THE Nightingale of South India P. Susheela, who enthralled music-lovers with her soulful numbers, feels that “fast songs” keep her away at present from the field.

“I am not rendering any film songs at present. Light songs and devotional music programmes keep me busy and occupied,” Susheela, who was Thiruvananthapuram in connection with a function recently, said.

She said this was the period of fast numbers. “Music is the same and it has the same sapthaswarangal as in classical songs; only the tune is different,” she said.

The period of Susheela, P. Leela, S. Janaki, the trinity in Malayalam music pantheon in the 1960s and 1970s, was considered to be the “Vasanthakalam” (golden age) in the Malayalam film industry. The three rendered some memorable duets with singing maestro Yesudas and P. Jayachandran.

Susheela’s famous song Pattu padi yurakam jan.... (I will sing a lullaby), rendered a few decades ago, still remain close to the heart of millions of Keralites.

With nearly 35,000 songs to her credit in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada, Susheela said her duets with Yesudas were most popular, as their “voices matched together.”

“When it comes to Telugu, it is Gandasala and in Tamil, it is T.M. Sounderajan,” Susheela, who first rendered her song when she was 16-year-old, said. — PTI