Thuraiyur Śrī Rajagopala Sharma’s birth, initial training, journey to Chennai and his contribution in HMV recordings were covered in part 1 of the article. If you have not read the same please read it before continuing this part. 

Sharma sir was working in HMV Recordings (formally known as Saraswathi stores) for a while, which helped him to get to know lots of musicians. 

He was friendly with everyone and helped selflessly because he was interested to serve in the field of music. His contribution was not just recordings and performing for recordings and sabha-s, but he was also in touch with drama artistes. Sharma sir helped in writing dialogues as well as dubbing voices.  During his service in Saraswathi stores, he got a chance to meet Śrī Papanasam Sivan. Papanasam Sivan was a great composer and musician. Sivan was working in Kalakshetra and supporting the musical aspect of dance dramas staged by Smt. Rukmini Devi Arundale. Sharma sir helped in notating and tuning music for Sivan’s compositions. Smt. Rukmini Devi Arundale was really impressed with Sharma sir’s interest & contribution and offered him a Music Teacher job in Kalakshetra.

Rajagopala sharma worked in Kalakshetra for 30 years. During his tenure, Sharma sir & Sri Sivan collaborated and created multiple dance dramas. To name a few, Āṇḍāḷ Caritram, Kaṇṇappar Kuṟavañji, Karumāriyammaṉ Kuṟavañji, Gītagōvindam, Sagundaḷai, Rukmiṇi Kalyāṇam, Dhruva Caritram, Kucēla Bhāgyam, Kūrma Avatāram, Mīnākṣi Vijayam, etc.  His knowledge on harikatha, interest in helping people and his gramophone recording experience, brought him an opportunity to write dramas and compose music for the same. Some of the dramas contributed by Sharma sir include Kucēla Nāṭakam, Mārkaṇḍēya Nāṭakam & Candirahāsa Nāṭakam. These dramas were becoming more popular and hence, he was asked to write a dance drama for which Sharma sir wrote dialogues, songs and used some of the compositions of Aruṇācala Kavirāyar, Tyāgarāja and Muttusvāmi Dīkṣita. To everyone’s surprise, in this drama, he was using his own voice for Śrī Rāma’s character. This was one of the most popular dance dramas of those days. Śrī Dhanajayan sir staged this in 1978. Sharma sir was very particular that the people who participate in the drama should learn the respective songs. He personally spent time with each character to teach them those songs. His contribution towards Kalakshetra was huge. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find much in any of the articles, books or blogs except the following photo and some details in a book about Smt. Rukmini Devi Arundale. (I couldn’t recollect the name of the book. This was available in The Madras Music Academy library and it is likely that I found it during my research about Sharma sir.)

He was also a great composer and composed many songs and dance dramas. Śrī Dhananjayan shared a lot about his experience with Sharma sir when I met him to collect the details about Sharma sir. Here is a quick glimpse for you. “Sharma sir was a gem of a person. It is difficult to find such a personality nowadays. He helped us by creating multiple dance dramas and composing music for each of them. The way he composes music is really beautiful. He will try out many different saṅgati-s, only when is satisfied with any of those he will use them. I used to tell him how I am going to return/offer our gratitude for all his contributions. Can you guess what his answer would be?  Māmi kaiyāla Muruṅgakkā Sāmbār sāpṭā adu̱ pōdum (which translates to, if I have the Drumstick sambar prepared by Smt. Shanta Dhananjayan, that's enough). He was writing a dance drama called DASĀVATĀRAM which we wanted to stage. Unfortunately, he couldn’t finish that as he became sick while writing that and we don’t know where those documents are now. He is a selfless person who served music a lot and spent his full life for music”

There are few of his compositions available nowadays. One such famous varṇa is “Ninnē Nera Namminānurā” in Rāga Aṭhāṇā set to Ādi tāḷa. Smt. Rukmini Devi has choreographed Bharatanatyam for the same. We can witness this varṇa still being performed by multiple dancers in various programs. There is a Jāvali “Vāṇī Rammanavē'' in Māṇḍ Rāga. A Tillānā in Behāg Rāga set to Khaṇḍa Ēka tāla is also available now and all of these were staged multiple times by Śrī Dhananjayan and troupe.

Sharma sir was also a great actor and music director. Yes, his talent in Carnatic music, Harikatha, drama, and his own compositions brought him an opportunity to act as well as direct music for a movie called Chandrasena. Then Papanasam Sivan took him to correct/mentor the singer who was singing for a movie called Chinthamani. Santha Sakkubai, Sahunthalai, Savithri, Sree Valli, Ponvayal are some of the movies for which Sharma directed the music. Śrī Sīrkāẕi Govindarajan was introduced by Sharma sir, to the film world. 

Sharma sir was not fully recognized for his talent and contribution. But, there are some appreciations and awards given to him at different times. To name a few, In 1973 he was given a certificate of merit. In 1976, he was awarded as Vidvān of the year by Trichy Fine arts.  Śrī Rajagopla Sharma was an A – Graded artiste of All India Radio of Corporation of Madras and worked as coordination and creator of many unique programs. One such music program was “Sāhityam Pradānam” which helped many to learn music and perform.  Let us all take his foot path to serve Music.