Upendra Kumar (18 July 1941 – 24 January 2002) was an Indian

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

who predominantly worked in

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

and

Odia Odia, also spelled Oriya or Odiya, may refer to: * Odia people in Odisha, India * Odia language, an Indian language, belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family * Odia alphabet, a writing system used for the Odia languag ...

films. He was known for his strong association with Rajkumar and his family and scored some of his career best compositions for the films featuring Rajkumar and his sons. He had scored for 210 films including

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

and

Tulu Tulu may refer to: People *Derartu Tulu (born 1972), Ethiopian long-distance runner *Walid Yacoubou (born 1997), Togolese footballer nicknamed "Tulu" India *Tulu calendar, traditional solar calendar generally used in the regions of southwest Kar ...

films.

Early life

Kumar originally hailed from

Digapahandi Digapahandi (formerly known as Bada Khemundi) is a town and a Notified Area Council (N.A.C.) in Ganjam district in the state of Odisha, India. There are 171 small villages which comes under Digapahandi tahasil and largely dependent on this town ...

, a town in the present-day

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

State of India. He was born in 1941 in

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

(now Chennai) in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

to a

-speaking

brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (guru ...

family. His father, Lakshman Swamy was an astrologer. Kumar studied up to seventh Grade and shifted towards music learning with the help of his uncle, Apparao. He underwent rigorous training in Hindustani classical, Western instrumental and Indian string instruments. He graduated with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

Indian classical music Indian classical music is the classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It has two major traditions: the North Indian classical music known as '' Hindustani'' and the South Indian expression known as '' Carnatic''. These traditions were not ...

, Odia music and

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in medieval India, flourished in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in ...

from the Uthkala College of Music and Dance. Upon completion of his graduation, he left for Madras looking for opportunities.

Career

Once in Madras, Kumar took music classes in vocals and the sitar. An impressed film director

Y. R. Swamy Y. R. Swamy ( – 21 October 2002) was an Indian film director and screenwriter who worked primarily Kannada cinema. He directed over 35 films in his career, 17 of which came in films that stars Rajkumar in the lead role. He also holds the rec ...

, with his "teaching methodology and his flair for music", signed him to score for his 1966 film ''

Katari Veera ''Katari Veera'' is a 1966 Indian Kannada-language swashbuckler film directed by Y. R. Swamy and produced by T. Vasanna and S. Heera. The film stars Dr. Rajkumar, Udaya Chandrika, Udaykumar, Narasimharaju , Balakrishna and Vanisri . This is ...

'', which had Rajkumar playing the lead role. Two tracks from the soundtrack album, "Chengu Chengendu Haaruva" and "Haayaada Ee Sangama" became popular. As a composer, Kumar blended Odia folk music in Kannada film soundtrack. Songs from films for which he scored that became popular included ''

Sipayi Ramu ''Sipayi Ramu'' is 1972 Indian Kannada language film directed by Y. R. Swamy, based on the novel ''Barale Innu Yamune?'' by Nuggehalli Pankaja. It stars Rajkumar, Leelavathi and Aarathi. The supporting cast includes K. S. Ashwath, Shivaram, ...

'' (1972), ''

Premada Kanike ''Premada Kanike'' () is a 1976 Indian Kannada-language thriller film directed by V. Somashekhar and produced by Jayadevi. The film starred Rajkumar, Aarathi and Jayamala. The songs composed by Upendra Kumar were received extremely well and ...

'' (1976), '' Shankar Guru'' (1978), ''Dharmasere'' (1979), ''

Ravichandra ''Ravi Chandra'' is a 1980 Kannada-language romantic drama film directed by A. V. Sheshagiri Rao, written by Shankar-Sundar and produced by Parvathamma Rajkumar. The film starred Rajkumar in dual roles along with Lakshmi and Sumalatha. Veteran ...

'' (1980), ''

Kaamana Billu ''Kaamana Billu'' () is a 1983 Indian Kannada language film directed by Chi. Dattaraj. It stars Rajkumar, Anant Nag and Saritha. The film is based on the novel ''Mrigathrushna'' by Ashwini. This climax of the movie inspired a similar sequence i ...

'' (1983), ''

Ratha Sapthami ''Ratha Sapthami'' is a 1986 Indian Kannada-language romance film, romantic musical film directed by M. S. Rajashekar and produced by S. A. Govindaraj. It stars Shiva Rajkumar in his second venture after ''Anand (1986 film), Anand''. Debutant a ...

'' (1986), ''

Nanjundi Kalyana ''Nanjundi Kalyana'' () is a 1989 Indian Kannada-language romantic comedy film, directed by M. S. Rajashekar, starring newcomers Raghavendra Rajkumar and Malashri, with Girija Lokesh and Sundar Krishna Urs as the lead cast. The film was a major ...

'' (1989), ''

Hrudaya Haadithu ''Hrudaya Haadithu'' is a 1991 Indian Kannada-language romantic drama film directed by M. S. Rajashekar and produced by S. A. Srinivas & B. P. Somu. The story is influenced by the novel ''Himada Hoovu'' written by Vamshi. The film stars Ambareesh ...

