8 TEENTIME

2012 MAY 23 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 49 GULF MADHYAMAM l No1 IN THE GULF

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I come from a very orthodox family. My mother would not even allow me to sing for films...in fact, I started singing after I got married to Jairamji, an avid music buff himself, she said.
charm and impeccable dress sense her magic in Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu always made one wonder why she did and Kannada under the baton of comnot have a shot at acting. A couple of posers ranging from M S Viswanathan senior film directors had approached and K V Mahadevan to Salil Choudher with a role offer. But music was hary, Ilayaraja and A R Rahman. her first love and she was apprehenVani Jairam says she never felt any sive that her focus on singing would pressure from any of the music direcbe compromised. tors from the different languages she I come from a very orthodox famworked with since all of them treated ily. My mother would not even allow her with respect and never as a newme to sing for films...in fact, I started comer. singing after I got married to Jairamji, It was Salil Choudhary who introan avid music buff himself, duced Vani Jairam to Mashe said. layalam through SwapWe also learn that Vani nam, a film produced by Jairam is an all rounder with Sivan. Nandita was the her interests ranging from first heroine in Malayalam cooking to needle work. In for whom she sang. her school days, she was Such was the impact quite a talent and even Vani Jairam left in Malaybagged the shield for the alam cinema that some best outgoing student. of the best songs symVani Jairam had a dream bolising Vishu and Onam debut in 1971 when veteran are Vani Jairam songs. A Hindi composer Vasant Desai Jyothi Varma quick pick of some of her cast her for Guddi. The best songs in Malayalam song Bol re Pappi Hara... would include her first shot to anthemic status and made her song, Sourayudahathil (Swapnam) a household name across India. by Salil Choudhary, ThiruvonapulariThat song also fetched the singer than (Thiruvonam) by M K Arjunan, the Tansen Samman for the best Ente kayyil poothiri... (Sammanam) classical-based (in Miyan Malhar raga) by V Dakshinamurthy and Aashadsong in mainstream cinema and is still hamaasam (Yudhabhumi) by R K one of the most remembered melodies Sekhar. in Vanis versatile oeuvre. Vani Jairams crowning achieveYears later, Vani Jairam would ments were the National Awards for reprise her gift for the semi-classical the Best Female Playback Singer in with the amazingly structured song 1975 for MSVs Apoorva Ragangal, in Kavithai Kelungal for Ilayaraja in 1980 and 1991 for K V Mahadevans the Kamal Hassan starrer Punnagai Shankarabharanam and Swathi Mannan. Kiranam respectively. And, long after Over her illustrious career, Vani has she ceased to be an active singer, the worked with virtually all the leading honours and felicitations continue unacomposers and playback singers in bated. Even last week in Chennai, Vani India. Jairam was honoured by Odisha Chief Her southward journey in the midMinister Naveen Patnaik during Utkal 1970s would add another layer of gold Divas celebrations to mark the 76th to a bejewelled playback realm. On anniversary of the founding of Odisha. shifting base to Chennai, Vani worked n

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t the age of two she could differentiate Carnatic ragas. At five, she was learning complex compositions of Muthuswami Dikshithar. By the time she was eight, she auditioned for a programme on All India Radio. Years later, after

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she moved to Mumbai, her haunting voice would propel her debut song in Hindi to the top of the charts. Playback singer Vani Jairam Kalaivani is her real nameis a versatile artist whose vast fan base is spread across the Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam and several other Indian languages. Breaking into the film industry in the south at a period dominated by legends like S Janaki and P Suseela, Vani Jairam, for her ardent admirers, symbolised the best of both these singersthe melodious sweetness of Janaki and the haunting quality of Suseela. Hailing from Vellore town in Tamil Nadu, Vani Jairam grew up in an atmosphere steeped in music. Her mother was a renowned classical musician. If Kadalur Sreenivasa Iyengar was her Carnatic guru in childhood, later on Vani embraced the tutelage of Hindustani doyen Ustad Abdul Rahman Khan, who was also guru to outstanding singers like Manna Dey. The few occasions one had to interact with Vani Jairam at her Nungambakkam home in Chennai were always a pleasure. Her dignified

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