Upendra Kumar (18 July 1941 – 24 January 2002) was an Indian composer who predominantly worked in Kannada films.

[4] Songs from films for which he scored that became popular included Sipayi Ramu (1972), Premada Kanike (1976), Shankar Guru (1978), Dharmasere (1979), Ravichandra (1980), Kaamana Billu (1983), Ratha Sapthami (1986), Nanjundi Kalyana (1989), Hrudaya Haadithu (1991), and Jeevana Chaitra (1992).

Other collaborations included with singers C. Aswath ("Negilahidida" from Kaamana Billu), Manjula Gururaj ("Olage Seridare Gundu" from Nanjundi Kalyana)[4] and S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, who also sang many non-film devotional songs composed by Kumar.

[5] "Naadamaya" from Jeevana Chaitra fetched Rajkumar the National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer.

[7] 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.

They included Dharitri (1972), Mana Akasha (1974), Punarmilana (1977),"Kavi Samrat Upendra Bhanja"(1978) and Alibha Daga (1980).

A book titled Sajala Smruti was released in 2009 in memory of Kumar's work in Odia films.