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 taal 
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 Inculcating Values Through Music - Vani Jayaram
 Vani Jairam Considered to be a child prodigy, Vani Jairam is known to have recognized the different ragas of Indian classical music before the age of five. Her voice was first heard on All India Radio, Madras, at the age of eight. The fifth daughter in a family of six daughters and three sons, Vani always secretly yearned for a career in film playback singing. After her marriage to Jairam she settled in Bombay, a city where she also saw her dream come true. In 1970, she realized her childhood ambition of becoming a film playback singer when the veteran hindi film music director, Vasant Desai chose her voice for the hindi feature film Guddi. She recorded three songs for that film. Bol Re Papi Hara, her song from the film, based on the hindustani raga Miyan Malhar, instantly made her an household name in the different corners of India. The song was awarded Tansen Samman (for best classical-based song in a hindi film,) The Lions International Best Promising Singer, The All India Cinegoers Association, and the All India Film-goers Association awards for the Best Playback Singer in 1971. Vani recorded her first tamil song for the tamil film Thaiyum Seiyum, for S.M.Subbaiah Naidu, in the year in 1973. Besides Hindi and Tamil, Vani Jairam has numerous recordings in other languages of India. These include, Gujarati, Marathi, Marwari, Hariyanvi, Malayalam, Kannada, Telugu, Oriya, Bengali and Tulu. For her work in these languages she has been awarded many prestigious awards, among which are: Best Female Playback Singer for states of Gujarat (1975), Tamil Nadu (1980) and Orissa (1984). Vani Jairam was chosen for the Indian President's National Award for Best Female Playback Singer of 1975, for her work in M.S. Viswanathan's Aboorva Ragangal (Tamil). Her songs in the Pt. Ravi Shankar scored film Meera brought her the Film World (1979) Cine Herald (1979) and Filmfare (1980) awards for Best Playback Singer in Hindi. Shankarabharanam (Telugu), the film scored by K.V. Mahadevan, gave Vani Jairam her second National Award as Best Playback Singer of 1980. Once again, she was awarded her third National Award for Best Playback Singer of 1991 for K.V. Mahadevan's Swati Kiranam. She is also the youngest artiste to be awarded the Sangeet Peet Samman. Vani Jairam studied Karnatak music under the tutelage of Kadalur Srinivasa Iyengar, T.R. Balasubramanian and R.S. Mani. Her Hindustani light-classical music guru was Ustad Abdul Rahman Khan. She has indeed been famous in the other major film scene in India, i.e. the Hindi Film Music world. Her performance in the film Guddi got her great accolades and was instantly deemed by all to topple all the singers. However, her talent had to be ignored by the hindi film music directors apparently because of pressures from other top singers. In the recent days, she has been concentrating on devotional songs and bhajans, written and composed by herself. Her hindi score - the very first song boluree papi -the debut movie of jayabhadhuri was a masterpiece. Infact for this song she had won the tansen award for which lata mangeshar was also one of the contestants!!! Guess what....She also won National Award as many times as Lata ji (3 times )and she didn't need to sing as many songs as Lata ji or Asha ji. "I need songs with substance. It was music rather than name, fame and glamor that always captivated me."
- Vani Jairam
____________ Pay no attention to what the critics say. A statue has never been erected in honor of a critic. (Jean Sibelius)
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#1 15 Jun 2007 09:31
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taal
Joined: December 2006
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Re: Inculcating Values Through Music - Vani Jayaram
Interview.. | Melody Queen Vani Jairam Melody queen Vani Jairam has been reigning supreme in the field of light music for the past 35 years. Here we bring you the excerpts of the detailed interview by Dr. Radha Bhaskar with Vani Jairam. This interview is exceptional not only that it brings forth her outward journey to fame, but also into her lesser known traits of a compassion, humility and simple personality. Appearance is deceptive; this is especially true of Vani. On the first look, Vani gives you the impression of a very sober personality who just knows to sing. Only a deeper interaction reveals her multifaceted personality as a fine singer of not only light music and bhajans but also pure Karnatic and Hindustani classical music. She is also an ace artist and painter, a fine debater, poetess, music composer and what not. In fact, during her college days, Vani won the all rounder award by bagging 17 prizes in different fields including even cookery! |  |
| Recalling her childhood days, Vani says, “I was born at Vellore into a large family and my mother herself learnt music under Ranga Ramanuja Iyengar. My elder sisters Vasantha, Vimala and Lalitha were taught music by Cuddalore Srinivasa Iyengar. I used to listen to them sing. I had the natural talent of identifying and distinguishing ragas even at the age of two. Seeing my potential, my sisters’ guru also started teaching me. Of course, my taking to music is quite natural as it has been in the family. I must admit that I owe everything to my mother.”
