Abhijith Vijayan won’t forget the day he first met God – his God Padma Shri K.J. Yesudas. “October 1, 2017. It was at the Soorya fest where he had a concert. I got the lucky chance to watch him perform, sitting in the second row,” reverence ebbing in voice, Abhijith spoke about that wonderful day. After the concert, he tried to meet the legend, but he was pushed away. Yesudas’s secretary Rohit spotted him and took him to the singer and said, “This is our Abhijith.” Yesudas smiled in recognition and patted on his shoulder. Abhijith couldn’t read his expression, because his vision was blurred with tears. For a boy who grew up hearing everyone commenting that his voice was similar to the legend’s, meeting the Gana Gandharvan was a heavenly experience, but it was the same resemblance that allegedly robbed him of the recently-announced state award for best singer.
“I have been hearing that my voice is similar to Das sir’s since college days. I have never felt that I sing in his voice but I have been happy about the comparison because I consider it as a blessing. I am aware that I can never sing like him, with such intensity and perfection,” says the 25-year-old singer who hails from Chittumala in Kollam. Losing the coveted honour, surprisingly, doesn’t bother him. “It’s not arrogance. That the musicians I adore since childhood happened to listen to my song itself is a big award for me. A person like me coming from a little village in Kollam, who grew up collecting film posters and listening to songs made by these great men, making it up to the top contenders’ list is like a dream come true,” he gushes.
Was he being modest? “It’s not losing the award, but it's the comment that I was imitating Das sir that hurt me. I was never imitating his voice; if I want to, I would love to imitate his life, completely devoted to music,” he says. The song in question, ‘Kuttanadan Kaattu Chodikkunnu’, from Jayaraj’s Bhayaanakam, is composed by veteran M.K. Arjunan, who got his first state award this year for the songs in the movie. Working with the maestro has been another great honour for Abhijith. “My first big song was for Aakashamittayee for which (actor) Jayaram ettan had recommended my name. Listening to that song, Jayaraj ettan told Arjunan Master about me. When Master’s son called to tell me about the song, I didn’t know that it was Master’s composition. It was at the studio that I met him for the first time. I fell on his feet and he blessed me. I will never forget that moment,” he says.
Abhijith is a newbie in the film industry but he has over 2,000 songs to his credit. The reference makes him all the more humble, “I have been very lucky; that’s all. I could associate with many musicians for albums, devotional songs, festival songs, Onam songs and several ganamelas. For the introvert schoolboy who suffered from stage fright and was forced on to the stage by Kala teacher, I reached this far. What better term than luck,” he says. Since he recognised the value of his golden voice, Abhijith has been learning classical music. He began taking music lessons from Sajikumar, his teacher in Kollam, and has now moved to Kochi to learn more, from his guru Tripunithura Prathapan Thampuran. “Not everyone is gifted with a good voice. So I need to hone my skills and do my best,” he winds up.
