Life more musical for Vijayalakshmi

There is no bashfulness in the well-known voice at the other end but that husky voice that needs no introduction is brimming with happiness, which vibrates across the distance. Yes, Vaikom Vijayalakshmi is happy and content in the way only a bride-to-be can be. The visually-impaired singer from Kerala, who has been actively singing since 1995, is getting married next month. She has garnered quite a reputation in recent years, thanks to her unique style of rendering that won her a State award as well as various other awards.

Vijayalakshmi is also an exponent of the Gayathri Veena, a musical instrument. She forayed into Tamil and Telugu through songs in Tamil films like Baahubali, Theri, Romeo and Juliet and Meda Meeda Abbayi in Telugu. She has worked with acclaimed musicians like Ouseppachan and Bijibal in  Malayalam as well as D. Imman and G.V. Prakash Kumar in Tamil. Today she has a repertoire of almost 300 ragas and double the number of compositions. No mean feat that!

Perhaps the sweetest music in her life will be her impending nuptials to be held on October 22 in her hometown, Vaikom. “At the Vaikom Mahadeva temple there,” she informs. The groom is A.N. Anoop, the son of Narayanan Nair and Laila Kumari of Puliyannoor in Pala. The couple very recently got engaged on September 10 at her home in the presence of close relatives. So how did the couple meet? Vijayalakshmi does not believe in acting coy and instead states firmly, “This was a proposal which had come to me two years back and the families know each other. In fact, he had first popped the question to me in the presence of my father, which I chose to ignore. But the second time around; we decided to take it forward and accepted the proposal.”

The singer had earlier been engaged to a Bahrain-based businessman a-year-and-a-half ago but called off the marriage when reportedly the groom went back on his promise to allow her to continue with her musical journey. It is a well-known fact that Vijayalakshmi has reached the heights of her career only because of her single-minded devotion to her music, which is almost like worship to her and she had no second thoughts about taking that decision. 

As a young girl, she grew up listening to Tamil movie songs by the likes of Ilaiyaraja and M.S.Viswanathan and managed to earn praises from the legendary Yesudas and also Sri Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan who was mesmerised by her Veena recital.   She is now content in the knowledge that her husband-to-be Anoop is totally supportive of her musical endeavors. Anoop is a mimicry artiste and also an interior designer. She confidently says, “He cares about me and my profession and since both of us are artistically inclined, it makes things easier. He loves music and so he enquires about my songs and takes an interest in my career. In turn, I enjoy his mimicry. His family is also very supportive of me and my music.”

That she is fairly bursting with happiness is an understatement. It was the Kamal-directed Prithviraj-starrer Celluloid that pitch-forked her to instant fame — thanks to her husky rendition of Katte Katte. She also won the Kerala State Award for Best Singer for the song Ottaku Paadunna, for the Jayaram-starrer Nadan. Since then there has been no stopping the versatile singer, who, other than singing film songs is also a part of stage shows across the country and abroad. In fact, more than most regular days, festival times are always the busiest for her but this time, the floods in the state have gotten her a couple of idle days. Before signing off, she says she is happily counting off the days to her marriage. “Yes, I am very happy now and am looking forward to a Bahrain trip after our marriage along with my parents,” she quips.