P. Leela
P. Leela | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Porayath Leela |
| Born | 19 May 1934 Chittur, Palakkad, British India |
| Died | 31 October 2005 (aged 71) Chennai, India |
| Genres | Indian classical music and playback singing |
| Occupation | Singer |
| Instrument | Vocalist |
| Years active | 1948–2005 |
Porayath Leela (19 May 1934 – 31 October 2005) was an Indian playback singer, a Carnatic vocalist, and a music director. She made her debut as a playback singer in the 1948 Tamil film Kangkanam. She recorded songs in various Indian languages, including Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Hindi, Bengali, Sanskrit, Odia, Gujarati, Marathi, and Sinhala. She was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2006.
She is also known for her collaboration on songs by composers V. Dakshinamoorthy, Baburaj, G. Devarajan, Ghantasala, M. S. Viswanathan, K. Raghavan, Br Lakshmanan, L. P. R. Varma, B. A. Chidambaranath, A.T. Ummer, M. K. Arjunan, Johnson, Ouseppachan, Ilaiyaraja, as well as playback singers K. J. Yesudas and S. P. Balasubrahmanyam over her career. Leela was known for her sweet and melodious voice, which she called Ganamani.