Sugama Sangeeta has gained national recognition with artiste Ratnamala Prakash getting the Kendriya Sangeet Natak Academy Award from the President at New Delhi. The excited Ratnamala is the first recipient of the national award instituted in ‘Sugama Sangeeta.’ “Until now there were awards for Light Music in the North, but this is the first time ‘Sugam Sangeet’, that is unique to Karnataka has made it big,” says Ratnamala, daughter of the late veteran vocalist R.K. Srikantan.
Ratnamala was the President of the Sugama Sangeeta National Conference held in Bengaluru last year. She says, “I have come a long way, but what I cherish most is my father’s comment at Ganakala Parishath a few years ago. He said, “These days when I am called ‘Ratnamala’s father Srikantan, I feel proud of her achievements,” she recalled.
What is Sugama Sangeeta and what constitutes its simple formatting where lyrics play a major role? Compared to near-similar forms such as Bhaav Geet in Marathi or the poetry of the Ghazals that are popular in the North, in Karnataka, Sugama Sangeeta has a distinct identity with the nuanced characterisation it assumes. “Sugama Sangeeta was earlier called ‘Kaavya Gayana’ as poetry increases its lyrical value. If too much of music is interspersed as found in ghazals, the quality of the lyrics gets de-valued in Sugama Sangeeta. The expression brought out (bhava) from lyrics, with dramatised melodic assertions underlining the essence of the form,” explains Ratnamala demonstrating the poem of KS Nissar Ahmed’s KurigaluSaar Kurigalu where Mysore Anantaswamy’s rendering became a legend.
Consider some of the lyrics and the music of Sugama Sangeeta saturated with wide-ranging emotions. From the extensive contributions of P Kalinga Rao when his ‘ Ilidubaa thaaye Ilidubaa’ became a crowd puller; GP Rajaratnam’s ‘Madkeri mel manju’ that had brought in Western beats by Ananthaswamy; ‘ Yaava mohana murali kareyitu’ of Gopalakrishna Adiga that was part of the popular Kannada flick ‘America America,’ the soft flowing ‘ Yede Thumbi Hadidenu’ of poet GS Shivarudrappa; the simple tease in KS Narasimha Swamy’s ‘ Rayaru Bandaru Maavana Manege’ tuned by C. Ashwath for the film ‘Mysuru Mallige’...different sentiments seeped in the lyrics lent itself to be translated into melody for ‘Sugama Sangeeta,’ selectively based on raga too, explains Ratnamala.
The 1970s and 1980s thrived with Sugama Sangeeta experts bringing a twist to its rendering. C.Ashwath, Mysore Ananthaswamy, H.R. Leelavathi, Shamala Bhave, HK Narayana, Padmacharan were amongst the top music producers, post Kalinga Rao. Earlier in the 1960s the form leaned towards Bhavageethe that had classical flourishes with MN Ratna, HR Leelavathi and RK Srikantan popularing them on radio and films.
But what dragged the form into public notice with a fresh breath was the popular Wednesday radio programme ‘MSIL Geetegalu’ steered by Ananthaswamy where C Ashwath and Shyamala Bhave splashed across their talent in programming.
“My love for light music had just begun. My father got used to my stepping out of the classical form. The more I spread my wings into singing for Ashwath, Ananthaswamy, Shyamala Bhave, HK Narayana, Padmacharan for whom I have sung more than 500 numbers,” says Ratnamala.
Value additions
Lyrics and song rendering in Sugama Sangeeta gradually got contemporary, and the transition resulted in orchestration inspired by symphonies in the mid-1980s. The new identity suited Ratnamala as she was a film music buff too and a fan of the Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhonsle, P.Susheela and Vani Jayaram.
Her father Srikantan and HK Narayana guided her for taking up AIR Competitions in Sugama Sangeeta. She bagged the National Prize and the AIR grading. “My path got clearer with Mysore Ananthaswamy being my mentor,” recalls Ratnamala who went on to render hits as “Karunalu Baa Belake”, “Ede Tumbi Haadidenu, and “Yava Mohana Murali Kareyitu,” with a range that traversed several octaves.
Ratnamala is credited for interspersing her own modulation nuances into each song, and has lent her voice to nearly 1000 songs, spanning Sugama Sangeetha, films, theatre musicals, TV or live shows.
Among the nearly 25 films she has sung for, what she holds close to her heart are ‘Yelu Suttina Kote’ where her song Santasa Araluva Samaya in 1987 was a huge draw, Tangaali Yante Bande Nee sung with Rajkumar for ‘Guri,’ with Shankar Mahadevan for Hamsalekha’s music in ‘Mohini’ and with KJ Yesudas in Meru Giriyane for ‘Sangliana 2.’ Her ever-popular Rayaru Bandaru Maavana Manege in ‘Mysuru Mallige’ has been adapted to theatre too.
Ratnamala reigned as the Queen of Sugama Sangeeta even when other music producers such as Pandit Ravi Shankar, Vijaya Raghav Rao, BV Srinivas, Emani Shankara Shastry, Bali, NS Prasad, M. Balamurali Krishna and her father Srikantan featured her voice for their scores. “Even during the recording of ‘MSIL Geetegalu’ at Prabhat Kalavidaru studios, followed by Prabhat’s own musical ballets during Gopinath Dasaru’s reign, I have sung in numerous musicals as in “Cinderella” and “Karnataka Vaibhava” adds Ratnamala.
