Acclaimed Malayalam playback singer P Jayachandran, fondly called ‘bhavagayakan’ by Keralites around the world, passed away on Thursday. He was 80.
He was undergoing treatment for old-age-related ailments and cancer at Amala Hospital in Thrissur district.
“On Wednesday, he was discharged from the hospital as his condition improved. However, he collapsed at his home on Thursday evening and was rushed back to the hospital. He breathed his last at 7.54 pm,” said the spokesperson for Amala Medical College Hospital.
Born on March 3, 1944 in Kochi to Ravivarma Kochaniyan Thampuran and Paliyath Subhrakunjamma, Jayachandran’s family later moved to Irinjalakuda. A zoology graduate from Irinjalakuda’s famed Christ College, Jayachandran worked at a private company in Chennai when producer Sobhana Parameswaran Nair and ace cinematographer/director A Vincent heard him sing at an event. He got his first break in the 1965 film Kunjali Marikkar whose camera was helmed by Vincent, but the film only got released in 1967.
The big break soon followed as the legendary music director G Devarajan after hearing him sing gave him the evergreen Manjalayil Mungi Thorthi in the 1966 movie Kalithozhan.
Anuragagaanam pole, Neelagiriyude Sakhikale, which won him his first Kerala State Film award for Best Singer in 1972, Raagam Sreeraagam, Karimukil Kaattile, Prayam Nammil Moham Nalki, Ariyathe Ariyathe, Olanjali Kuruvi and Araraarum Kanaathe are among his other famous songs.
He was conferred the National award for best singer for the song Sivasankara Sarva Saranya Vibho in the film Sree Narayana Guru (1985).
In Tamil, he worked with all three greats — MS Viswanathan, Illayaraja, and AR Rahman. The singer recorded over 16,000 songs in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Hindi in a career spanning over five decades.
Raasaathi Unna and Kaathirundhu Kaathirundhu with Illayaraja and Kathazham Kattuvazhi with AR Rahman, which won him a Tamil Nadu State Film award for best singer, are some of his famous songs in the language.
A self-taught singer, Jayachandran grabbed the heart of generations through his voice and soulful style of singing.
He was married to Latha and had settled at Poonkunnam in Thrissur. Lakshmi and Dinanath are his children.
