(
center) and
Sangeetha Katti (
left) during a recording. Once in Madras, Kumar took music classes in vocals and the sitar. An impressed film director
Y. R. Swamy, with his "teaching methodology and his flair for music", signed him to score for his 1966 film
Katari Veera, which had
Rajkumar playing the lead role. Two tracks from the soundtrack album, "Chengu Chengendu Haaruva" and "Haayaada Ee Sangama" became popular. "Naadamaya" from
Jeevana Chaitra fetched Rajkumar the
National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer. Lyrics for most tracks of the Upendra Kumar–Rajkumar combination were written by
Chi. Udayashankar. The
mandolin and the sitar were prominently used in Kumar's instrumentation, and he was particularly fond of
Kafi raga with melodies deriving from that scale. "Idu Yaaru Bareda Katheyo" from
Premada Kanike was based on this raga. Kumar won the
Karnataka State Film Award for Best Music Director three times (for
Nanjundi Kalyana,
Hrudaya Haadithu and
Jeevana Chaitra) before he stopped composing for films in the mid- to late-1990s. His health deteriorated during this time and died in 2002 with the Kannada film
Vishwamithra (2001) being his last work. Srikanth Srinivasa of
Deccan Herald, in a tribute, wrote of Kumar's last days, "With the advent of new wave music directors, Upendra Kumar was relegated to the background and found himself out of work and forgotten by the Kannada film industry. Besides, he has scored music for
Dharma Devathe which was released recently. He has also scored music for Dr Rajkumar's private devotional albums."
Work in Odia films Alongside Kannada, Kumar notably worked also in
Odia films and scored for more than 25 films. They included
Dharitri (1972),
Mana Akasha (1974),
Punarmilana (1977),"
Kavi Samrat Upendra Bhanja"(1978) and
Alibha Daga (1980). His music became very popular in
Odisha. A book titled
Sajala Smruti was released in 2009 in memory of Kumar's work in
Odia films. == Personal life ==