The same year released Tamil film Kanavane Kan Kanda Deivam made her a household name in Tamil Nadu. Susheela created a huge impact among the listeners with her effortless renditions of the toughest notations. Missamma released in 1955 had hugely popular songs backed with strong carnatic classical essence. The year 1955 saw Susheela raising to popularity with her back to back hit songs both in Tamil and Telugu film industries. Yet, Susheela made her own mark with her distinct and clear vocals. Vasanthakumari, Jikki among others ruling the playback industry. It was not easy for a newcomer to foray into the musical scene in the 1950s with the domination of eminent female vocalists like P. She debuted into Kannada language with the film Maadidunno Maaraya in 1954. Thus Susheela began her illustrious career gaining abundant knowledge about music and language. Meiyappan hired a Tamil trainer for Susheela to hone her Tamil pronunciation skills. This resulted in her long term employment with AVM Studios singing for their productions alone with a fixed monthly salary. This was subsequently made in Telugu as Kanna Talli for which she recorded the same duet with Ghantasala. She was immediately signed on for the Tamil film Petra Thai (1952) for a duet song 'Edhuku Azhaithhai' with A. AIR sent forward five singers of whom Susheela was selected after some thorough audition tests. He approached the AIR to help him shortlist some of the finest singers who have performed for the Radio. In 1950, music director Pendyala Nageswara Rao was on the look out for some fresh voices to sing for his new film compositions. She also sang few songs for the All India Radio (AIR) for their private program telecasts. She developed the crucial nuances in singing songs with apt expressions and modulations through her extensive training during those days. She used to participate in all the musical competitions at her school and Vizianagaram town events. Career Debut : 1950–1954 īorn into a music-loving family, Susheela had been nurtured with formal classical music training at a very young age.
Susheela went on to become one of the most successful playback singers of south India from 1950 to 1990. Education Īfter completion of schooling, Susheela joined in Maharaja's Music College under the tutelage of Dwaram Venkataswamy Naidu who was the Principal, Vizianagaram, and completed Diploma in Music from Andhra University in First Class at a very early age. Her daughter-in-law, Sandhya Jayakrishna, is a singer who debuted with A. Mohan Rao they have a son named Jayakrishna and two granddaughters named Jayashree and Shubashree. Susheela was born in Andhra Pradesh, India, as the daughter of Pulapaka Mukunda Rao, a leading advocate in Vizianagaram, Vizianagaram District, Andhra Pradesh State. She can also speak Tamil, fluent Hindi, and a little Kannada. In a career spanning more than six decades, she has recorded nearly 40,000 songs in various Indian languages including Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Hindi, Bengali, Oriya, Sanskrit, Tulu and Badaga. She is also considered as one of the rich voiced singers whose pronunciation of the syllables to be more clear and precise in any of the languages she sang. She is fondly called 'Gana Kokila' and 'Gana Saraswathi'. The song 'Paal Polave' from Tamil film Uyarndha Manidhan brought her the first ever award at the 16th National Film Awards, by winning her the National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer, National Award for female playback singing was introduced for the first time in 1969 and Smt P.Susheela was the first recipient also making it the first Tamil film to win a National Award under that category. 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 50,000 film songs across South Indian languages.
She is also the recipient of five National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer and numerous state awards. She has been recognized by both the Guinness Book of World Records and the Asia Book of Records for singing most number of songs in Indian languages. Pulapaka Susheela (born November 13, 1935) is an Indian playback singer associated with the South Indian cinema primarily from Andhra Pradesh for over six decades. Vizianagaram, Madras Presidency, British India (now Andhra pradesh, India)
Gaana Saraswati, Gandharva Gayaki, Kannada Kogile