Vani’s family shifted to Chennai when she was in her 5th standard and this proved to be a fine opportunity to further hone her talent in music. GNB’S disciple T.R.Balu was the next guru and later Vani came under the guidance of Trivandrum R.S.Mani. It is mind boggling to note that Vani had multifarious interests during her school days. She says, “I was so involved in the school co-curricular activities that I used to come home everyday only by nine o’clock at night !”
Vani, inspite of her intense training in classical music, has made a mark in the field as an excellent light music singer. Vani’s mother aspired her daughter to take to Karnatic music whereas Vani’s mind was always absorbed in Hindi film music. Vani recalls, “I was fascinated by the clarity, lyrical quality, orchestration and perfection in Hindi film songs. My mother disliked the idea of my plunging into films and wouldn’t permit me to do so. As a typically concerned mother, she said that she neither had the time to accompany me during recordings nor would she permit me to go alone. So, I had no option but to decline the several offers which came to me from the Tamil film industry.” After college where she was an allrounder, Vani took a job with the State Bank of India and it was at this time that she got married to Jairam, who was settled in Bombay. Being a sitarist himself, Jairam identified the immense talent in Vani and wanted her to develop further.
As luck would have it, she came under the intense training of Ustad Abdul Rehman of the Patiala gharana. Vani says, “My master never liked the idea of my going to job, doing household chores and also singing. He taught me complete voice culture and exercises, which would help cooperate with any system of music. After six months of vigorous training, my guru told me that now I was free to go and perform.”
It was on the recommendation of her guru that Vasanth Desaiji offered her a chance in films. Vani laughs and says, “I was too scared to go alone, so I made my husband take permission from office and accompany me. Desaiji turned out to be such a gem of a person, he was a staunch devotee of Hanuman and remained a bachelor all his life.” Vasant Desai who was signed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee to give music for the film ‘Guddi’ recorded all the songs of the film in Vani’s voice. Vani’S*** song ‘Bole re papi hara’ brought her 5 awards including the prestigious Tansen Award. |
____________ Pay no attention to what the critics say. A statue has never been erected in honor of a critic. (Jean Sibelius)
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#2 15 Jun 2007 09:59
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taal
Joined: December 2006
Posts: 863
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Re: Inculcating Values Through Music - Vani Jayaram
Melody Queen Vani Jairam...(Contd...) Vani has had the privilege of singing to all popular music in Marathi, Gujarathi, Marwari, and Bhojpuri and sung duets with stalwarts like Mohamad Rafi, Mukesh, Kishore Kumar, Manna Dey and Mahendra Kapoor. In the South, she has sung innumerable songs in Tamil, Telegu, Kannada and Malayalam for top music directors. As she talks about her other passion of social service, she gets choked with emotion, “I regularly visit cancer hospitals, sing for the patients and even make them sing along with me. Even last December, I spent some time at the Defence Hospital in Dehli, singing for cancer patients, specially to children who were lying in bed helplessly.” Vani was excelled in rendition of multifarious dialects. She was the number one in Oriya films for eleven consecutive years and also won the best Oriya singer award in 1984 for the film ‘Debjani’. Learning many languages and the multifarious dialects is not a conscious effort for Vani. Vani ascertains, “Unless you care to learn and understand the song, you will not be able to give the correct expression to the words. There is no point in blindly singing something, you must go deep into it.
