 P Leela's lasting legacy
 P Leela, renowned playback singer and Carnatic musician of yesteryear, who enthralled people with her melodious voice, died
October 31 morning at a private hospital in Chennai after a brief illness.
She was 76. Her husband had predeceased her and she had no children. She had adopted her sister's daughter.
Leela, who had lent her voice to many leading actresses like Padmini, had sung over 1,000 songs in different languages under top-notch music directors, many of which were hits.
She also left a lasting impression as a devotional singer with her recital of Narayaneeyam and Lord Guruvayurappan songs marking brisk sales since the days of LP records. 'Vakacharthu' as recited by Leela, is played every morning in Guruvayur temple, coinciding with the Nirmalya darshan in the wee hours.
 Born to parents deeply interested in music in Chittur in Palakkad district, Leela had a thorough training in classical music before starting her film career. Her first song was for the Tamil movie 'Kankanam' in 1943, when she was just 13 years old. It was an invocation song beginning 'Sree Vara Lakshmi...', composed by H R Padmanabha
Sastry.
The debut performance was followed by several songs in Telugu and Kannada films before she made it to her mother tongue, Malayalam, with the 1948 release
'Nirmala'.
She had since then left hundreds of Malayalam scores, known for their emotional touch and classical discipline.
Leela had been the recipient of several honours, including the first best playback singer award of the Kerala government in 1969.
(Agencies)
Chennaionline
pay our tribute to the
great singer with this article which was published when she was alive:
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