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An Interview with Vani Jayaram

Topic started by Neel D (@ 24.98.42.169) on Thu Aug 15 09:10:17 EDT 2002.
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

Visit http://www.vanijayaram.com

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Responses:

• Old responses
  
• From: Naaz (@ 24.76.127.63) on: Thu Aug 22 12:42:16 EDT 2002
  
  GS - I downloaded the font. It is sitting in the Temp file. Now what? Sorry to parade my spectacular computer skills :-)
  
  
• From: Kaumudi (@ 136.142.153.250) on: Thu Aug 22 12:46:16 EDT 2002
  
  And can someone kindly provide the gist of that VJ interview in English (no tanglish please) for poor mortals like me who take 30 minutes to read a small paragraph written in Tamil?
  
  
  
• From: GS (@ 216.123.207.130) on: Thu Aug 22 12:50:31 EDT 2002
  
  Naaz
  
  You need to Install the the Font after you downloaded it.
  
  Again to Install a new font in your system:
  
  Click Start Button in your desktop and then:
  
  Go to Settings < Control Panel < Fonts and click on File and go to Install New Font option and install the kumudam.ttf font you have downloaded from your temp directory
  
  Hope you are successful this time :-)
  
  
  
  
• From: Naaz (@ 24.76.127.63) on: Thu Aug 22 14:43:57 EDT 2002
  
  GS -
  How do I work this: I can read the masthead / links in proper tamizh script. The interview is all wonky still. Don't say one out of two is not bad, now :-)
  
  
• From: GS (@ 216.123.207.130) on: Thu Aug 22 15:40:51 EDT 2002
  
  Naaz
  
  Not sure why it is happening like that…
  
  Okay as a last resort,..in your Internet Explorer Window go to View go to Encoding and click on USER DEFINED…and refresh the page…
  
  
• From: Naaz (@ 24.69.255.205) on: Thu Aug 22 16:01:48 EDT 2002
  
  GS -
  I was using Netscape. I did the Encoding bit with my Explorer browser. It worked like magic!
  Sorry to have given you so much grief :-)
  Also read the interview, thanks to you!
  
  Kaumudi:
  Here is the requested "lesser mortal" gist :-)
  
  The Kumudam piece more or less echoes what you heard on the audio interview. The conversation is about her childhood, her career in southern films with special mentions of the national award winners (a BBc appearance with an encore request for Manasa Sancharare) and change in the music trend, her concentration in devotional singing, and her optimism that things will soon change for the better.
  
  Ramki -
  
  The "kodi katti parandha" assertion is decidedly over the top, but I am convinced that she herself would not presented it in such a hyperbolic fashion. Journalists are just as capable of distortion, like anybody else. I am sure that's not news to you.
  
  
• From: naaz (@ 24.69.255.205) on: Thu Aug 22 16:07:54 EDT 2002
  
  Kaumudi - lesser should be poor. (O man, that sounds terrible again!)
  
  
• From: Kaumudi (@ 136.142.153.250) on: Thu Aug 22 17:48:07 EDT 2002
  
  Naaz
  Thanks for that gist. Boy, that really was a gist! Works for me.
  
  
• From: Naaz (@ 24.69.255.205) on: Thu Aug 22 21:22:17 EDT 2002
  
  Kaumudi -
  Had to drag out all of my rusty precis(sp?) writing skills just for you...Glad it worked for you! :-)
  
  Seriously. The interview is more of the audio version, with just a few additional details. You heard it all first on VJ Page...almost all of it :-)
  
  
• From: Naaz (@ 24.76.127.63) on: Fri Aug 23 09:07:58 EDT 2002
  
  Kaumudi -
  
  Your turn to do the needful now! (a gist just might not work. Make it 2 paragraphs at least:-))
  
  http://www.rediff.com/telugu/2000/jun/23vani.htm
  
  
• From: guest (@ 164.164.94.115) on: Fri Aug 23 09:50:51 EDT 2002
  
  Can somebody plllllllllease type the interview to English? Pllllllllease... people like me can't hear from the net ;-(
  
  
• From: Kaumudi (@ 136.142.153.250) on: Fri Aug 23 12:57:21 EDT 2002
  
  OK Naaz, my turn to help the needful. The whole interview, translated in English, follows, questions in bold and answers in regular font.
  
  Bolre Papi was one song which made you extremely famous in the HFM scene. You have competed with the giants for various awards and honors. You have even received the prestigious Tansen award. Inspite of all this, why couldn't you strengthen your hold there?
  Inspite of Bolre papi being a hit, I was offered many opportunities for Hindi playback at all, the reasons for which I wouldn't want to go into. I even hung on there for a little while. At which point I realized I was being offered only B and C grade songs. I had no choice but to leave the place for good.
  
  Has professional rivalry suppressed your chances of success in HFMscene?
  I don't want to opine on this issue. I don't feel like opening old wounds. But you can ask yourself why singers like Shamshaad Begum and Suman Kalyanpur haven't reached the heights they should have. There should have been a reason for this. I am just one of those several people who lost good chances.
  
  There is an allegation that Mangeshkar sisters were responsible for your downfall in Hindi, isn't there?
  I wouldn't want to drop names. Lataji and Ashaji are great singers. I don't have to sit and think as to what they did to me and why. I can't come to any hasty decisions like that. It is just unfortunate that the field has ignored me inspite of my successes. Whether any person had been responsible or not, no other singer should face this kind of treatment in the future.
  
  What did you do then?
  I didn't lost anything because of this. I have immense faith in religion and god. I simply came down to Madras and I was flooded with challenges and opportunities. I worked with great music directors in the South. There were days when I worked on Sundays when I had to go to Bangalore in the morning, finish the whole recording and return to Madras by the same night. I sang in many languages particularly Tamil, Telugu and Kannada. But even here the situation changed when the music started getting disco-oriented. I am not interested in that kind of stuff. I need meaningful songs. Music is more important to me than name, fame and glamour.
  
