THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A voice like the notes of a flute from a world unseen, unknown. It seemed light, as mellifluous as a river’s flow, yet brimming with emotions. All these earned P Jayachandran the moniker Bhavagayakan of Malayalam cinema.
The mould was cast right at the start of his career, when he sang Anuragaganam Pole to the tunes composed by M S Baburaj, the master of soulful, ruminating melodies, for Udyogastha (1967). Since then, songs that touched deep inner chords found their way to him at a time when K J Yesudas ruled as the chiselled voice of musical perfection.
While Yesudas’ voice boomed into the skies, Jayachandran delved deep into human hearts, evoking a basket of feelings that all knew but could not convey. His voice lent expression to those inexplicable feelings. And, when combined with ONV’s words, like in Sharadindhu Malardeepa Ragam, it created the soft surge of love that filled the core of every being. In short, pure magic to which time lost and stood in awe and reverence.
While hearts that cared and souls that searched found refuge in his voice, there were masterful renditions too that adhered to the norms of good singing which won him accolades at the national and state levels. The national award came by in 1986 for Sivasankara Sarva Saranya Vibho composed by G Devarajan for Sree Narayana Guru.
The state awards came in swarms in 1972, 1978, 1998, 2003 and 2015. His first ever prize was for mridangam recital at State Youth festival in 1958, the same year Yesudas won the prize for best carnatic recital.
Jayachandran’s versatility was another quality of his, something that could tug at the heartstrings of the young and the young-at-hearts.
That he sang Manjalayil Mungi Thorthi (Kalithozhan), Harshabaashpam Thooki (Muthassi), to Ariyathe (Ravanaprabhu) to Podimeesha (Pa Va), and Premikkumbol Neeyum Njanum (Salt N’ Pepper) with a flexibility that did not compromise on finesse and the intensity of emotions showed how much he felt one with what he sang.
But more than the numbers, it is his voice drenched the songs in that matter. When he sang, the autumn moon shone in soft shimmer and the beauteous nights played a symphony. His voice sweetly called out souls that longed for a world beyond the mortal or to a life beyond the shores of the mundane.
Jayachandran was, as the song Sharadindu Malardeepa says, was the shepherd unknown whose mellifluous tunes could traverse mental depths yet to be fathomed.