Leela's first
guru was Thiribuvana Manibhagavadhar, the uncle of musician
T. V. Gopalakrishnan. Later, she learned from Paththamadai Krishna Ayyar, Maruthuvakudi Rajagopala Iyer, and Rama Bhagavathar. Leela was trained in Carnatic music by
Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar and
V. Dakshinamoorthy. Vadakkancheri Ramabhagavadhar was a close friend of Leela's father, Menon. He had settled down in Madras. He would invite Menon and Leela to
Madras to learn music whenever he visited Ernakulam. The headmistress of the school where Leela was studying advised her father to take her to Madras for further music training. Menon resigned from his job in Ernakulam and took Leela to Madras in 1944. They stayed with Vadakkancheri Ramabagavathar in
Mylapore and the 10-year-old Leela began learning in the
gurukula style. Her father insisted that Leela do
sadhaka (practice music) early in the morning. In Madras, Leela had opportunities to listen to concerts of singers like
Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar,
S. Ramanathan,
G. N. Balasubramaniam,
Chembai, and others. Leela said this 'kelvi gnanam' (learning music by listening) helped her much in developing and refining her. In 1946, Leela participated in several music competitions in her city, receiving multiple awards.
Durgabai Deshmukh gave Leela her first formal
concert opportunity at
Andra Mahila Sabha.
Entry into film industry The Columbia Recording Company was looking for a female voice. The manager at the time, Ganabathirama Iyer, recommended Leela. She was appointed as their artist, which paved the way for her entry into films. In Tamil,
Nandakumar was the first movie to introduce playback singing.
A.V. Meiyappa Chettiar came up with the idea of replacing the soundtrack with voice and the playback system was introduced in Tamil cinema in 1938. It gradually got accepted and many singers entered the movie world. When she landed in Madras, she did not know Tamil or Telugu. She would write the songs in Malayalam and practice them to perfection. Once she started her career as a playback singer, she arranged for tutors and learned other languages. She got her first offer to sing in 1948 for a Tamil movie. Her father was initially reluctant but later he was persuaded to accept. Leela made her first appearance as a playback singer in the movie
Kangkanam. She sang her first song,
Sree Varalakshmi, at age 13. C.H. Padmanabhasastry was the music director of the film. She sang all the songs for the heroine in that film. After her debut in
Kangkanam, she was the most sought-after playback singer in
South Indian cinema for more than two decades, according to
The Hindu. In 1948, she sang
Paaduka Poonkuyile for the Malayalam movie
Nirmala, though
Balan. The film was made in 1938 and it was the first Malayalam "talkie" with a soundtrack.
Balan was produced by T.R Sundaram for Modern Theatres, Salem, with
S. Nottani as the director.
Telugu movies In 1949, Leela made her debut in
Telugu cinema singing in three films:
Mana Desam,
Keelu Gurram, and
Gunasundari Katha. Singer and music director
Ghantasala (with whom Leela has sung the most songs) introduced Leela in
Manadesam. She sang all the songs for the heroine in the film
Gunasundari Katha. By the 1950s, Leela was recording playback songs in all major South Indian languages. Around the same period, she contributed to
Shavukaru, the debut production of
Vijaya Productions, which did not achieve commercial success at the box office. She sang in the film
Missamma (made as
Missiyamma in Tamil) and worked as a music director for a film called '
Chinnari Papalu' (Telugu) in 1968. The film was produced exclusively by women. She sang eight songs along with
P. Susheela in the film
Lava Kusa (1963). ==Discography==