K. R. Ramsingh (c. 1915 – 18 October 1985) was an Indian theatre, film and

voice actor Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...

Early life

Ramsingh was born into a

Rajput Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...

family in

Nagercoil Nagercoil, also spelt as Nagarkovil ("Temple of the Nāgas", or Nagaraja-Temple), is a city and the administrative headquarters of Kanyakumari District in Tamil Nadu state, India. Situated close to the tip of the Indian peninsula, it lies on an ...

Travancore The Kingdom of Travancore ( /ˈtrævənkɔːr/), also known as the Kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor, was an Indian kingdom from c. 1729 until 1949. It was ruled by the Travancore Royal Family from Padmanabhapuram, and later Thiruvananthapuram. At ...

(present day

Kanyakumari district Kanniyakumari district is one of the 38 districts in Tamil Nadu state and the southernmost district in mainland India. It stands second in terms of population density among the districts of Tamil Nadu. It is also the richest district in Tamil Nad ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

). He was educated at the Hindu Higher Secondary School, Nagercoil. At a very young age, he was drawn towards theatre. Since his parents however were not supportive of his decision, he had to leave his family and joined an amateur drama company. After working for some companies, he joined the "Sri Ramabala Gaana Vinoda Sabha", a theatre group which consisted of future artists including

M. S. Viswanathan Manayangath Subramanian Viswanathan (24 June 1928 – 14 July 2015), also known as M.S.V., was an Indian music director, singer and actor who predominantly worked in Tamil film industry. He was popularly known as ''Mellisai Mannar''. He compose ...

and

R. Muthuraman Muthuraman Radhakrishnan (4 July 1929 – 16 October 1981) was an Indian actor who predominantly appeared in Tamil language films. He was a leading actor during the 1960s and 1970s and was fondly called as ''Navarasa Thilagam''. He had paired w ...

. During this time, Ramsingh won acclaim for acting in a play called ''Puyalukkuppin'' – he performed the role of a dictator. Later he acted in a devotional play based on the life of the

Vaishnava Vaishnavism ( sa, वैष्णवसम्प्रदायः, Vaiṣṇavasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu denominations along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. It is also called Vishnuism since it considers Vishnu as the ...

sage

Thirumazhisai Aazhwar Tirumalisai Alvar (Born: Bhargavar 4203 BCE - 297 CE) is a Tamil saint revered in the Sri Vaishnavism school of south India, in Tondai Nadu (now part of Kanchipuram and Tiruvallur districts). He was born in 4203 BCE. The legend of this saint ...

. It was staged in Madras for over 400 days. After establishing himself as a leading theatre artist, he got offers to act in films. He played the lead role as saint

Vishwamitra Vishvamitra ( sa, विश्वामित्र, ) is one of the most venerated rishis or sages of ancient India. According to Hindu tradition, he is stated to have written most of the Mandala 3 of the Rigveda, including the Gayatri Mant ...

in the 1948 Tamil film '' Brahmarishi Vishwamithra''. He was paired opposite T. R. Rajakumari, who played the role of

Menaka Menaka () is an Apsara (heavenly nymph) in Hindu literature. Legends Menaka was born during the churning of the ocean by the devas and asuras. She is one of the most mesmerising apsaras (celestial nymphs) in the three worlds, with quick intel ...

. The dialogues of the film were written by playwright

Pammal Sambandha Mudaliar Pammal Vijayarangam Sambandham Mudaliar (1873–1964), who has been described as "the founding father of modern Tamil theatre", was a playwright, director, producer and actor of the late nineteenth- and early twentieth centuries. He was a recipi ...

. The film was also released in Hindi with Ramsingh reprising his role. However, the film's failure prompted Ramsingh to go back to theatre.

Film career

After a brief hiatus, he returned to films through '' Minnal Veeran'' starring Ranjan and Sandhya in the lead. Ramsingh played the main antagonist in the film. Following that, he went on to act in similar roles in films such as ''Puyal'' and ''

Kanniyin Kaadhali ''Kanniyin Kathali'' () is a 1949 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film directed by K. Ramnoth, who produced it with A. K. Sekhar and wrote the screenplay. An adaption of the play ''Twelfth Night'' by William Shakespeare, it stars Madhuri ...

''. His role as an amputated wizard in K. Ramnath's ''Vijayakumari'' (1950) fetched him critical acclaim. Ramsingh was next seen in

M. G. Ramachandran Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran (17 January 1917 24 December 1987), also popularly known as M.G.R., was an Indian politician, actor, philanthropist, and filmmaker who served as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu from 1977 until his death in 1987 ...

's ''

Nadodi Mannan ''Nadodi Mannan'' () is a 1958 Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language action adventure film directed by M. G. Ramachandran in his debut as a filmmaker. He stars in dual roles alongside P. Bhanumathi, M. N. Rajam and B. Saroja Devi. P. S. Veerap ...

'', where he played

Bhanumathi Ramakrishna P. Bhanumathi Ramakrishna (7 September 1925 – 24 December 2005) was an Indian actress, singer, film producer, director, music composer, and novelist. She is regarded as the first female super star of Telugu cinema. She is also considered the ...

's father, ''

Mahadevi Mahadevi ( sa, महादेवी, ), also referred to as Adi Parashakti, Adi Shakti, and Abhaya Shakti, is the supreme goddess in the Shaktism sect of Hinduism. According to this tradition, all Hindu goddesses are considered to be manifesta ...

'', and '' Maruthanaatu Veeran''. While acting in films, he worked as a voice actor for films dubbed from other languages in Tamil. He provided the voice-over for

Prithviraj Kapoor Prithviraj Kapoor (born Prithvinath Kapoor; 3 November 1906 – 29 May 1972) was an Indian actor who is also considered to be one of the founding figures of Hindi cinema. He was associated with IPTA as one of its founding members and establish ...

in a Hindi film. Kapoor was so impressed with Ramsingh's voice so that he requested the latter to do the voice-over for him in the Tamil version of ''

Mughal-e-Azam ''Mughal-e-Azam'' () is a 1960 Indian epic historical drama film produced and directed by K. Asif. Starring Prithviraj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar, Madhubala, and Durga Khote, it follows the love affair between Mughal Prince Salim (who went on ...

''. In the later part of his career, he worked mainly as a voice actor while making appearances in a few films.

Death

Ramsingh died at the age of 70 on 18 October 1985 at a private hospital in

Kodambakkam Kodambakkam (also known as K-Town or Kollywood) is a business and residential neighbourhood in Central Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. The neighbourhood is served by Kodambakkam railway station of the Chennai Suburban Railway Network. Kodambakkam h ...

, Madras.

Filmography

Awards and honours

Ramsingh was awarded the

Kalaimamani The Kalaimamani is the highest civilian award in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. These awards are given by the ''Tamil Nadu Iyal Isai Nataka Mandram'' (literature, music and theatre), a unit of the Directorate of Art and Culture, Government of ...

award for his contributions to arts.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramsingh, K.R. 1910s births 1985 deaths Tamil dramatists and playwrights Indian male voice actors Male actors in Tamil cinema People from Nagercoil Year of birth uncertain 20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Indian male actors Indian male dramatists and playwrights Dramatists and playwrights from Tamil Nadu 20th-century Indian male writers