 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. She is also a social activist often raising her voice against issues faced by women and has been the face of the second wave of #MeToo movement in India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrea Jeremiah</span> Indian actress, playback singer, musician

Andrea Maria Jeremiah is an Indian actress, playback singer, and a musician, who works predominantly in Tamil and Malayalam language films. She made her acting debut in Tamil film Pachaikili Muthucharam (2007), and Malayalam debut with Annayum Rasoolum (2013).

Prem Kumar Gangai Amaren, better known as Premgi, is an Indian playback singer, composer, songwriter, actor and comedian. The son of composer and director Gangai Amaran, he often composes rap songs in Tamil cinema and is known for his comical performances in his elder brother Venkat Prabhu's films. His stage name, Premgi, is actually a spelling error, as it is meant to be "Prem G.",. He is also best known for his catchphrases Enna Koduma Sir Idhu ? and Evvalavo pannitom, itha panna mattoma, the former being a modified version of a famous dialogue used by Prabhu in Chandramukhi (2005).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">P. Leela</span> Indian playback singer

Porayath Leela was an Indian playback singer, Carnatic vocalist, and a music director. She has recorded more than 5,000 songs in various Indian languages including Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Hindi, Bengali, Sanskrit, Odia, Gujarati, Marati. and also Sinhale. She is also known for her extensive history of collaboration in the songs with Music Composers v.Dakshinamoorthy, MS Baburaj, G Devarajan, ghantasala, MS Viswanathan, K. Raghavan, Br Lakshmanan, LPR Varma, BA chithambara athletes, AT ummer, MK Arjun,Johnson, ouseppachan, ilaiyaraja, and with the playback singers KJ Yesudas and Ghantalasa over the years. Leela is known for her sweet and melodious voice that she named Ganamani. She was awarded Padma Bhushan in 2006. She made her debut as a playback singer in the 1948 Tamil film Kangkanam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deepa Miriam</span> Indian playback singer

Deepa Miriam is an Indian playback singer of South Indian movies. Her debut film was Naan Avanillai. Deepa rose to fame with the song Kangal Iraandal in the Tamil movie Subramaniapuram.

<i>Nirmala</i> (1948 film) 1948 Indian film

Nirmala is a 1948 Indian Malayalam-language drama film directed by P. V. Krishna Iyer and produced by P. J. Cherian. The fourth talkie in Malayalam, Nirmala introduced playback singing to Malayalam cinema.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kaniha</span> Indian actress

Divya Venkatasubramaniam, better known by her stage name Kaniha, is an Indian actress who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema along with a few Tamil, Telugu and Kannada movies. Kaniha made her debut in the 2002 Tamil film Five Star.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shakthisree Gopalan</span> Indian singer

Shakthisree Gopalan is an Indian vocalist, composer, songwriter and performer, famous for her collaborations with the top south-Indian music composers like A.R. Rahman. Aside from the film music, she is a regular in the independent music scene, performing with various bands over the years dabbling in Pop, R'n'B, trip-hop and jazz.

References

  1. "Vimala, 87, enjoys singing Malayalam's first playback song even now after 75 years". English.Mathrubhumi. 20 February 2023. Archived from the original on 8 September 2023. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
  2. "Malayalam film 'Nirmala' is part of history, but no print available". OnManorama. Archived from the original on 8 September 2023. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
  3. "Melody of memories". The Hindu. 15 June 2007. ISSN   0971-751X. Archived from the original on 3 June 2023. Retrieved 8 September 2023.