Vaikom Vijayalakshmi

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 at Vaikom on 7 October 1981 and later on moved to Chennai.[4]

Vijayalakshmi
Background information
Birth nameVijayalakshmi Muraleedharan
Born (1981-10-07) 7 October 1981[1]
Vaikom, Kerala, India
GenresPlayback singing, Carnatic music
InstrumentsVocals, Gayatriveena
Years active1995 - present

Personal life

She was born on 7 October 1981, on Vijayadashami day. Living near the Udayanapuram temple in Vaikom, Vijayalakshmi is the only daughter of Muraleedharan and Vimala. She got engaged to Bahrain based technician Santhosh in December 2016, but she suddenly called off her wedding, citing that her fiance insulted her for her blindness and requested her to stop stage shows. She was praised for her decision on social media. Vaikom Vijayalakshmi is married to N. Anoop, a mimicry artist on 22 October 2018 in Vaikom Mahadeva temple[5]

Career

Vijayalakshmi was born blind. 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 100 ragas and made her own compositions. Until then, she had no formal training in music.[6]

The 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. [6]

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 doubles the number of compositions. Viji loves listening to concerts of MSV, Madurai Seshagopalan, Balamuralikrishna and Maharajapuram Santhanam. Her favorite ragams are Hindolam, Shubha Panthuvarali, Sivaranjini, and Madhyamavati. Of late Viji has turned to Hindustani. [6]

Awards

Notable songs
YearFilmSong NameComposerLanguageCo-Singer(s)
2013Celluloid"Katte Katte"M. JayachandranMalayalamG. Sreeram
2013Nadan"Ottakku Padunna"OusepachanMalayalam
2014Ezhu desangalkum agalae"Enikum"Malayalam
2014Polytechnic"Paatu petti"Gopi SunderMalayalam
2014Cuckoo"Kodayila"Santhosh NarayananTamilKalyani Nair, Pradeep Kumar
2014Yennamo Yedho"Pudhiya Ulagai"D. ImmanTamil
2014Kaadu"Uchimalai Kaadu"Tamil
2014Vellaikaara Durai"Kaaka muttai"D. ImmanTamil
2015Kavathu"Melody"Sabesh MuraliTamil
2015Idam Porul Eval"Endha Vazhi"Yuvan Shankar RajaTamil
2015Romeo Juliet"Idharkkuthanae Aasaippattai"D. ImmanTamil
2015Vizhithiru"Aazhi alai"Sathyan MahalingamTamil
2015TP 51"Malayalam song"Malayalam
2015Oru Vadakkan Selfie"Kaikkottum Kandittilla "Shaan RahmanMalayalam
2015Kanal"Killathe Chollamo"OuseppachanMalayalam
2015Massu Engira Masilamani"Piravi"Yuvan Shankar RajaTamil
2015Baahubali"Siva Sivaya Potri"M. M. KeeravaniTamil/Malayalam
2015Patharamattu (Mappilappattu Album)"Khalbil Vilayana"Pullankode HamzakhanMalayalamG. Sreeram
2015Utopiayile Rajavu"Uppinu Pona Vazhi Ethu"OuseppachanMalayalamJassie Gift, Rahul R Nath
201510 Endrathukulla"Pathu Endrathukulla (female version)"D. ImmanTamil
2015Thinkal Muthal Velli Vare "Chakkinu Vechathu"Sanand GeorgeMalayalam
2015Thinkal Muthal Velli Vare "Nataya Natinu"Sanand GeorgeMalayalam
2016Theri"En Jeevan"G.V. Prakash KumarTamilHariharan, Saindhavi
2016Velainu Vandhutta Vellaikaaran"Aaravalli"C. SathyaTamil
2016Veera Sivaji"Soppanasundari"D. ImmanTamil
2016Ammani"Mazhai Ingillaiye"KTamil
2016Kattappanayile Rithwik Roshan"Parudeyam Mariyame"BijibalMalayalamRimi Tomy
2017Aramm"Thoranam Aayiram"GhibranTamilCity of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra
2017Thondan"Vaasamulla Poovaa"Justin PrabhakaranTamil
2017Meda Meeda Abbayi"Notlona Velu Pedithe"Shaan RahmanTelugu
2018Kanaa"Vaayaadi Pettha Pulla"Dhibu Ninan ThomasTamilAaraadhana Sivakarthikeyan, Sivakarthikeyan
2018Lambodara"Kedi "K.KrishnarajKannada

References
  1. http://www.mangalam.com/women/celebrity/439780
  2. "Celluloid dreams". The Hindu. 24 January 2013. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
  3. http://www.vaikomvijayalakshmi.com/
  4. "She sings to conquer". The Hindu. 27 May 2002. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
  5. "Vaikom Vijayalakshmi calls off wedding - ChennaiVision". ChennaiVision. 27 February 2017. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  6. http://vaikomvijayalakshmi.blogspot.in/
  7. "Prithviraj, Rima steal the show at State Film Awards". Times Of India. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
  8. "Celluloid, Reema and Prithvi win the state awards". Indiaglitz.
  9. http://www.mirchimusicawards.com/malayalam/winners.php
  10. http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-metroplus/mammootty-meena-win-awards/article6301997.ece
  11. http://keralatodaynews.blogspot.in/2014/10/ckma-malayalam-film-serial-awards-2014.html
  12. News, Manorama (5 July 2017). "Vaikom Vijayalakshmi honoured with D. Litt degree". YouTube. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  13. Madhu, Vignesh (6 July 2017). "Honorary doctorate for Vaikom Vijayalakshmi". Retrieved 11 April 2019.
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