Sreekumaran Thampi on the magical voice of P Jayachandran

Sreekumaran Thampi is one of Kerala’s most accomplished lyricists. He is also a poet, screenwriter, music director, producer, and director of movies. The 84-year-old speaks to Open about one of the state’s most celebrated singers, P. Jayachandran, his close friend and ‘soul mate’ who passed away this month. Jayachandran had been a playback singer in Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada, and Telugu films for more than half a century.

Edited excerpts from an interview with Thampi, who has over the decades earned a name for his versatility as well as a knack for talent spotting:

 You and Jayachandran were friends for almost 60 years. A majority of the songs he had sung were penned by you! How do you rate him as a singer in terms of his range?

He was an excellent singer who could sing songs that start in mandrasthayi (lower octave) and rise to thaarasthayi (higher octave) while keeping the sruthi (the smallest interval of pitch that the human ear can detect and a singer or musical instrument can produce) intact.

The song “Sandhyaykkenthinu sindooram” written by me and composed by the veteran music director V. Dakshinamoorthy in abheri raga (in the movie Maya directed by Ramu Kariat) is an example of his range of expertise and gift. No singer without such amazing skills could compete with the great Yesudas who dominated the scene back then.

You have often said that although Yesudas is considered the most iconic of Malayali singers of a particular generation, there were some songs that, according to you, acquired their true potential only when sung by Jayachandran. Could you please elaborate?

I will never say that Jayachandran is better than Yesudas as a singer. But Jayachandran never tried to imitate Yesudas the way many others did. He had a unique style. His voice had a special flavour, which fetched him a wide appeal among the masses.

Songs like “Hrudayeswaree nin neduveerppil njanoru madhurasangeetham kettu” – which was written by me and composed by G. Devarajan in raga Madhyamaavathy in the movie Panchaamrutham – and “Rajeevanayane neeyurangoo raagavilole neeyurangoo” written by me for my movie Chandrakantham and composed by MS Viswanathan in raga kapi are worth mentioning in this regard.

His clarity with words was also remarkable. He invariably gave stress to certain words and the meaning got conveyed through his bhava (emotion). That is why he is often looked up to and touted as bhavagayakan, on who captures emotions in full measure in his rendition.

In your long career, you have found it difficult to work with several people in the Kerala film industry, including top-notch actors, because of differences of opinion and perception. However, you have not had much of trouble working closely with Jayachandran. What are your thoughts on this?

Science says that like poles repel. Both Jayachandran and I were like poles. But we were attracted at the first meeting itself. Both of us were born in similar backgrounds, in rich families in decline. Our characters were also quite similar. We could not compromise on certain aspects and with certain people. We valued self-esteem over money.

Which are your favourite Jayachandran songs? 

In addition to the three songs mentioned earlier, several others come to my mind. But it is impossible to speak about all of it in an interview. Jayachandran had sung 220 songs written by me. This includes film songs, light songs and songs written me for mega TV serials produced and directed by me. Here are some of my favourites:

– Malayalabhasha than maadakabhangi nin malarmandahaasamaay viriyunnu
– Mallikappoovin madhuragandham ninte mandasmitham polum oru vaantham
– Mangalappaala than poomanamozhuki manassile maninaagamilaki
–  Swarnnagopura narthakeeshilpam kanninu saayoojyam nin roopam
–  Swaathithirunaalin kaaminee sapthaswarasudhaavaahinee
– Karpooradeepathin kaanthiyil kandu njan ninneyaa sandhyayil (duet)
– Yamune… yamune… premayamune yadukularathidevanevide (duet)
– Thiruvaabharanam charthi vidarnnu thiruvaathiranakshathram
– Jaathimallippomazhayil omana than punchiriyil
– Aranmulabhagavaante ponnu kettiya chundanvallam
– padarnnaadum panathin phanangalkku naduvil
– Manassoru Vaayanashaala, mananabhaashaagrandhashaala

 Could you share a few anecdotes about your association with him?

My sister got married in 1969. When I invited Jayachandran to the wedding he said: “Your sister is my sister too. So, I will conduct a ganamela (music concert) on the occasion. He did not accept any remuneration. Besides, we were soul mates who confided many secrets in each other.

Now that he is gone, how do you define his legacy?

He will be remembered forever as our irreplaceable bhavagayakan.

In MemoriamKannadaKeralaMalayalammoviesmusicP JayachandranSreekumaran ThampiTamilTelugutributeWeb Exclusive