It is a blessing that people of every state feel I belong to them, my accent of songs in such. As for notating songs, I have my own method of doing and I am extremely quick at grasping any new piece.” Vani gives vent to her emotions and feelings on the happenings around her, by writing poems or composing songs. Soaked in melody, she sings the song ‘Sinam thanikka marundu onru kodu muruga’ in which, seeing the injustice done in the world, she feels angry and pleads to Lord Muruga to find a remedy to this and give her the frame of mind to accept things as they came.” Coming back to the subject of voice maintenance, Vani continues “I avoid oily and spicy food and am very strict about my diet. I cook myself and when we travel on concert tours, we mostly manage on fruits. Open throated practice everyday is a must .Your voice tends to rust otherwise. Certain physical exercises like regular walk is highly beneficial. It helps you face the day better. Well, who does not enjoy eating? But these are small things you give up (I wouldn’t call them sacrifice) to keep you going in your career.” Perfect sruti alignment is one of the essential requisites of good music but when Vani strikes a note, it is much beyond that. The note touches your heart, penetrates into you, chokes you with emotion and very often makes you weep out of sheer ecstasy. Vani observes, “we have to take serious care of sruti sudham in music. My Ustad always advised me to practice with a tanpura and never with a harmonium. Without getting into any controversy, I’d like to state my opinion that South Indian music focuses more on learning of a number of compositions rather than on the perfection of the notes which go to make the song. Again, music has become a commodity for marketing- it no more remains an art form. Only when you enjoy what you are singing, the audience will also enjoy the same. I have been very strict about never diluting my music just to please to audience.” About the scenario earlier, she says, “Music directors of the past have really toiled over each composition. In the peak of my career, for five years continuously, I would catch the morning flight from Mumbai to Chennai, do recording at Gemini Studio, fly back to Mumbai by noon, then sing Marathi and Gujarati songs in different studios there and go home by night. Also, every Sunday, I would go to Bangalore in the morning, record 12-13 songs and return to Mumbai by the same night flight. When film music started taking a different dimension, I started losing interest. Once, Ravi Shankarji said of light music, `Never ever take light music lightly.’ What I wish to point out is that, there is so much substance in light music to understand and reflect upon.” In a non-commital way, Vani observes the present trend where music has become a common man’s property. Gone are the days, when especially lady musicians, were to have the required high pitch even to think about entering the film music field. Nowadays, anybody and everybody sings and possessing a musical voice is not at all a prerequisite. In a slightly pained note,  Vani says, ‘Probably, this trend is to remove the monopoly of a selected few. Taking from Nargis to the modern Karishma, we are tuned to a certain sweetness and clarity in voice when film songs are being picturised on them. Now, suddenly if you hear a gruff and hoarse voice singing for them, I feel it quite inappropriate.” Vani then sings the all time hit of Rafi, `Aap ke hasin rukh pe naya noor hai’ and explains how each word literally bubbles with life in such songs.
Delving and reflecting on life as a whole, Vani sums up, “We have no right to pass judgement on anybody. I only concentrate on improving myself every day. Vasanth Desaiji told me one thing- after the whole day’s work, if you stand in front of the mirror and are able to tell yourself that I haven’t gone down in my own esteem, that is the biggest award and reward for you. Looking back at my own life, I can boldly say that I have pursued my profession with utmost dignity and that I think gives a sense of great fulfillment to me.”"
