Singing a song for veteran music composer Arjunan Master itself is a major award, says M Jayachandran.Singer Abhijith Vijayan missed out on an honour at this year’s Kerala state film awards out of sheer bad luck. The striking similarity of the young vocalist’s voice to that of the legendary playback singer Yesudas had evoked disbelief among the jury members, and Abhijith was denied the best singer award as the panel felt he was trying to imitate the veteran singer.
Meanwhile, ace music composer M Jayachandran has come out in support of Abhijith saying that the latter has sung more than 2,000 songs, mostly in musical albums, in Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu. The award-winning composer added that a talent like Abhijith’s could not be ignored and wondered whether the young singer was at fault to have a voice which sounded similar to that of Yesudas’.
“It was Arjunan master who made Abhijith sing in the movie. That itself is his first major award. Will Arjunan master invite someone whom he thinks imitates Yesudas, to sing for him? Absolutely no. A controversy like this in fact affects the credibility of Arjunan master as well,” says M Jayachandran.
Jayachandran said that he had heard Abhijith sing in real and vouches that the singer doesn’t try to ape Yesudas. He says, “What could Abhijith do if he sounds like Yesudas? Is it his fault? Moreover if a singer has rendered a song well, then he should be considered for the award. I believe that the beauty and depth in singing are the two major factors to be evaluated while adjudging a singer for the award. Whether the singer’s voice resemble somebody else’s is insignificant.”
At the same time, lyricist Rajeev Alunkal has a different take on the controversy. He too noted that Abhijith’s voice is strikingly similar to that of Yesudas. “If I listen to Abhijith’s songs with my eyes closed, then it really feels like Dasettan has sung it. But I believe he never tries to mimic anyone as I have faith in his personality and character. Nothing can be done to do away with this similarity. He shouldn’t have been denied the award,” says Rajeev Alunkal.
He also reasoned that the jury might have thought that there shouldn’t be someone whose voice is exactly similar to that of Yesudas’ as long as the legendary singer lives. Reiterating Jayachandran’s view, Rajeev Alunkal too said that being invited to render one of the songs composed by a stalwart like Arjunan master was itself an award for Abhijith.
He says, “For Abhijith singing Arjunan master’s song is like getting an Oscar. To be able to sing a song composed by Arjunan master who has been delivering superhit songs in Malayalam for the last 50 years is an incredible achievement for a singer like Abhijith. It should be a great honour for Abhijith too as Arjunan master has won a state award for the first time for composing the song that Abhijith has sung.”
The noted lyricist said that a lot of other singers like Panthalam Balan, Markose, Jolly Abraham, Unni Menon and Sudeep have faced such allegations like Abhijith. However, Rajeev Alunkal added that all these singers had a distinct feature in their singing style that would instantly make them stand out even though their voices had a similarity to that of Yesudas. “They overcame this similarity with their unique singing style.
But in Abhijith’s case, unfortunately, not only does he sound unbelievably similar to Yesudas, but there is absolutely nothing distinct in his voice which makes the listener believe that it was actually Abhijith singing the song and not Dasettan. Even though I believe that he does not try to imitate, this is the truth that I experience,” said Rajeev Alunkal.
He added that Abhijith should make a conscious effort to come out of that framework, so that his songs would have a unique flavor to it. However, he stressed that the best singer award should be given to a singer who has rendered a song incredibly well.
