Bilalukoppa Krishnayya Sumitra, popularly known as B. K. Sumitra, is an Indian singer known for her work in

Kannada films Kannada cinema, also known as Sandalwood, or Chandanavana, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Kannada language widely spoken in the state of Karnataka. Kannada cinema is based in Gandhi Nagar ...

. She is also popular for her numerous devotional and folk songs.

Personal life

Sumitra was born in Bilalukoppa near

Horanadu Horanadu, also known as Sri Kshetra Horanadu, is a Panchayat village in Kalasa Kalasa is a taluk located in Chikmagalur district in Karnataka. Kalasa is home to the Kalaseshwara Temple dedicated to Shiva. Kalasa lies 92 Kilometres West ...

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

to Gangamma and Krishnayya. The family later moved to

Shivamogga Shimoga, officially Shivamogga, is a city and the district headquarters of Shimoga district in the Karnataka state of India. The city lies on the banks of the Tunga River. Being the gateway for the hilly region of the Western Ghats, the city ...

, where Sumitra was trained in

Carnatic music Carnatic music (known as or in the Dravidian languages) is a system of music commonly associated with South India, including the modern Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and southern Odisha. It is o ...

by M. Prabhakar, the brother of the actress

Pandaribai Pandari Bai (18 September 1928 – 29 January 2003) was an Indian actress who worked in South Indian cinema, mostly in Kannada cinema during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. She is considered Kannada cinema's first successful heroine. She has acted ...

. Sumitra married M. L. Sudhakar. Her daughter

Sowmya Raoh Sowmya Raoh is an Indian playback singer who has performed in Kannada, Tamil, Hindi and Telugu languages. Early life and career Sowmya was born in a Kannada speaking family to veteran singer B. K. Sumitra and Sudhakar in Bengaluru, Karnata ...

is also a playback singer, while her son

Sunil Raoh Sunil Rao (born 4 September 1978) is a Kannada cinema actor from India. He is also a playback singer who has performed for few Kannada film songs. He has acted in numerous films as a child artist and also featured in a few television series. P ...

became a film actor in the Kannada film industry.

Career

Sumitra was noticed by music composer G. K. Venkatesh, who asked her to sing in the film '' Kavaleredu Kulavandu'' (1964). In a career spanning more than 40 years, she has worked with many composers including G. K. Venkatesh, R. Sudarsanam,

Vijaya Bhaskar Vijaya Bhaskar (; 1924 – 3 March 2002) was an Indian music director and composer who composed music for several mainstream and experimental feature films in the Kannada film industry. Scoring music for over 720 films, Bhaskar worked in Tamil ...

, M. Ranga Rao,

Rajan–Nagendra Rajan–Nagendra was an Indian musical duo who were prominent composers of film music in Kannada and Telugu cinema from the late 1950s to the early 1990s. Rajan, along with his brother Nagendra, created a niche for themselves for nearly four dec ...

, and new generation musicians like

Anoop Seelin J. Anoop Seelin is an Indian film music director and playback singer primarily associated with the Kannada film industry. He has composed musical scores for films including ''Gooli'', ''Eddelu Manjunatha'', ''I Am Sorry Mathe Banni Preethsona'', ...

. Sumitra is active in participating in musical workshops and training students across the state.

Notable songs

* ''Ninnolume Emagirali Thande'' (Thande Makkalu) * ''A Aa E Ee Kannadada'' - Karulina Kare (1970) * ''Kareya Keli Bande'' - Anuradha (1967) * ''Madhura Madhuravee Manjulagana'' -

Sathi Sukanya ''Sathi Sukanya'' () is a 1967 Indian Kannada-language film, directed by Y. R. Swamy and produced by D. Puttaswamy. The film stars Rajkumar, Udaykumar, K. S. Ashwath and Rajashankar. The musical score was composed by Rajan–Nagendra. Cast * ...

(1967) * ''Sampige Marada'' - ''Upaasane'' (1947) * ''Odi Baa Ododi Baa'' - Chakratheertha (1967) * ''Maneye Brundavana'' - (Brundavana) * ''Eddelu Manjunatha'' -

Eddelu Manjunatha (, ''Wake Up Manjunatha'') is a 2009 Indian Kannada language black comedy film directed by Guruprasad and produced by V. Sanath Kumar. It stars Jaggesh and Yagna Shetty in the lead roles, while Tabla Nani and V. Manohar appear in supporti ...

(2009)

Awards

Sumitra's awards include: * Nadoja honour and Honorary Doctorate from

Kannada University Kannada University, also called Hampi Kannada University, Hampi University, or Kannada University, Hampi, is a public research university in Hampi, Karnataka, founded in 1991 by the Government of Karnataka through the Kannada University Act, 199 ...

Hampi Hampi or Hampe (), also referred to as the Group of Monuments at Hampi, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in the town of Hampi in Vijayanagara district, east-central Karnataka, India. Hampi predates the Vijayanagara Empire; it is menti ...

* Kempegowda Award * 1991 – Karnataka Rajyotsava Award * 1992 – Sangeetha Nrithya Academy Award * 2017 – G. V. Iyer Award from the Karnataka Film Academy * 2019 – Lifetime Achievement Award at KIMA Awards *2021 – K. Mohandev Alva and Dr. M.K. Shailaja Alva endowment Award from Kannada Sahitya Parishat

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sumitra, B. K. Living people 1941 births Indian women classical singers Indian women playback singers Kannada playback singers Singers from Karnataka 20th-century Indian women musicians 20th-century Indian musicians 21st-century Indian women musicians 21st-century Indian musicians 20th-century Indian singers 21st-century Indian singers 20th-century Indian women singers 21st-century Indian women singers Recipients of the Rajyotsava Award 1991