____________ Pay no attention to what the critics say. A statue has never been erected in honor of a critic. (Jean Sibelius) |
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#3 15 Jun 2007 10:06
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taal
Joined: December 2006
Posts: 863
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Re: Inculcating Values Through Music - Vani Jayaram
A Conversation with Vani Jairam Ameen Merchant chats with Vani Jairam - In this informative and educational conversation Vani Jairam talks candidly about her music, career and the music industry. Recorded in October 2004. Listen to it unedited. www.vanijairam.com expresses its gratitude to Mr&Mrs.Jairam and Ameen Merchant. Here is a recording of the Radio Program presented by Ameen on March 13, 2005 on CiTR 101.9FM Vancouver. The introduction to the program is missing in the recording but 78 of the 85-minute presentation is available. Click on the link below. Source... www.vanijairam.com
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Pay no attention to what the critics say. A statue has never been erected in honor of a critic. (Jean Sibelius)
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#4 15 Jun 2007 10:17
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taal
Joined: December 2006
Posts: 863
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Re: Inculcating Values Through Music - Vani Jayaram
Remember that golden voice? |
Singer Vani Jairam, who has won several awards for her mellifluous voice and singing over the past several decades, was honoured with a rare one on April 10. She was named a ‘Vibrant Indian’ by Developers India, an organisation devoted to “India’s development, progress and amity”. The citation revealed the growth of this artiste who has sung in some languages that we have only heard of - Marwari and Bhojpuri – apart from Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Gujarati, Oriya and Bengali. Time was when there was not a single movie without a song by Vani Jairam. Her classical training stood her in good stead in rendering any kind of film music – remember ‘Ezhu Swarangalukkul Ethanai Padal’ in the movie ‘Apoorva Ragangal’ which was a raga malika (based on Carnatic music) and which won her the national award, and 'Nitham, nitham nellusoru, ney manakkum kathirikka...' in 'Mullum Malarum'? Born among four sisters in an orthodox family in Vellore, Vani proved to be a child prodigy. She was singing for the AIR when she was just 11 years old! It was only after marriage and moving to Bombay that she learnt Hindustani music under Ustad Abdul Rahman Khan and then there was no stopping her. It was a short step to Hindi film music and Vani said she was eternally grateful to music director Vasant Desai who introduced her in ‘Guddi’ with ‘Bholo re pappi hara’ and ‘Humko manke shakti de’, that made musical history. Accepting the citation, memento, shawl, saropa and kirpan (Sikh sword), the singer said in her sweet voice that in these difficult times of war, terrorism and corruption, it was “most important to be human”, to be able to smile, to speak a few kind words.  She remembered her Carnatic musician mother Padmavathy and father Duraiswamy for having inculcated the wonderful values of life that have taken her to the very top.
She now concentrates more on singing devotional songs. But she is also propagating the greatness of Indian culture among schoolchildren, proving that she richly deserves the Vibrant Indian award as a cultural activist. Anna University Vice-Chancellor, Dr E Balagurusamy, Maj Gen Anup Singh Jamwal (General Officer Commanding ATNKK & G Area), ‘The Hindu’ editor N Ravi (who was at one time her neighbour) and violin maestro Kunnakudi R Vaidyanathan, who spoke at the function, were all agreed that she richly deserved the award for her unlimited talent.  The award was presented at the inter-faith meet of Developers India to celebrate Baisakhi (the Punjabi New Year) and Tamil New Year. “We hope to promote understanding and cultural unity through these inter-faith meets,” said the organisation’s founder-secretary and convenor, Harbhajan Singh.
Vani sang a few ghazals, Punjabi numbers and a Guru Nanak Bhajan after the award presentation which proved that age had only made her voice sweeter and her singing more soulful. S Chitra Source : http://www.chennaionline.com/cityfeature/personalities/aprvani.asp ____________ Pay no attention to what the critics say. A statue has never been erected in honor of a critic. (Jean Sibelius)
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#5 15 Jun 2007 10:43
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taal
Joined: December 2006
Posts: 863
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Re: Inculcating Values Through Music - Vani Jayaram
Another article in Image format
____________ Pay no attention to what the critics say. A statue has never been erected in honor of a critic. (Jean Sibelius)
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#6 15 Jun 2007 10:51
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taal
Joined: December 2006
Posts: 863
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Re: Inculcating Values Through Music - Vani Jayaram
Another Article
____________ Pay no attention to what the critics say. A statue has never been erected in honor of a critic. (Jean Sibelius)
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#7 15 Jun 2007 11:45
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 sur
Joined: November 2006
Posts: 10620
Location: Virginia
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Re: Inculcating Values Through Music - Vani Jayaram
Nostalgia unlimited G. JAYAKUMAR | Vani Jairam's songs in Malayalam continue to enchant a new generation of music lovers. |
Kerala has an appreciative audience and Malayalis have welcomed me wholeheartedly.
