P. Jayachandran
National award winning Malayalam playback singer P. Jayachandran is a monumental figure in the Malayalam film industry. Born into the Cochin Royal Family, he learned music at a young age with the encouragement of his mother who was a great music lover. With her support he also master the percussion instrument; the Mridangam.
During his school days, Jayachandran won many prizes for singing and playing the Mridangam. During one of the school Youth Festivles, he met Yesudas. Yesudas won the Best Classical Singer award and Jayachandran got the best Light Music Singer as well as best Mridamgist award in the same year. He got his first state award in 1972 for the song “Neelagiriyude” for the film Panitheeratha Veedu. He won another award in 1978 for the song “Ragam Sreeraga” from Bandhanam. The prestigious National Award came his way in 1985 for “Sivasankara Sarva Saranya Vibho” from the film Sree Narayana Guru. It is believed that songs from the movie Penpada Velli, then Kinnam Pol in 1975, that were sung by him were composed by nine-year-old Dileep Kumar, now known as A. R. Rahman. 1994, he received the Tamil Nadu state award for the best singer for the song, “Kathazham Kattuvazhi” for the film KizhakkuCheemayile composed by A. R. Rahman. As recognition for his contribution to Tamil film music, he was honored with the Kalaimamani award from the Tamil Nadu Government. Jayachandran finally made his debut in Hindi in 2008 singing in the film ADA…A Way of Life along with Alka Yagnik.
He was the first person to be honored with the Swaralaya Kairali Yesudas award. It is given to the best singers and lyricists within a span of 30 years. He has sung nearly 1000 songs for Malayalam movies over the years and is affectionately called the Bhava Gayakan.
Tags: