January 10 is the birthday of legendary singer and musician Kattassery Joseph Yesudas, who was born in 1940 in Kochi, Kerala. In a career spanning over six decades, he has sung Indian classical, devotional, and film songs in various Indian languages, including Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Tulu, Hindi, Odia, Bengali, and Marathi, as well as Arabic, English, Latin, and Russian. He recorded more than 50,000 songs. He is often referred to as “Gaanagandharvan” (The Celestial Singer).
One piece of advice I often give young singers, including my son Vijay, is to not get sidetracked from their primary duty of learning music. This is the age of marketing and hard sell. Everybody wants instant results. But no amount of hard sell will prop you up if you don’t hone your craft.
K J Yesudas
Yesudas won the National Award for the Best Male Playback Singer record eight times, the Filmfare Awards South five times, and the State Award for the Best Playback Singer forty-three times, including awards given by the state governments of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and West Bengal. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1975, the Padma Bhushan in 2002, and the Padma Vibhushan (the second-highest civilian award) in 2017 by the Government of India. In 2005, he was honoured with the J. C. Daniel Award, the Kerala government’s highest honour.
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Once during a concert, the maestro intoned: “I could not complete my Sangeetha Vidwan course because of health and financial problems. But I’m happy as I’ll ever be a student of music and learn more and more every day.”
Yesudas started his film singing career with Kalpadukal (1962), based on Sree Narayana Guru, the most respected saint-poet-social reformer of Kerala. He sang Jaathi Bhedam Matha Dwesham (music: M. B. Sreenivasan) on November 14, 1961, which was written by none other than Sree Narayana Guru. Yesudas sang under music directors like M. B. Sreenivasan, G. Devarajan, V. Dakshinamoorthy, Br Lakshmanan, M. S. Baburaj and many others.
He recorded songs with all the famous singers of that time, like P. Leela, Santha P. Nair, K. P. Udayabhanu, S. Janaki, etc., and lyricists like P. Bhaskaran and Nambiyath. Yesudas sings thousands of songs that are still etched in the memories of music lovers like Indravallari, Yavanasundari, Ilavannur Madathile, Ashtamudikkayalile, Malini Nadiyil Kannadi Nokkum, Vrishchikappenne, Venchandralekha, Surumayezhuthiya Mizhikale, Janeman Janeman, Akale Akale, and Mounam Swaramay.
Yesudas’s first Hindi song was for the movie Jai Jawan Jai Kissan (1971), but his first hit came in Basu Chaterjee’s “Chhoti si baat(1976), with whom he shared his birthday, the song was “Jaaneman Jaaneman Tere Do Nayan,” which became a huge hit.
His next film, “Chitchor,” comes in the same year and was a musical hit, having songs like “Gori Tera Gaon Bada Pyara,” “Jab Deep Jale Aana,” & “Aaj Se Pehle, Aaj Se Zyada.” The film established him in the Hindi music scene.
Yesudas goes on to sing many leading actors in Hindi cinema, including Amitabh Bachchan, Amol Palekar, Kamal Hassan, and Jeetendra, in collaboration with top music directors including Ravindra Jain, Bappi Lahiri, Khayyam, Raj Kamal, and Salil Chowdhury.
His famous film albums include Swami (“Ka Karoon Sajni Aaye Na Balam”), Dada (“Dil Ke Tukde Tukde Karke”), Saajan Bina Suhagan (“Madhubana Khushboo Deta Hai” ), Toote Khilone (“Maana Ho Tum Behad Haseen”), Trishul (“Mohabbat Bade Kaam Ki Cheez Hai”), Sawan Ko Aane Do (“Chand Jaise Mukhde Pe”), Chashme Buddoor (“Kahan Se Aaye Badra”), Sadma (“Surmayi Ankhiyon Mein”), Daayraa (“Palkon Pe Chalte Chalte”), Hindustani (“Pyare Panchhi Ban mein”), & Daud (“O Bhavre”).
Deeply committed to a unified concept of God, he expresses, “The Almighty sings through me, and I’m just His instrument.” Indeed, his music possesses a captivating charm, capable of transporting listeners to a state of bliss—a testament to the divine essence he channels.
