Uma Ramanan (1954/1955 – 1 May 2024) was an Indian playback singer, predominantly in the Tamil language. She was also a live stage performer who appeared in more than 6,000 concerts spanning 35 years.[1][2] Ramanan came from the Tamil Nadu state of India.
Personal life and background
Whilst studying, Ramanan went through classical music training under Pazhani Vijayalakshmi. She participated in many inter-collegiate competitions and won several rewards and accolades. Later, she met A. V. Ramanan, a television host, performer and actor, who was on the look out for fresh voices for his stage concerts. From then, Uma and Ramanan became duo stage performers.[1]
During Uma's engagement with Ramanan's stage shows, noted producer — cameraman, Janakiraman offered both of them a duet in his 1976 released Hindi film Play Boy. The same pair got an offer to sing for the Tamil film Shri Krishna Leela in 1977 directed by A. P. Nagarajan and one of the last assignments of composer S. V. Venkatraman. In 1980, she sang for the A. V. Ramanan composed film Neerottam. However, it was "Poongathave Thaal Thirava" song for the film Nizhalgal released in the same year and composed by Ilayaraja that brought her to the front running singers list. It gave her a big career break and she went on to record more than 100 songs with Ilayaraja alone.[1] She has also sung for other music directors namely Vidyasagar, Deva and Mani Sharma.
Professional rapport with Ilayaraja
Uma Ramanan along with some of her contemporaries is considered to be one of the rare finds of Ilayaraja in his career. She has recorded some of her career best songs under the music composition of Ilayaraja.[5]
