Vaikom Vijayalakshmi

Vijayalakshmi
Background information
Born (1981-10-07) 7 October 1981[1]
Vaikom, Kerala, India
Genres Playback singing, Carnatic music
Occupation(s) Singer
Instruments Vocals, Gayatriveena
Years active 1995 - present
Labels Audiotracs

Biography

Vaikom Vijayalakshmi is a playback singer from Kerala, India.[2] She is an expert in a rare musical instrument called Gayatriveena. She won special jury mention for her much appreciated work in the movie Celluloid.[3] She was born blind in Vaikom on October 7, 1981 and later on moved to Chennai.[4]

Personal Life


She was born on October 7, 1981, on Vijaydashami day. Living near the Udayanapuram temple in Vaikom, Vijayalakshmi is the only daughter of Muraleedharan and Vimala.Vijayalakshmi is engaged to marry musician Santhosh on 29 March 2017.

Career

She has voice but deprived of vision. It was only after her parents came to terms with her incurable blindness that they moved to Chennai. Here the young Viji grew up listening to Tamil movie songs by the likes of Ilayaraja and M S Viswanathan. She was spotted with the talent of catching a tune at the first hearing and reproducing it exactly in all its subtle nuances. Later, her parents bought classical music tapes of Yesudas, which Viji would listen to enthusiastically. In a matter of less than a year, she learned more than a 100 ragas and made her own compositions. Until then, she had no formal training in music.[5]

Music discipline insists on training from a knowledgeable teacher. But her effortless raga alapana and swara delineation surprised the most discerning of Vidwans. Her arangetram was conducted at the Chathamkudi temple in Vaikom. In 1987 she met her `manasaguru' Yesudas, who was unabashed by the child's `jnanam' in identifying the most complex ragas and her mastery in rendering ragas like `Todi' and `Bhairavi'. The following year Viji held a performance at the prestigious Shanmukhananda Hall in Mumbai. [6]

Viji, in the first 10 years, had performed at more than 400 stages in all the major `sabhas' in Chennai, Tanjore, Madurai, Coimbatore and other major cities of India. Meanwhile, another significant achievement was her mastery over a one-stringed instrument. The `gayatri tampuru', presented to her by a connoisseur, was electrified and modified by her father Muraleedharan. The kulapati of Carnatic violin Sri Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan was mesmerized by her veena recital and gave it the name `Gayatri Veena'. She has performed several concerts with the instrument. Since 1995, Viji has been playing it at the Chembai Sangeetotsavam at Guruvayoor. She played at the prestigious Soorya Festival in 2001. [7]

As temple performances are hardly rewarding financially, Viji has had to sing and play film tunes to keep her going. Today she has a repertoire of almost 300 ragas and double the number of compositions. Viji loves listening to concerts of MS, Madurai Seshagopalan, Balamuralikrishna and Maharajapuram Santhanam. Her favourite ragams are Hindolam, Shubha Panthuvarali, Sivaranjini, and Madhyamavati. Of late Viji has turned to Hindustani. [8]

Awards

Notable songs

Year Film Song Name Composer Lyric Writer Co-Singer(s)
2013 Celluloid "Katte Katte" M. Jayachandran G. Sreeram
2013 Nadan "Ottakku Padunna" Ousepachan
2014 Rudhra "Shaaradhambaram" Ramesh Narayan
2014 Ezhu desangalkum agalae "Enikum"
2014 Polytechnic "Paatu petti" Gopi Sunder
2014 Cuckoo-Tamil "Kodayila" Santhosh Narayanan Kalyani Nair, Pradeep Kumar
2014 Yennamo Yedho "Pudhiya Ulagai" D. Imman
2014 Kaadu "Uchimalai Kaadu"
2014 Vellaikaara Durai "Kaaka muttai" D. Imman
2015 Kavathu "Melody" Sabesh Murali
2015 Idam Porul Eval "Endha Vazhi" Yuvan Shankar Raja
2015 Romeo Juliet "Idharkkuthanae Aasaippattai" D. Imman
2015 Vizhithiru "Aazhi alai" Sathyan Mahalingam
2015 TP 51 "Malayalam song"
2015 Oru Vadakkan Selfie "Kaikkottum Kandittilla " Shaan Rahman
2015 Kanal "Killathe Chollamo" Ouseppachan
2015 Masss "Piravi" Yuvan Shankar Raja
2015 Baahubali "Siva Sivaya Potri" M. M. Keeravani
2015 Patharamattu (Mappilappattu Album) "Khalbil Vilayana" Pullankode Hamzakhan Pulikkottil Hydarali G. Sreeram
2015 Utopiayile Rajavu "Uppinu Pona Vazhi Ethu" Ouseppachan PS Rafeeque Jassie Gift, Rahul R Nath
2015 10 Endrathukulla "Pathu Endrathukulla (female version)" D. Imman
2015 Thinkal Muthal Velli Vare "Chakkinu Vechathu" Sanand George
2015 Thinkal Muthal Velli Vare "Nataya Natinu" Sanand George
2016 Theri "En Jeevan" G.V. Prakash Kumar Na. Muthukumar, R. Thyagarajan Hariharan, Saindhavi
2016 Velainu Vandhutta Vellaikaaran "Aaravalli" C. Sathya Yugabharathi
2016 Veera Sivaji "Soppanasundari" D. Imman Arunraja Kamaraj
2016 "Ammani" "Mazhai Ingillaiye"

K

Na. Muthukumar

References

  1. http://www.mangalam.com/women/celebrity/439780
  2. "Celluloid dreams". The Hindu. January 24, 2013. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
  3. http://www.vaikomvijayalakshmi.com/
  4. "She sings to conquer". The Hindu. May 27, 2002. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
  5. http://vaikomvijayalakshmi.blogspot.in/
  6. http://vaikomvijayalakshmi.blogspot.in/
  7. http://vaikomvijayalakshmi.blogspot.in/
  8. http://vaikomvijayalakshmi.blogspot.in/
  9. "Prithviraj, Rima steal the show at State Film Awards". Times Of India. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
  10. "Celluloid, Reema and Prithvi win the state awards". Indiaglitz.
  11. http://www.mirchimusicawards.com/malayalam/winners.php
  12. http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-metroplus/mammootty-meena-win-awards/article6301997.ece
  13. http://keralatodaynews.blogspot.in/2014/10/ckma-malayalam-film-serial-awards-2014.html

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