Boddu Gopalam (1927–2004), popularly known as B. Gopalam, was a singer and music director of

South India South India, also known as Southern India or Peninsular India, is the southern part of the Deccan Peninsula in India encompassing the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well as the union territories of ...

n films and

All India Radio All India Radio (AIR), also known as Akashvani (), is India's state-owned public broadcasting, public radio broadcaster. Founded in 1936, it operates under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broa ...

Early life

He was born at Tulluru in

Guntur district Guntur district is one of the twenty six districts in the Coastal Andhra region of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The administrative seat of the district is located at Guntur, the List of urban agglom ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. His father Ramadasu, was also a musician and an exponent of

Harikatha ''Harikatha'' (Kannada: ಹರಿಕಥೆ : ''Harikathe''; Telugu: హరికథ : ''Harikatha;'' Marathi: हरीपाठ '': Haripatha'', ), also known as ''Harikatha Kaalakshepam'' in Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam(), is a form of Hindu ...

. Gopalam learned vocal music and playing the violin under Varanasi Brahmayya Sastry in

Vijayawada Vijayawada ( ), formerly known by its colonial name Bezawada, is the second largest city and a major commercial hub in the Andhra Pradesh state of India. The city forms an integral part of the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region and is situated on th ...

Career

Gopalam was an active member of the Praja Natya Mandali in Guntur district and campaigned in favour of the poor and downtrodden. He was closely associated with Vemulapalli Srikrishna and Sheik Nazar. While working as a vocalist at

, singing the songs of Devulapalli Krishna Sastry and

Viswanatha Satyanarayana Viswanatha Satyanarayana (10 September 1895 – 18 October 1976) was a 20th-century Telugu writer. His works included poetry, novels, dramatic play, short stories and speeches, covering a wide range of subjects such as analysis of his ...

, he met and married a fellow singer named Renuka. He began working in Telugu films on the invitation of Tatineni Prakasa Rao. He has worked with directors such as Ghantasala,

T. V. Raju Thotakura Venkata Raju (25 October 1921 – 20 February 1973), popularly known as T. V. Raju, was an Indian music composer who predominantly worked in Telugu cinema. Known for his versatility and significant contributions to both mythological an ...

, and S. Rajeswara Rao. He later became an independent music director for the film ''Nala Damayanthi'' in Telugu and

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

. He also sang in a few Telugu films as a

playback singer A playback singer, as they are usually known in South Asian cinema, or ghost singer in Western cinema, is a singer whose performance is pre-recorded for use in films. Playback singers record songs for soundtracks, and the performers lip-sync the ...

Discography

Composer

Singer

References

* Luminaries of 20th Century, Potti Sreeramulu Telugu University, Hyderabad, 2005.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gopalam, B. 1927 births 2004 deaths People from Guntur district Telugu film score composers 20th-century Indian singers Film musicians from Karnataka Telugu playback singers Indian male playback singers 20th-century Indian composers Indian male film score composers 20th-century Indian male singers