'' (1991) and ''

Jeevana Chaitra ''Jeevana Chaitra'' () is a 1992 Indian Kannada language film directed by the duo Dorai–Bhagavan starring Rajkumar and Madhavi. It marked the re-entry of Rajkumar in films after a hiatus of 3 years, and was an instant hit. The film is based on ...

'' (1992). Kumar frequently collaborated with Rajkumar who playback-sung many songs for films that mostly starred himself, and picturised on him. Popular numbers of this combination included "Chinna Baalalli", "Love Me or Hate Me" and "Cheluveya Nota Chenna" from ''Shankar Guru'', "Idhu Rama Mandira" from ''Ravichandra'', "Indu Aananda" from ''Kaamana Billu'', "Lakshmi Baaramma" and "Manavanaagi Huttidamele" from ''Jeevana Chaitra'', "Naliyuthaa" from ''Hrudaya Haadithu'' and "Saptapadi Idu Saptapadi" from ''

Saptapadi Saptapadi () is regarded to be the most important rite (Sanskrit: ) of a Hindu wedding ceremony. After tying the sacred knot known as the Mangalsutra, mangalasutra, the newly-wed couple takes seven steps together, during which the marriage is so ...

'' (1992). Other collaborations included with singers C. Aswath ("Negilahidida" from ''Kaamana Billu''),

Manjula Gururaj Manjula Gururaj ( kn, ಮಂಜುಳಾ ಗುರುರಾಜ್) is an Indian female playback singer and a voice-over artist who has primarily worked in Kannada cinema and also runs a music school. Career Playback singer She entered the Kan ...

("Olage Seridare Gundu" from ''Nanjundi Kalyana'') and S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, who also sang many non-film

devotional song A devotional song is a hymn that accompanies religious observances and rituals. Traditionally devotional music has been a part of Hindu music, Jewish music, Buddhist music, Islamic music and Christian music. Each major religion has its own trad ...

s composed by Kumar. "Naadamaya" from ''Jeevana Chaitra'' fetched Rajkumar the

National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer The following is a list of winners of the National Film Awards, National Film Award (Silver Lotus Award) for Best Male Playback singer. The award was first granted to Mahendra Kapoor in the year 1967. The singers whose performances have won awar ...

. Lyrics for most tracks of the Upendra Kumar–Rajkumar combination were written by

Chi. Udayashankar Chitnahalli Udayashankar (18 February 1934 – 2 July 1993; born in Chitnahalli) was an Indian lyricist and dialogue writer in the Kannada film industry for over three decades, who penned more than 3000 songs for films and devotional songs. Hi ...

. The

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

and the sitar were prominently used in Kumar's instrumentation, and he was particularly fond of

Kafi Kafi ( pa, ਕਾਫ਼ੀ (Gurmukhi), (Shahmukhi), Hindi: काफ़ी, Urdu: کافی, Sindhi:ڪافي) is a classical form of Sufi music mostly in the Siraiki, Punjabi and Sindhi languages and originating from the Punjab, and Sindh ...

raga A ''raga'' or ''raag'' (; also ''raaga'' or ''ragam''; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a musical mode, melodic mode. The ''rāga'' is a unique and central feature of the classical Indian music tradit ...

'' with melodies deriving from that scale. "Idu Yaaru Bareda Katheyo" from ''Premada Kanike'' was based on this raga. Kumar won the Karnataka State Film Award for Best Music Director three times (for ''Nanjundi Kalyana'', ''Hrudaya Haadithu'' and ''Jeevana Chaitra'') before stopped composing for films in the mid- to late-1990s. His health deteriorated during this time and died in 2002 with the Kannada film ''Vishwamithra'' (2001) being his last work. Srikanth Srinivasa of ''

Deccan Herald ''Deccan Herald'' is an Indian English language daily newspaper published from the Indian state of Karnataka. It was founded by K. N. Guruswamy, a liquor businessman from Ballari and was launched on 17 June 1948. It is published by The Printe ...

'', in a tribute, wrote of Kumar's last days, "With the advent of new wave music director, Upendra Kumar was relegated to the background and found himself out of work and forgotten by the Kannada film industry. Besides, he has scored music for ''Dharma Devathe'' which was released recently. He has also scored music for Dr Rajkumar's private devotional albums."

Work in Odia films

Alongside Kannada, Kumar notably worked also in Odia films and scored for more than 25 films. They included ''Dharitri'' (1972), ''

Mana Akasha ''Mana Akasha'' is a 1974 Oriya film directed by Nitai Palit based on Basant Mahapatra's Novel ''Jhara Baula''. The film portrays socio-economic conflicts in rural Odisha. Plot Sashank Patnaik and Rudra Choudhury are close friends. Rudra's son ...

'' (1974), ''Punarmilana'' (1977) and ''Alibha Daga'' (1980). A book titled ''Sajala Smruti'' was released in 2009 in memory of Kumar's work in Odia films.

Personal life

Kumar was married to H. P. Geetha, sister of Kannada film actress H. P. Saroja.

Death

Upendra Kumar died on 24 January 2002 of

jaundice Jaundice, also known as icterus, is a yellowish or greenish pigmentation of the skin and sclera due to high bilirubin levels. Jaundice in adults is typically a sign indicating the presence of underlying diseases involving abnormal heme meta ...

in Bangalore, aged 60.