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P Jayachandran, Playback Singer

by Lakshmi Menon
(Bangalore, India)

A Tribute


After a few days of the loss of MT. Vasudevan Nair, the popular author of many novels and short stories, Kerala lost another important artist named P.Jayachandran, on 9th January 2024 at the age of 80. He was a popular playback singer of India from Kerala and was often the screen voice of the romantic era in Malayalam. He was one of my favorite singers.

With the rare excellence of his mellifluous voice, Jayachandran succeeded in elevating songs beyond the expectations of the lyricist & composer, and striking an emotional chord with the listener.

He was born on March 3, 1944 to Ravivarma Kochanian Thamburan of Tripunithura Kovilakam and Subhadrakunjamma of Paliyam Palace in Chendamangalam, as their third child. Jayachandran started his career in films in 1966 with his debut song from the film, Kalithozhi. He sang close to 16,000 songs during a span of six decades, mostly in Malayalam and Tamil, under the major composers of his time including G Devarajan, MS Viswanathan, K Raghavan, Dakshinamoorthy, MS Baburaj, MB Sreenivasan, Ilayaraja and AR Rahman.

In 2008, he Sang in Hindi for the first time for the movie Ada..A Way of Life.


Jayachandran left behind a repertoire of thousands of songs, mostly in Malayalam, and dozens in other Indian languages. His voice – untrained in classical music – famously retained its admired texture until in his final years


Manjalayil mungi thorthi dhanu maasa chandrika vannu (Bathed in the wave of mist, the winter moon arrived), with a beautiful humming prelude became the signature song of Jayachandran's career. He sang all kinds of songs in an effortless manner and with exemplary diction.

Surprisingly, he was not a trained singer. But this lack of training did not deter music composers of all times from giving him songs, and Jayachandran became known for the varied expressions he brought to a song, earning him the moniker ‘bhava gayakan’ (soulful singer). He sang for all the veterans in the 60s and 70s.

His velvety voice suited the handsome heroes of the time, like Prem Nazir, Kamal Haasan, Madhu, and the many stars who followed them. His style was also malleable to singing all kinds of songs in an effortless manner and with exemplary diction.

His 1966 debut song from the film, Kalithozhi, — those lines encapsulated the romantic bhava he would produce in song after song (Anuraga gaanam pole, Karimukil kaattile, Suprabhatham, Ramzaanile chandrikayo, Ekantha pathikan jnan, Raagam Sree ragam, Mownam polum madhuram, Kevala martya bhasha kelkkatha, Ekakiyam ninte swapnangalkokkeyum, Sharadambaram) for close to half a century.

Under Ilayaraja’s baton he produced a string of hits in the 1980s (Raasathi unnai kaanatha nenjil and Kaathirundu kathirundu kalangal pohuthedi from Vaidehi Kathirunthal (1986), Thalattuthe vaanam from Kadal Meengal (1981), Kodiyile Malligappoo from Kadalorakavithaigal, 1986) and sang popular numbers such as Oru deivam thantha poove (Kannathil Muthamittal, 2002) and Kathazham kaattu vazhi (Kizhakku Cheemayile, 1993) for AR Rahman.

He had received 5 Kerala state awards, 4 Tamil Nadu state awards and 1 national award in 1986. Also won J C Daniel Award in 2020. He was the first person to receive the Swaralaya Kairali Yesudas Award in 2001.


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