The Third edit: P Jayachandran’s voice transcended the limits of time and language

Jan 11, 2025 06:48 IST First published on: Jan 11, 2025 at 06:48 IST

It can’t have been easy being a singer at the same time as K J Yesudas, a vocalist who has towered over the various South Indian film industries, especially Malayalam, for over half a century. How did G Jayachandran manage to create a niche for himself, with the bittersweet notes of songs sung by him in the 1960s, like “Manjalayil mungi thorthi”, still resonating with listeners? What helped Jayachandran, who died at the age of 80 this week, establish himself as Kerala’s “bhava gayakan” (soulful singer) was his naturally light yet expressive voice, which flew from note to note with remarkable grace.

Over the course of his career, Jayachandran won fans across the Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada and Telugu film industries, as well as a National Film Award (1985, for Sree Narayana Guru) and several state film awards in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. His debut in 1966 was the result of a chance encounter with filmmaker A Vincent. Jayachandran was not trained, but his voice captivated all who heard it. From G Devarajan and M S Baburaj, to M S Viswanathan and Ilaiyaraja, composers credited some of their biggest hits to his mellow voice. His innate understanding of what each composition demanded resulted in sometimes astonishing results, like when he recorded three songs for Ilaiyaraja for the 1983 Tamil film Vaidehi Kathirunthal in a single day — with all three becoming huge hits.