P. Jayachandran: A voice that packed every song with tenderness

P. Jayachandran's enviable voice carved a niche in Malayalam and South Indian music, captivating listeners worldwide.

A strikingly good voice is a given in the Malayalam film industry. Every accomplished singer stands out for her/his enviable tone and inimitable timbre. P. Jayachandran, who passed away on January 9, 2025, managed to carve out a niche for himself in this ecosystem. In his career spanning half a century — predominantly in Malayalam but across south Indian languages — his pitch-perfect, melodious voice too drew scores of music lovers around world over.

Also read: Governor, CM, leaders condole singer P. Jayachandran’s passing

A soothing, melodious voice is in part genetics and in part training. Pitching the notes accurately is also in good measure training, both in singing and listening. A singer’s originality, however, lies in what he brings to a song beyond these two aspects. For Mr. Jayachandran, it was undoubtedly the emotions he brought out. Regardless of the composer and the style of a particular composition, he lent his songs rare tenderness. His songs are very comforting.

As someone more familiar with his Tamil songs, especially for Ilaiyaraaja and A.R. Rahman — although he has sung beautiful numbers for M.S. Viswanathan before that — I was drawn to this characteristic.

When we speak of the genius of composers, it must include their ability to hear a song in a particular voice before it is recorded. The conviction that a particular voice will best suit a certain song. Otherwise, it would not be as hard to imagine ‘Rasathi onna’ song (Vaidehi Kathirunthal , 1985) in a voice other than Jayachandran’s. He owns it. Mr. Ilaiyaraaja would have foreseen this.

The charanam (stanza succeeding the first paragraph) is classic Jayachandran and addictive.

In the lines: