Uma Ramanan obit: Talented singer who never made it big in films

It is well known that it was celebrated composer Ilaiyaraaja who made the "talented" classically trained singer Uma Ramanan famous after she sang 'Poongathavae' in Bharathiraja’s ‘Nizhalgal’. Ilaiyaraaja has even famously said about Ramanan that she is a singer who gave him “no tension” and always delivered what he wanted in one take.

Yet, the singer, who possessed a "unique voice" that had a distinct quality about it, seems to have spent more time on stage in live concerts.

She has done more than 6,000-7,000 concerts as part of the Musiciano troupe set up by her husband A V Ramanan in 1973.

Live concerts

For that reason, she is remembered more for her live concerts. “Uma Ramanan will be a role-model for singers doing live concerts," says Chennai musician Anil Srinivasan in a conversation with The Federal reminiscing about the famous singer who passed away in Chennai.

Film historian and actor Mohan Raman too echoes the point that Uma left a mark as a live performer. She and her husband were 'trailblazers' in popularising live film music concerts, says Raman.

"They were the ones to take film music on stage in a big way, which were known as light music concerts at that time and made them hugely popular," says Raman. Srinivasan remembers Musiciano concerts as major events in Chennai and remembers one held in the Gulf, which was even televised live. And, Uma Ramanan was a big attraction at these live concerts.

'Light music' performer

Uma Vangal, filmmaker and professor at International Institute of Film and Culture says that one of the key things about Uma Ramanan, was that she was a trained classical singer and yet she poured her energy into her career as a light music performer.

Vangal goes on to explain what made Uma Ramanan’s voice special in Tamil cinema. Describing Uma Ramanan’s voice as “unique”, she says that “it was not so well defined as the good girl voice of P Susheela nor the husky voice of L R Eashwari”.

“Rather she was close enough to Vani Jairam and S Janaki in the sense she was classically trained and versatile like Janaki. Her voice was not too thin or high pitched nor too base or low pitched. Her voice seemed to fit the heroines of the 70s and 80s because their characters were also shifting. They were not the black and white era heroines, the good girl you took home to mother or fallen women with the bad guys who never got a chance to redeem herself,” adds Vangal.

“Her voice was attuned to the ordinary, middle-class Tamilian women found in Bharathiraja, K Balachander and K Bhagayaraj films. Her voice was suitable to the kind of stories told at that point of time,” she points out.

For Vangal, ‘Nee paadhi naan paddhi kaane’ from 'Keladi Kanmani;, which Uma sang with Yesudas is one of her favourites. “I remember it being spoken a lot because it had an unusual ragam called chakravagam." Her other favourites are ‘Kanmani nee vara kathirunthein' from the film 'Thendrale Ennai Thodu', 'Ananda raagam' from 'Panneer Pushpangal') and 'Aagaya Vennilavae' from 'Arangetra Velai'.

Another of her “all-time” favourites is 'Bhoopalam isaikkum poomagal oorvalam' from the film 'Thooral Ninnu Pochchu', and of course, the song that catapulted her to fame, 'Poongakathave'

Tuned into classical music

Ilaiyarajaa used Uma Ramanan since her voice suited his more complex compositions based on classical music, says Srinivasan.

“Since she was trained in classical music, Ilaiyaraaja gave her a lot of classical music based songs and she sang them phenomenally. Take 'Aagaya Vennilavae', which had darbari kanada with saramathi raga shades and 'Ananda ragam' is based on the simmendramadhayamam raaga. The phrases in this song are tough but she managed to sing them perfectly. Her songs clearly stood out as a classical singer singing film songs, it had that flavour. She had her own distinct quality, her voice was off beat, slightly thin but melodious. It suited Ilaiyaraaja’s orchestration,” says Srinivasan, who has paid many tributes to Ilaiyaraaja in his concerts.

According to him, if Ilaiyaraaja had replaced Uma’s voice with KS Chitra or P Susheela it would not have sounded the same.

“Uma Ramanan’s voice fitted neatly with Ilaiyaraaja's classically rich compositions, which also had a complex, sophisticated structure. After 50 years we are still talking about her songs so that is the impact she has made,” he asserts. Singers like Uma Ramanan have created the foundation of melody based Tamil film songs, says Srinivasan, on the singer's contribution to Tamil cinema.

Why fame in films eluded her

However, Uma Ramanan never achieved the fame and recognition that her peers achieved in films. Vangal believes it is because she came unfortunately at a time, when Janaki’s career was soaring and folk music was on the rise.

“There were too many singers around her. Moreover, she was more focussed on her live performances. Her husband and she were successful in that sphere and she probably did not pursue playback singing career too strongly,” says Vangal.

But whatever songs was given to her, she made them immortal, says Vangal, citing the example of 'Poongathavae'. “She was also at the forefront of change in Tamil cinema. For 'Poongathavae' heralded a new kind of storytelling and a new kind of music. Most of her songs were based on unique raagas for Ilaiyarajaa gave her classically based songs yet managed to change it to suit playback singing. But it was unfortunate that there were so many singers around at that time and it was a competitive space,” she points out.

According to Vangal, Ramanan's voice could move from high pitched to base. "Talented, versatile, she had a wide range. But, I guess she focussed more on the Musiciana troupe – but that too was a new trend at that time. Her husband and she worked very well together and when their two voices blended it was magic,” she recalls.

'Other priorities'

Mohan Raman, who is a family friend, calls Uma Ramanan as a "down-to earth and a simple person". He admits that she did not focus on her talent as much as she could have.

Raman says, “She had other priorities. She could have focussed on her film music, with the kind of talent she had. But she was a balanced person and lived life on her terms."

“If she did not get her due in terms of awards and recognition, we can also argue that MS Vishwanathan and Nagesh also did not get the Padma Shri. Yes, I guess, she did not push herself under the limelight, she allowed her art to speak for itself,” points out Raman.

Srinivasan also feels that Uma Ramanan did not run after fame and accolades. She probably just loved her music and let her art speak.

Srinivasan, who has seen her in concerts, remembers her as having a quiet dignity about her. "A certain calm quality that came across as she sang on stage. It is as if she focussed on her music not on her personality,” he points out. And, it is also fine if she was happy doing what she did, he adds.

Distinct voice

Filmmaker Priya V too loves many songs rendered by Uma Ramanan. In her view, the singer's voice was distinctly different from the others of her time.

"Sweet and soft is how I would describe it. There was a calmness about it. Not sure how better to express the feeling when I hear her voice,” says Priya V, who worked with Uma Ramanan many years ago when she co-directed a serial "Ganesh Vasanth" with Suhasini Mani Ratnam.

Uma Ramanan had sung the title song for that serial. Her unique voice made the songs she sang that much more special, says Priya V.