U. R. Jeevarathinam

U. R. Jeevarathinam யூ. ஆர். ஜீவரத்தினம்
Born	Unjalur, Erode, Madras Presidency, British India
Died	26 July 2000 Mandaveli, Chennai, India
Occupation	Singer, Actress
Years active	1937 - 1956
Spouse(s)	T. S. Venkataswami

U. R. Jeevarathinam (Tamil: யூ. ஆர். ஜீவரத்தினம்) was a famous Tamil actress, singer, producer and playback singer. Most of her works are in Telugu and Tamil languages.

Early life

Born in Unjalur, Erode, Madras Presidency in British India to Subramaniam and Kunjammaal. She was very much interested in music right from the time of her school days and could sing very well also. K. S. Angamuthu, a very popular comedian of that time helped her to join the Krishna Drama Company at the age of 9. She had tutelage of carnatic music from Kailasa Bhagavathar and Kunnakkudi Venkatrama Iyer. She used to watch the acting style of everyone with attention.

Career Life

When Salem Modern Theatres was founded, she joined as an artiste. She made her debut through the Modern Theatres maiden film Sathi Ahalya in 1937 at the age of ten. She appeared as a celestial lady from the heaven. She apperaed in other films till 1941 when was offered a main role in Bhaktha Gowri. She was a good singer and the song 'Theruvil varaandi' was a testimony to her mellifluous voice. Theruvil varandi was a super duper hit on those days.

She had acted in films such as Poompavai, Abhimanyu, Bhojan and Devakanya. In the film Kannagi she had acted as Kaunthi Adigal (An old Jain nun in the Tamil epic Silapathikaram). She was awarded the tile Isai Kuyil (Nightingale Of Music) by Swami Dhinakar at the 100th day function of Kannagi held at Thiruvarur. She appeared in many Modern Theatres productions.

After marriage, they started a film production company Mercury Films. The first production was Pona Machan Thirumbi Vanthaan (1954) with Sriram and Kuchalakumari in the lead roles. The film earned a moderate profit. The second production was Vaazhvile Oru Naal (1956) with Sivaji Ganesan and G. Varalakshmi in the lead roles.

The third attempt was a film titled, Sirikkum Silai with MGR with the expectation of recovering the money that were lost in their previous films, but the production had to be given up within a few days of shooting. They tried a fourth attempt in the film Adichathu Yoham with Ravichandran which unfortunately had also to be shelved in the middle. They incurred heavy losses due to these two films.

She was also a playback singer. She sang for N. S. Saroja in Kannagi (1942), T. D. Kuchalakumari in Pona Machan Thirumbi Vanthaan (1954) and G. Varalakshmi in Vaazhvile Oru Naal (1956).

Personal life

She married T. S. Venkataswami who was the manager of Central Studios. After her marriage she said bid adieu to the films but she was active in stage dramas. The couple had four daughters and one son, four granddaughters and two grandsons. Her husband died on 7 April 1971. Jeevarathnam died on 26 July 2000 when she was living at Mandaveli, Chennai. Her body was cremated at her native place Unjalur. The entire film industry paid its last respects to this veteran artiste. Her son Vetrivel and his wife Jothi Paappammaa have planned to publish a book on Jeevarathinam’s biography. Jeevarathinam’s family happily recalls the marriage of Vetrivel which was attended by the then chief minister MGR and V. N. Janaki. MGR handed over the sacred thaali to Vetrivel and blessed the couple.

Filmography

Actress

Year	Film	Language	Co-Stars	Banner
1937	Sathi Akalya	Tamil		Modern Theatres
1937	Padmajothi	Tamil		Modern Theatres
1938	Thayumanavar	Tamil		Modern Theatres
1939	Santhanathevan	Tamil	M. R. Radha, G. M. Basheer	Modern Theatres
1940	Raga Yogam	Tamil		Modern Theatres
1940	Sathi Mahantha	Tamil		Modern Theatres
1940	Uthama Puthiran	Tamil	P. U. Chinnappa	Modern Theatres
1940	Sathyavani	Tamil		Modern Theatres
1940	Parasuramar	Tamil
1941	Bhaktha Gowri	Tamil	S. D. Subbaiah	Modern Theatres
1942	Kannagi	Tamil	P. U. Chinnappa, P. Kannamba	Jupiter Pictures
1943	Arunthathi	Tamil	C. Honnappa Bhagavathar	Modern Theatres
1943	Devakanya	Tamil	C. Honnappa Bhagavathar	Padma Pictures
1944	Poompavai	Tamil	K. R. Ramaswamy	Leo Films
1944	Jagathalaprathapan	Tamil	P. U. Chinnappa	Pakshiraja Films
1944	Raja Rajeswari	Tamil	C. Honnappa Bhagavathar	Modern Theatres
1945	En Magan	Tamil	N. Krishnamurthi	Central Studios
1946	Valmiki	Tamil	C. Honnappa Bhagavathar	Central Studios
1946	Sri Murugan	Tamil	C. Honnappa Bhagavathar, MGR	Jupiter Pictures
1948	Bhojan	Tamil		Modern Theatres
1948	Sri Aandal	Tamil		Salem Surya Films
1948	Abhimanyu	Tamil	S. M. Kumaresan, MGR	Jupiter Pictures

Playback Singer

Year	Film	Song	Language	Actor	Co-Singer	Music	Banner
1942	Kannagi		Tamil	N. S. Sarojini		S. V. Venkatraman	Jupiter Pictures
1954	Pona Machan Thirumbi Vanthan	Yaar Inge Maarthavandi	Tamil	Kuchalakumari		C. N. Pandurangan	Mercury Pictures
1954	Pona Machan Thirumbi Vanthan	Idhayam Ennum Koyil Thannil	Tamil	Kuchalakumari	A. M. Rajah	C. N. Pandurangan	Mercury Pictures
1956	Vaazhvile Oru Naal	Thendrale Vaaraayo Inba Sugam Thaaraayo	Tamil	G. Varalakshmi	T. M. Soundararajan	T. G. Lingappa	Mercury Pictures

Producer

• Pona Machan Thirumbi Vanthan (1954)
• Vaazhvile Oru Naal (1956)

References

• Article on U. R. Jeevarathinam
• U. R. Jeevarathinam in Tamil Wikipedia
• Watch U. R. Jeevarathinam sings Aadhi Param Porule from Santhanathevan (1939) on YouTube
• Watch U. R. Jeevarathinam sings Kariyamadhile from Santhanathevan (1939) on YouTube