P. Jayachandran: An ever-youthful voice that enchanted generations

P. Jayachandran, a legendary Indian singer, left a lasting legacy with his soulful songs in Malayalam and Tamil.

Indian music has lost one of its finest voices.

A voice that brought out the expression of a song the way perhaps nobody else could. A voice that could make its presence felt despite being a contemporary of a phenomenon called K.J. Yesudas. There cannot be a challenge tougher than that in music.

P. Jayachandran, who died at a private hospital in Thrissur on Thursday (January 9, 2025), was a gifted singer who regaled generations with his songs in Malayalam and Tamil. His songs will continue to regale generations to come.

He had made a sudden impact with his song Manjalayail mungithorthi for the 1966 film Kalithozhan. It was composed by G. Devarajan, one of the greatest music directors in Indian cinema whose genius, however, was limited only to Malayalam cinema.

Devarajan swore by Yesudas, but he still gave Jayachandran some of his finest tunes, such as Thottene njaan mananssu kondu (Kottaram Vilkanundu), Ishta praneswari (Chukku), Malayala bhasha than (Prethangalude Thazhvara), Maanathu kannikal (Madhavikutty) Mallika baanan thante (Achani) and Ramzanile chandrikayo (Alibabayum 41 Kallanmarum).

The maestro also gave him an incredibly sweet light song – Onnini sruthi thaazhthi paaduka poonkuyile. It is a light song written by ONV Kurup. It was the late poet’s lullaby for his wife. And it found the perfect voice in Jayachandran. This writer once had the privilege to listen him to sing that song from his hotel room in Kozhikode: the image is still fresh in memory, him singing lying on his bed.

Jayachandran was also the singer who rendered the sweetest lullaby a man has sung for his lover on silver screen – Rajeeva nayane neeyurangoo (Chandrakantham). That was tuned by M.S. Viswanathan, who was the composer of some of Jayachandran’s best songs, such as Swarnagopura narthakee shilplam, Karpoora deepathin kaanthiyil (both Divyadarsanam) and Suprabhatham (Panitheeratha Veedu).