ENCHANTING SONGSTRESS: Vani Jairam In the year 1970, music director Vasant Desai introduced a new vani into Hindi filmdom - singer Vani Jairam. The film was Hrishikesh Mukherjee's `Guddi.' The semi-classical song `Bol re pappihara' became a hit and won Vani Jairam the prestigious Mian Tansen Award. Another song of hers in the same film - `Humko man ki shakthi dena' went on to become an all-time favourite prayer among school children. The years that followed saw Vani singing for all popular Hindi music directors of the time - Chitragupt, Noushad, Madan Mohan, O.P. Nayyar, R.D. Burman, Kalyanji Anandji, Laxmikant Pyarelal, Jaidev and others. She was also singing for regional films in Marathi, Gujarathi, Bhojpuri and Oriya. Her songs in the film `Meera,' composed by Pandit Ravi Shankar, won her the Filmfare Award. Shifting base But by 1980, Vani Jairam had shifted her base to Chennai and had become a much-sought-after singer in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam. Explaining the reason for the shift, she says, "When I was singing for Hindi films, I used to often visit Chennai for concerts. People came to know that I was a Tamilian who sang Hindi songs. I began to get offers. I was very happy singing Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam songs. Initially, I shuttled between Bombay and Chennai. Then when the number of songs increased, I decided to settle down in Chennai.'' Was there a concerted bid at that time to keep her away from Hindi films by certain persons who could not accept her meteoric rise? Vani Jairam smiles away the question. Maybe it was all for the good, she adds, "Otherwise, I would have missed the joy of singing all those wonderful songs!" Those `wonderful songs' were composed by top music directors such as K.V. Mahadevan, M.S. Viswanathan, Vijay Bhaskar, M.K. Arjunan, Dakshinamoorthy and Salil Chowdhury. And between 1976 and 1992, Vani Jairam won the National Best Singer Award thrice, once for a Tamil song and twice for Telugu songs. As for Kerala's music lovers, Vani Jairam enchanted them with hits like `Sourayudhathil vidarnoru,' `Oru premalekhanam ezhuthi,' `Seemantha rekhayil,' `Ashadamasam,' `Maavinte kombilirunnu,' `Vaalkannezhuthi,' `Unaru unaru usha devathe,' `Dhoom thana,' and many more. Vani, who had moved to Mumbai after her marriage to Jairam, says, "In Bombay, [Mumbai] it was he who encourgaed me to learn Hindustani music.'' She began intensive training in Hindustani music under Ustad Abdul Rehman of the Patiala gharana. Her strong foundation in Carnatic music, which she had been learning since childhood, helped her quickly grasp the technique of singing Hindustani. All the hard work bore fruit and she gave her first public concert in Bombay in March 1969. More light classical music concerts followed. Vasant Desai noticed her talent and she made her debut as a playback singer by recording Marathi songs for him. Then came `Bole re pappihara.' Music directors Among music directors in Malayalam, Vani Jairam's favourites are M.K. Arjunan and Salil Chowdhury. Her first Malayalam song `Sourayudhathil vidarnoru... ' was composed by Salil Chowdhury for the film `Swapnam.' Under M.K. Arjunan, she sang hits like `Thiru ona pulari,' `Thedi thedi,' `Vaalkannezhuthi,' `Maavinte kombilirunnu' and so on. Even though she rarely sings for films, Vani Jairam continues to stage live concerts. She also has made a mark as a bhajan singer giving voice to the lyrics of Bhakti poets such as Tulsidas, Kabir, Surdas, Meera, Jayadeva, and Thukaram. Vani Jairam has worked with the Kathak maestro Pandit Birju Maharaj for two cassettes of `Thumri Dadra Bhajan' and `Holi songs.' For her Gita Govindam cassette that was composed by Orissa's Prafullakar, Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra accompanied her on the pakhawaj. "In Kerala, I have come mostly for `ganamelas.' Kerala has an appreciative audience and Malayalis have welcomed me wholeheartedly," she says. ____________ "I am a dreamer,I collect all the smiles from My yesterday,
Neatly pack them into words and hide them in my heart,
I call them "MEMORIES" Music has no boundary.
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#8 14 Sep 2007 00:35
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