Her fans are numerous, her legacy unassailable. B.K. Sumitra, one of Karnataka’s oldest and leading playback singers, will celebrate her 75{+t}{+h}birthday on April 27. Ms. Sumitra is from the Sringeri-Horanadu region.
“It’s been a rewarding seven decades of music, and I owe this to the people of Karnataka who encouraged me. I am overwhelmed that my musical bank is enriched with 3,000 Kannada songs in my mother tongue. It includes film music, folk, light music and devotional songs,” says Ms. Sumitra.
“I wasn’t too ambitious. I hated to draw attention to myself. What came to me is what I took up; I never asked anybody for favours.”
Her rise to the top during the 1970s was the result of a single-minded determination to promote singing in Kannada and break the hold that artistes from Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh had over the local playback industry.
Her voice is a part of nearly a hundred Kannada films. Over the years she has worked with a range of music directors and composers including Vijaya Bhaskar, M. Ranga Rao, the musical duo Rajan-Nagendra,
Ghantasala and T.G. Lingappa who appreciated her range and ability to adapt to different genres. The tones and moods she has experimented with have ranged from light and bubbly to devotional and pastoral melodies.
“I am happy I could switch my kind of singing to suit most directors I worked with,” said Ms. Sumitra, who spent decades training in classical Carnatic music.
“When I was working with Ranga Rao for Karulina Kare (1970), I remember him appreciating my voice quality when we were recording a breezy number ‘Aa Aa Ee Ee Kannadada Aksharamaale’," she said.
But contrast that with Vijaya Bhaskar’s song ‘Kareya Keli Bandeya’ from Anuradha (1960) where Ms. Sumitra’s handling of the soft and traditional approach highlights her depth of knowledge in classical traditions. She is unable to choose her best song.
“Like every organ that makes sense to the body, every song made a difference to my way of presentation. What we deal with is not even a drop in the ocean in our lifetime,” she says.
But with little bit of prodding she added, “The songs from Namma Makkalu (1969), Upasane (1974) or the great number ‘Madhura Madhura vee’, along with singer P. B. Sreenivas, created history in the classical touches that they brought in.”
Early days
Music was an important part of Ms. Sumitra’s upbringing. Born in 1941 to Gangamma and Patel Krishnaiyya, who owned areca plantations at Bilalukoppa near Horanadu, her first exposure to melody was when areca-peelers from nearby villages gathered at night to sing folk melodies around a dimly lit petromax lamp.
“The heavenly folk melodies drew me into the world of music,” said Ms. Sumitra, adding that her father was a Yakshagana artiste.
She had to walk 4 km to reach her school. “My father shifted to Shivamogga to ensure the best education and training in music for his children. My classical Carnatic music training began from Pandari Bai’s brother M. Prabhakar,” she says.
Sumitra’s musical journey got a boost in 1964 when G. K. Venkatesh asked her to sing for the film 'Kavaleradu Kula Ondu'. She hasn’t looked back since then.
Musical tribute
The Indu-Rohini Sugama Sangeetha Trust is organising a musical tribute to B. K. Sumitra on April 27 at Ravindra Kalakshetra.
Her musical journey got a boost in 1964 with the release of ‘Kavaleradu Kula Ondu’
