K. P. Udayabhanu (born Bhanuprakash; 6 June 1936 5 January 2014) was an Indian playback singer and music director, mainly in

Malayalam films Malayalam cinema is an Indian film industry of Malayalam-language motion pictures. It is based in Kochi, Kerala, India. The films produced in Malayalam cinema are known for their cinematography and story-driven plots. In 1982, ''Elippathayam' ...

. In 2009, he was awarded the

Padma Shri Padma Shri ( IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conf ...

, India's fourth highest civilian honour.

Personal life

Udayabhanu was born to N. S. Varma and Ammu Nethyaramma at Tharur in the present-day Palakkad district. He was the nephew of music scholar K. P. Appukutta Menon and

freedom fighter A resistance movement is an organized effort by some portion of the civil population of a country to withstand the legally established government or an occupying power and to disrupt civil order and stability. It may seek to achieve its objectives ...

K. P. Kesava Menon. Udayabhanu spent his childhood in Singapore, where his father ran a business. Following his mother's death, he returned to India at the age of seven. Udayabhanu joined the Thyagaraja Sangeetha Vidyalaya in Kalpathy and started learning music under the guidance of Erode Viswanatha Iyer,

Palghat Mani Iyer Palghat T. S. Mani Iyer (1912–1981), born Thiruvilvamalai Ramaswamy was one of the leading mridangists in the field of Carnatic music. He, along with his contemporaries Palani Subramaniam Pillai and Ramanathapuram C. S. Murugabhoopathy, are ...

, M. D. Ramanathan, Palghat Srirama Bhagavathar, and Flute Krishna Iyer. Udayabhanu married singer Vijayalekshmi in 1970 and they had a son, Rajeev Udayabhanu. Vijayalekshmi died in 2007. Udayabhanu started his career as an announcer in

All India Radio All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All ...

in 1956, where he worked for 38 years. In 1964–65, he worked as music teacher at

Lawrence School, Lovedale The Lawrence School, Lovedale (formerly known as Lawrence Memorial Royal Military School), the namesake of its founder Brigadier-General Sir Henry Montgomery Lawrence KCB, is a co-educational boarding school located at Lovedale, which is a li ...

, but quit it in 1965 and rejoined All India Radio in the same year. He was also the

Public Relations Officer The public relations officer (PRO) or chief communications officer (CCO) or corporate communications officer is a C-suite level officer responsible for communications, public relations, and/or public affairs in an organization. Typically, the CCO ...

to K. Karunakaran twice. His favourite singers were K. J. Yesudas and K. S. Chithra. M. Balamuralikrishna was his favourite

Carnatic music Carnatic music, known as or in the South Indian languages, is a system of music commonly associated with South India, including the modern Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, and Sri Lanka. It is ...

ian.

Bade Gulam Ali Khan Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan (2 April 1902 – 23 April 1968) was an Indian Hindustani classical vocalist, from the Patiala gharana.Bhimsen Joshi Pandit Bhimsen Gururaj Joshi BR (; ; 4 February 1922 – 24 January 2011), also known by the honorific prefix Pandit, was one of the greatest Indian vocalists from Karnataka, in the Hindustani classical tradition. He is known for the '' khay ...

were his favourite

Hindustani music Hindustani classical music is the classical music of northern regions of the Indian subcontinent. It may also be called North Indian classical music or, in Hindustani, ''shastriya sangeet'' (). It is played in instruments like the violin, sita ...

ians. Udayabhanu died on 5 January 2014 at his home in

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...

. He was suffering from

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

Aparna Balamurali Aparna Balamurali (born 11 September 1995) is an Indian actress who primarily works in Malayalam films along with a few Tamil films. She is known for her roles in ''Maheshinte Prathikaaram'' (2016), '' Sunday Holiday'' (2017) and '' Soorarai P ...

, a popular young actress and singer, is his grandniece, being the daughter of his nephew Balamurali, who is himself a professional musician.

Career

Udayabhanu recorded his first film song ''Enthinithra panchasara'' for the film ''

Nairu Pidicha Pulivalu ''Nairu Pidicha Pulivalu'' ( ml, നായരു പിടിച്ച പുലിവാല്) is a 1958 Malayalam film directed by P. Bhaskaran and written by Uroob based on his own story "Business". Ragini and Sathyan play the lead roles, ...

'' in 1958. In his career, he sang more than 50 songs. The most notable songs are ''Kananachayayil aadumeykkan'' (''

Ramanan ''Ramanan'' (Malayalam: രമണന്‍) is the most celebrated work of Malayalam poet Changampuzha Krishna Pillai. It is a play written in the form of verse. It is a pastoral elegy written after the death of his friend, Edappally Raghavan ...

''), ''Anuraga nadakathin'' (''

Ninamaninja Kalpadukal ''Ninamaninja Kalpadukal'' (Bloodstained Footprints) is a 1963 Malayalam language film, directed by N. N. Pisharody and produced by N.K. Karunakara Pillai and Shobhana Parameswaran Nair. The lead role is played by Prem Nazir, with Ambika, Shee ...

