Remembering the singer who did not learn Carnatic music | A journey through P Jayachandran's songs

Accidental developments played a major part in P Jayachandran's musical journey, much like the mellifluous flow of a soulful song. Luck played hide-and-seek with him, providing his life with unexpected ascending and descending sequences of musical notes.

'To baat tuch mein hai
Yeh thasveer mein nahin...'
(Singer: Muhammed Rafi, 1963)
Muhammed Rafi and P Susheela were Jayachandran's favourite male and female singers. 'Taj Mahal', with Pradeep Kumar in the lead, had just been released. Three youngsters were riding a motorcycle in Chennai, loudly singing the songs by Rafi in that movie. The men were Jayachandran, his elder brother Sudhakaran, and KJ Yesudas.

Yesudas and Sudhakaran were best friends. Jayachandran later recalled the 'musical' bike ride: "After the movie, we returned to our room. Dasettan sang the songs, while I enacted the scenes and danced."
"Dasettan used to visit us often. Once he is with us, the mood changes to celebratory. Dasattan used to take Sudhakaranettan's shirt. Dasettan had then started singing in movies. Sudhakaretten often used to drop Dasettan off in the studio on his bike. Once Dasettan took me to Bharani studio to watch the recording of 'Manikyaveenayumaayen...' in the movie 'Kattupookkal'. Dasettan introduced me to Devarajan master at the studio."

'Manjalayil mungithorthi
Dhanumaasa chandrika vannu...'
(Singer: P Jayachandran, 1966)
RK Shekhar put aside the harmonium after teaching the song to the new singer. The young singer, who had sung only in one movie, hummed the song again with trepidation. He was singing the song the great maestro, G Devarajan, had composed for the movie 'Kalithozhan'. Fear was natural. Devarajan had shooed the young singer away when the latter approached him seeking an opportunity. The maestro had then curtly said that he would not have singers who had not studied Carnatic music.

However, RK Shekhar, who did the background scores for Devarajan, and taught singers, couldn't help laughing on hearing Devarajan's words. Shekhar is the father of AR Rahman. Shekhar had then taught Jayachandran two songs, 'Tharunyam thannude...' and 'Manjalayil mungithorthi...'.
Devarajan Master had already told Jayachandran that "Manjalayil..." was taught just as a practice. Yesudas would sing the song. The learning was like in the Gurukul system. The singer would learn the song by rote, and sing it to the teacher the next day. The teacher would make the necessary corrections. On the day of recording, Jayachandran rendered the song, "Tharunyam thannude...". Once recorded, Devarajan Master asked him to sing "Manjalayil...".
While leaving the studio after recording, Jayachandran enquired about Yesudas with an acquaintance. "When would Dasettan come?" The acquaintance was surprised. "Who, Dasettan? Dude, you're singing this song. Master composed the song for you," he said. Years later, Jayachandran said it was the most surprising moment in his life.

'Anuraaga gaanam pole,
azhakinte alapole...'
(Singer: P Jayachandran, 1967)
Everyone was happy after Jayachandran sang the song Baburaj had composed for the movie, 'Udyogastha'. However, the distributor was not impressed. He found the singer's voice lacking in maturity. "We should get someone else to sing the song," was his refrain. Jayachandran was crestfallen. He had immersed so much in the song. The film's crew were stunned. The producer was confused. The distributor was opposing the singer. The director, however, stood by Jayachandran. A heated argument ensued, and the director was almost dropped from the movie. The film was released, and the song became a hit. The same distributor, who had opposed Jayachandran and found fault with his voice, took the singer to Kottayam for a concert. And Jayachandran was made to sing the same song.

'Rajeeva nayane neeyurangu,
ragavilole neeyurangu...'
(Singer: P Jayachandran, 1974)
Jayachandran had just returned to his seat after singing 'Rajeeva nayane...' at an event held at the Sree Krishna College in Guruvayur. Music director MS Vishwanathan, who was seated next to Jayachandran was impressed. "Good song. Who composed it?," the composer enquired. Jayachandran was amused and he laughed. "A short, dark man from Palakkad composed the song," he replied. Viswanathan was surprised. "Yaaru, naan thaana," he exclaimed in Tamil. The legend, who had composed hundreds of superhit songs in Tamil and Malayalam, had by then forgotten several of his compositions.
Jayachandran used to visit MSV at his house during the maestro's sunset years. They used to talk about old songs, and Jayachandran used to sing them. Jayachandran later described MSV as the embodiment of love and music.

'Neyyattinkara vaazhum
Kanna, nin munpiloru
neyvilakkakatte ente janmam...'
(Singer: P Jayachandran, 1981)
The late Tamil actor Shivaji Ganesan would be perhaps the biggest fan of this devotional song written by S Ramesan Nair and composed by PK Keshavan Namboodiri. The song was included in the cassette, 'Pushpanjali'.
Bowled over by the song, Ganesan took Jayachandran home in his car and made him sing the song. The song kept playing on a loop in Ganesan's car for many years. 'Thambi, unkal paadal innekkum naan kettirunthe...romba rasicheen...' Ganesan used to repeatedly tell Jayachandran.

"Raasasthi onne, kaanaathe nenjam
kaathaadi polaadathu,,,"
(Singer: P Jayachandran, 1984)
Jayachandran sang three songs, composed by Ilaiyaraaja, for the Tamil movie "Vaidehi Kathirunthaal". He recorded all three in a single day, breaking the one-song norm that existed. All three songs were superhits.
Ilaiyaraaja had narrated a strange tale about the song. Whenever the cinema hall in the Cumbum-Theni area played the song on the loudspeaker, a herd of wild elephants used to come close from the forest and stand still as if listening to the song. It was not a one-off incident, Ilaiyaraaja, who hailed from the area said. It repeated as long as the movie was screened. Once the song was over, the herd returned peacefully to the forest.