Legendary playback singer P Jayachandran passes away

Jayachandran, who crooned over 16000 songs, made his singing debut in 1965 with “Oru Mullappoomalayumaayi” from P Bhaskaran’s Kunhalimarikkar. Although this was his first recorded song, Jayachandran was first heard in cinema in G Devarajan’s composition’s “Manjalayil Mungi Thorthi” from Kalithozhan.

ALSO READ: ‘We can compete with Hollywood,’ says Mohanlal; recalls creating one of the first pan-Indian films

The voice of some of the most evergreen numbers of Malayalalam cinema, P Jayachandran’s collaborations with composers like V Dakshinamoorthy, MS Baburaj, Devarajan, MB Sreenivasan, Vidyasagar, Ouseppachan, Suresh Peters, and M Jayachandran have stood the test of time. He also sung a few songs for composer RK Sekhar, the father of AR Rahman, and went on to sing notable songs for the Oscar winner too.

Jayachandran made his Tamil debut with MS Viswanathan’s “Thanga Chimil Pol” in Manipayal. Some of his landmark songs like “Raasathi Unna”, “Poova Eduthu Oru”, “Thaalaattudhey Vaanam” have been composed by Ilaiyaraaja in Tamil. His first Tamil Nadu State Film Award came for “Kaththaazha Kaatu Vazhi”, his maiden song with Rahman. Incidentally, it was Rahman who introduced Jayachandran in Hindi.

Apart from his film works, Jayachandran also made a lasting mark in the devotional album space where he sang in both Tamil and Malayalam.

ALSO READ: Rekhachithram movie review: Asif Ali, Anaswara Rajan’s mystery thriller is a tribute to the magical allure of cinema

The lasting legacy of Jayachandran lies in his strong voice being celebrated not just in the 70s but till 2020s.

He is survived by his wife Lalitha, son Dinanathan, and daughter Lakshmi.

From the homepage

US–China trade tensions flare again – why it matters to India & the world

‘Don’t fear US tariffs… we’ll open trade with 10 new countries’: CM Yogi Adityanath at Bhadohi Carpet Expo

IND vs WI: Shubman Gill proves why captaincy hasn’t affected his batting