Prominent personalities of Kerala
Vani Jayaram

Vani Jayaram: Vani Jairam (born 30 November 1945 in Tamil Nadu) is a playback singer in Indian cinema, primarily in South Indian languages, although she has a wider repertoire. Vani's career started in 1971 and has spanned over four decades. She has sung playback for several Indian movies. In addition, she has recorded several private albums and participated in numerous solo concerts in India and abroad.

Songs like Ezhu Swarangalukkul, Keliviyin Nayangane, Ennulil Engo, Yaaradhu sollamal, Megamae Megamae,Kavidhai Kelungal Nadhamenum "Aana kana" and "Sugamana ragangale" are her musical tracks that were regarded as difficult. Known for her voice range, Vani's genres are film music, pop, ghazals, bhajans, traditional Indian classical music and folk songs. Apart from Hindi, she has sung in several Indian languages, such as Tamil,Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi, Oriya, Gujarati and Bengali languages. Vani won the National Film Awards for Best Female Playback Singer three times and also has won State Government awards from the states of Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat. Vani Jayaram was born in Vellore in Tamil Nadu, in a Tamil Brahmin family of musicians. Her mother Padmavathi is the disciple of Ranga Ramunaja Iyengar. He taught her a few Dikshitar kritis. The fifth daughter in a family of six daughters and three sons, was first heard on All India Radio, Madras, at the age of eight.

Vani Jayaram studied Carnatic music under the tutelage of Cuddalore Srinivasa Iyengar, T. R. Balasubramanian and R. S. Mani. Her Hindustani classical music guru was Ustad Abdul Rahman Khan. After her marriage to Jairam she settled in Mumbai.

In 1971, Jairam featured in the Hindi feature film Guddi. She recorded three songs for Guddi, and "Bole Re Papi Hara," a song based on the Hindustani raga "Miyan Malhar,". She was awarded the Tansen Samman (for best classical-based song in a Hindi film), the Lions International Best Promising Singer award, the All India Cinegoers Association award, and the All India Film-goers Association award for the Best Playback Singer in 1971.

She went on to sing a few songs each for music directors of Hindi cinema, including Chitragupta, Naushad (a classical song in Pakeezah (1972) and a duet with Asha Bhosle in Aaina (1977)), Madan Mohan (a duet with Kishore Kumar in the film Ek Mutthi Aasmaan), O.P. Nayyar (several songs from the film Khoon Ka Badla Khoon including duets with Mohammed Rafi and also with Uttara Kelkar and Pushpa Pagdhare), R. D. Burman (a duet with Mukesh in Chhalia), Kalyanji Anandji,Laxmikant Pyarelal, and Jaidev (a duet with Manna Dey in Parinay and a solo in Solwa Saawan). Her songs in Meera (1979), composed by Pandit Ravi Shankar, won her the Filmfare Award. Around 1974, she shifted her base to Madras and soon became a sought-after singer in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam cinema. In 1981, she sang Kanana Poikayil Kalabham along with K.J. Yesudas in the composition of M.K. Arjunan for the film Ariyapedatha Rahasiyam (1981) directed by P. Venu. She worked with almost all the leading music directors of south namely M. S. Viswanathan, M. B. Sreenivasan, K. V. Mahadevan, M. K. Arjunan, Jerry AmaldevIlayaraaja and the noted Bengali music directorSalil Chowdhary. With the future Academy award winner, A. R. Rahman, she recorded a duet with S. P. Balasubramanyam in the song "Sugam sugam athu" for the film Vandicholai Chinnarasu in 1994. Besides Hindi and Tamil, Vani Jairam has made recordings in Gujarati, Marathi, Marwari, Haryanvi, Bengali and Tulu, Malayalam, Kannada, Telugu and Oriya. She has been awarded many prestigious awards, among them are Best Female Playback Singer for states of Gujarat (1975), Tamil Nadu (1980) and Orissa (1984).One of her most famous Marathi songs, "Runanubandhachya", is a duet with the classical Hindustani singer Kumar Gandharva. This song was composed by Vani's mentor Vasant Desai for a Marathi drama called Dev Deenaghari Dhaavlaa. The lyrics were written by Bal Kolhatkar.

Vani Jairam has recorded "Holi Songs" and "Thumri Dadra & Bhajans" with Pandit Briju Maharaj. She has also recorded "Gita Govindam" composed by Prafullakar with Odissi Guru Kelucharan Mohopatra playing the Pakhawaj. Vani Jairam has also released "Murugan Songs" with songs written by her with music composed by her. Her more recently released songs include "Thiruppugazh" in the film soundtrack for Kaaviya Thalaivan, and "Narayana" in the film Ramanujan.

The P. Suseela Trust honoured Vani Jairam at a grand function in Hyderabad, with a citation and a purse of one lakh. The event was widely covered on television. On 28 May 2014, Vani was felicitated in Bhubaneshwar for her contribution to Oriya films. Preceding it was the PBS Puraskar Award in Hyderabad, instituted in memory of the inimitable P.B. Srinivos. On 30 July 2014, Yuva Kala Vahini, an organisation in Hyderabad, presented her the 'Pride of Indian Music' Award.

• 1975 – Best Female Playback Singer – Various songs (Apoorva Raagangal)
• 1980 – Best Female Playback Singer – Various songs (Sankarabharanam)
• 1991 – Best Female Playback Singer – "Anathineeyara Hara" (Swathi Kiranam)

• 2015- Nominated for Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer – "Olanajali Kuruvi" - 1983 (2014 Malayalam Film)
• 2013– The 60th South Indian Filmfare Award for Lifetime Achievements
• 1980 – Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer – "Mere Toh Giridhar Gopal" (Meera)

• 1972 – Gujarat State Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer – Ghoongat
• 1979 – Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Female Playback – Azhagae Unnai Aradhikkiren
• 1979 – Nandi Award for Best Female Playback Singer – Shankarabharanam
• 1982 – Orissa State Film Award for Best Singer – Debjani .

• 1972 – Mian Tansen Award Best Film Playback Singer of 'Classical Song' in Films for "Bol Re Papi Hara" given by Sur Singar Samsad, Mumbai.
• 1979 – Her songs in the Pandit Ravi Shankar scored film Meera brought her the Film World (1979) Cine Herald (1979) for "Mere To Giridhar Gopal".
• 1991 – Kalaimamani Award from Tamil Nadu State for her contribution to Tamil film music.
• 1992 – The youngest artist to be awarded the "Sangeet Peet Samman"
• 2004 – M.K. Thyagarajar Bhagavathar – Life Time Achievement Award from Tamil Nadu Government.
• 2005 – Kamukara Award for her outstanding contribution to film music in general and in all the four South Indian languages in particular. 2014-Kannadasan Award by Kannadasan kazagam,Coimbatore
• 2006 – Mudhra Award of Excellence from Mudhra Academy, Chennai.
• 2012 – Subramanya Bharathi award for her contribution to music.
• 2014 - Life Time Achievement Award of Radio Mirchi given at Hyderabad on 16th August 2014
• 2014 - Best Playback Singer Award for the song 'Olagyana Kuruvi' from the Film "1983' given by Public Voting at Dubai at "Asiavision Awards 2014" on 14 November 2014
• 2015 – Raindropss a youth-based social organization "LIFE TIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD" for her contribution to music at WOMEN ACHIEVER AWARDS 2015.
• 2004: Kamukara Award
• 2007: South Indian Meera

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 awardedTansen 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 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.