Lalita Venkatram

Lalita Venkatram (1909 – 1992), also credited as Lalita Venkataram or Lalitha Venkataraman, was an Indian Carnatic singer and veena player. She is credited as the first playback singer in Tamil cinema and the first Carnatic musician to be featured on All India Radio, Bombay.[1]

Lalita Venkatram
A young South Asian woman, dark hair parted center and dressed back to nape; wearing a light-colored sari
Lalita Venkatram, from a 1939 issue of The Indian Listener
Born1909
Thiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu
Died1992
Other namesLalita Venkataram, Lalitha Venkataraman
Occupation(s)Singer, music educator

Early life

Venkatram was born in Thiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu, the daughter of Manavasi V. Ramaswamy Iyer and Subbalakshmi Ramaswami. Her father was a public works engineer and a composer.[1][2]

Career

Venkatram gave concerts in India and Ceylon, singing and accompanying herself on veena. She gave a benefit performance in Colombo after the 1935 Quetta earthquake.[3] She was the first Carnatic singer to be heard on All India Radio, Bombay, because she sang on the station's first broadcast in 1933.[1] She provided singing vocals for an actress in A. V. Meiyappan's Nandakumar (1938),[4] becoming the first playback singer in a Tamil film.[1] She continued giving concerts and performing on All India Radio into the late 1940s.[5][6][7]

Venkatram taught music students in Bombay after she retired from performing.[1] One of her successful students was singer and composer Shankar Mahadevan.[8]

Personal life

She married K. S. Venkatram. She lived in Bombay and had five children, including singer Kalyani Ramdas. Venkatram died in 1992. One of her grandchildren, Krishna Ramdas, is a professional tabla player.[9]

References
  1. Sriram, Krishnan. "The First Playback Voice of Tamil Cinema". The Verandah Club. Retrieved 2021-11-21.
  2. "The Making of the Saranagati Song". Arunachala Ashrama, The Archives. Retrieved 2021-11-21.
  3. "Mrs. Lalita Venkatram". The Bombay Chronicle. 23 January 1937. p. 3. Retrieved November 21, 2021 – via Internet Archive.
  4. Kumar, S. r Ashok (2020-07-23). "Chronicling the life of movie mogul AV Meiyappan". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2021-11-21.
  5. "Grand Variety Entertainment". The Bombay Chronicle. 7 February 1937. p. 33. Retrieved November 21, 2021 – via Internet Archive.
  6. "Andhra Mahasabha Celebrations". The Bombay Chronicle. 2 May 1945. p. 3. Retrieved November 21, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. The Indian Listener: Vol. XIII. No. 15: Madras 1. All India Radio (AIR),New Delhi. 1948-08-07. p. 53.
  8. "Shankar Mahadevan". Kennedy Center. Retrieved 2021-11-21.
  9. "Krishna Ramdas TABLA". Krishna Ramdas TABLA. Retrieved 2021-11-21.
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