''), ''Ponvalayillenkilum'' ('' Kutti Kuppayam''), ''Thamara Thumbi Vava'' ('' Puthiya Akasam Puthiya Bhoomi''), ''Vellinakshathrame ninne nokki'' (''Ramanan''), ''Chudukanneeralen'' ('' Laila Majnu''), ''Tharame tharame'' (''Laila Majnu''), ''Vadaruthee malarini'' (''Sathyabhama''), ''Pennale pennale'' (''

Chemmeen ''Chemmeen'' () is a 1965 Indian Malayalam-language romance film, based on the novel of the same name by Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai. It was adapted into a screenplay by S. L. Puram Sadanandan, directed by Ramu Kariat, and produced by Babu Is ...

''), ''Pennayi pirannenkil'', ''Viralonnillenkilum'' ('' Veluthambi Dalawa'', and ''Velutha penne velutha penne'' (''Nairu Pidicha Pulivalu''). His last song was ''Kaatu Paranjathum'' recorded for the 2010 film ''

Thanthonni ''Thanthonni'' () is a 2010 Indian Malayalam-language action thriller film directed by George Varghese, a former assistant to Joshy. ''Thanthonni'' stars Prithviraj Sukumaran, Sheela Kaur, Ambika, Sai Kumar and Suraj Venjaramood. It was relea ...

''. He sang this song after a break of 40 years from his last recorded film song. He composed music for the films ''

Samasya ''Samasya'' is a 1976 Indian Malayalam-language film directed by K. Thankappan. The film stars Madhu (actor), Madhu, Srividya, Kamal Haasan and Sankaradi in the lead roles. The film has musical score by Shyam (composer), Shyam and K. P. Udayabha ...

'', ''Velichamillatha Veedhi'', and ''Mayilpeeli''. The songs ''Kili chilachu'' from ''Samasya'' and ''Indu sundarasmitham thookum'' from ''Mayil Peeli'' and several light music hits were broadcast through all India radio like 'oru pattu paduvan', 'athramelinnum nilavine' etc... were highly popular. In 1984, Udayabhanu launched the musical troupe ''Old is Gold'' which has conducted several stage shows in India and abroad. Udayabhanu represented India at the Asia Pacific Popular Song contest in Singapore in 1985. He was also the chief conductor of the Drums of India music programme which was organised as part of the Republic Day celebrations in 1985. He was the chief conductor and composer of ''Bharatiyam'' conducted in

. He conducted choral groups in all Indian languages from Delhi Central Production Unit and Delhi Doordarshan. He composed 32 poems by renowned Kerala poets in connection with the Golden Jubilee celebrations of Independence. He conducted music for more than 100 patriotic songs. Of these, more than 80 were in

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 2 ...

. The rest were in

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, nativ ...

, Telugu,

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 ...

Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub ...

, Punjabi, Assamese, Sindhi,

Kashmiri Kashmiri may refer to: * People or things related to the Kashmir Valley or the broader region of Kashmir * Kashmiris, an ethnic group native to the Kashmir Valley * Kashmiri language, their language People with the name * Kashmiri Saikia Baruah ...

, Marathi, and Oriya. According to Malayalam film historian Balagopal, Udayabhanu's voice was specially suited for sad songs in melodramatic films of the 1960s and 1970s.

Awards and recognitions

*Recipient of

Padma Shri Award Padma Shri ( IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conferr ...

, 2009. *

Sangeet Natak Akademi Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in English) is the national level academy for performing arts set up by the Government of India. History It was set up by the Indian education ministry on 31 May 1952 and ...

Award for creative music, 2002. *

Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Fellowship The Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Fellowship is an honour presented by the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi, an autonomous organisation for the encouragement, preservation, and documentation of the performing arts of Kerala, set up by the Dep ...

, 2004. *Kamukara award, 2006. *

B. R. Ambedkar Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (14 April 1891 – 6 December 1956) was an Indian jurist, economist, social reformer and political leader who headed the committee drafting the Constitution of India from the Constituent Assembly debates, served ...

"Kalasri" Award by Bharatheeya Dalit Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi, 2003. *

National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film Music Direction The National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film Music Direction is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India. It is one ...

, 1994 (''Myth of the Tree'', ''Serpant Mother''). *Honoured by Kerala government for outstanding contributions to Malayalam film industry, 1981. *Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi award, 1987. *Honoured by

for outstanding contributions to broadcasting in Kerala, 1999.

Positions held

*Member-

Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Academy is located in Thrissur city, of Kerala, in India. It was established on 26 April 1958, inaugurated by then Indian Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. The academy started a cultural centre at the Bahrain Ker ...

*Member-

Kerala Kalamandalam Kerala Kalamandalam, deemed to be University of Art and Culture by the Government of India, is a major center for learning Indian performing arts, especially those that developed in the Southern states of India, with the special emphasis on K ...

*Member- Board of Studies (Music),

Calicut University The University of Calicut, also known as Calicut University, is a state-run public university headquartered at Tenhipalam in Malappuram district of the state of Kerala, India. Established in 1968, it is the first university to be set up in nor ...

*Member- Board of Studies (Music), Mahatma Gandhi University *Member- Film Censor Board (thrice) *Member- Kerala State Film Awards Committee (thrice) *Member- Audition Board, All India Radio

References

External links

K. P. Udayabhanu Foundation website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Udayabhanu, K. P. 1936 births 2014 deaths Indian male playback singers Film musicians from Kerala Malayalam playback singers People from Palakkad district Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award 20th-century Indian singers Singers from Kerala 21st-century Indian singers 20th-century Indian male singers 21st-century Indian male singers