  Since now it seems like music has come back to its golden age, will you accept assignments in Hindi given a chance?
  It depends on the kind of opportunities I get. It is important for me to know what kind of songs those are and who the lyricists and composers for the songs are. I don't need to yearn for opportunities after so many years of my musical life in playback singing. I have never done that even during my peak time. But why wouldn't I accept the assignments in movies if the songs are challenging enough for me?
  
  What do you think of the fact that scope for good music is more in the South than in HFM?
  Nowadays, even the South produces dance-oriented songs with mass appeal. There is nothing challenging about singing such songs. During my time in the South, they have utilised my talents to the fullest. Many many songs were composed based on some raga. Many movies based on classical music and dance were produced. Now the situation is not the same.
  
  You have been trained as a classical musician. Then why did you choose to move to the light-classical music field?
  Music came very naturally to me. I could identify and differentiate ragas even when I barely started walking. It is probably poorva janma sukrutham. That is probably why I think I did full justice to even the most difficult numbers. I also travelled and trained a lot under the guidance of Sri.Vasant Desai. I am interested in both classical and light-classical music. I was the disciple of Ustad Abdul Rahman Khan. I used to do riyaz (or practice) 18 hours a day. I can sing ghazals, thumris, dadra, kajari, bhajans, all these set to any kind of tunes. But I never let down the purpose of the kind of music while rendering it. I don't let my music get polluted. I have also sung for Ustad Alla Rakha, Ustad Raiz Khan, Pandit Ravishankar, Pandit Hariprasad Chourasia.
  
  What is it that attracts you in songs?
  Even in movies, I always try for and prefer classical music based songs. Apart from movie songs, I like to sing thumris, bhajans and holi songs. I have released an album on holi songs with Pandit Birju Maharaj. As far as I am concerned, music is divine.
  
  Can you tell us about the people behind you encouraging you all the time?
  Without my husband's cooperation, I wouldn't be where I am now. My mother Padmavathi was also very responsible for my growth. My guru Kadalur Srinivasa Iyengar and famous music composer Vasant Desai have shaped me as a singer. I am also indebted to Salil Choudhary and O.P.Nayyar. They were behind me in the most adverse of times.
  
  So you don't have any regrets, right?
  By god's grace, no. I have been blessed with many opportunities in the bhajan category of music in the whole of India. May be it is all god's doing in that He has ordered me to sing songs in His praise. As a singer, even in my beginning stages, I sang a bhajan for Guddi. I still don't understand why that bhajan was removed from the movie when it was released. People have snatched away many of my opportunities. But I have never done the same with anyone else. I don't have any regrets about it. I, however, am very happy with bhajan singing.
  ------------------------------------
  
  That was the whole interview translated to the best of my abilities. Hope you all enjoy and pardon me for any typos. I don't have the patience to go back and proofread.
  
  
• From: Naaz (@ 24.76.127.63) on: Fri Aug 23 13:34:26 EDT 2002
  
  Kaumudi -
  That was a fine translation! Thank you for making the time!
  I thought the bhajan in Guddi was Hamko Man Ki Shakti Daena? It was there in the film. Is that some kind of mixed cross-reference? I wonder.
  
  
• From: Kaumudi (@ 136.142.153.250) on: Fri Aug 23 15:54:33 EDT 2002
  
  Naaz
  I don't know if it was some mixed cross ref or not, but after listening to your interview and reading this telugu interview, I am longing to hear the "erased" Nandha song and this Guddi bhajan, both of which will probably never see the light of the day.
  
  
• From: Neel D (@ 24.98.42.169) on: Fri Aug 23 21:12:00 EDT 2002
  
  Kaumudi,
  
  Thanks for the translation. Nicely done.
  We already have three interviews to talk about in this thread. Thanks to NagaS too.
  
  
• From: Neel D (@ 24.98.42.169) on: Fri Aug 23 23:08:17 EDT 2002
  
  Everyone,
  
  Two new songs have been uploaded.
  "SrIgaNanAtham" and "vachchALAm neththippottu".
  Happy listening!
  http://www.vanijayaram.com
  
  (Links to all songs are now enabled)
  
  
• From: Cinema Virumbi (@ 203.197.220.219) on: Wed Aug 28 08:15:38 EDT 2002
  
  Friends,
  
  (By mistake, I posted this in the 'Vani Jeyaram songs' thread! It should have been here!)
  
  Some 10 days back, there was a controversy in this thread about 'natives' being ignored! I thought, I'll wait a little for the dust to settle down!
  
  In my school days, there was a good 'native' actress Chandrakantha. Some of my friends (with mild Dravidian leanings!) used to vehemently argue that her talents were being ignored simply because she is a 'pure Tamil native'. I used to counter them that in Film industry, merit alone matters and no amount of recommendation can help as the ultimate acceptance or rejection is in the hands of the audience!
  
  But, after all these years, I do agree that it is naive to believe :
  
  1.that there is no politics in this field!
  2.that 'nativity' factor or simple whims & fancies don't prevail!
  3. that people like VJ lost out purely based on merit i.e., acceptance or rejection by the audience!
  4. that with so much glamour and money involved and with cut throat competition, people will not indulge in unfair practices to establish themselves !
  
  I can fondly recall what people say about Tamils -that they'll go gaga over anything that comes from strictly beyond 300 Km from Tamilnadu borders (but nowhere within the vast area of TN!)
  
  All this IMHO and NOM!
  
  
• From: Neel D (@ 24.98.42.169) on: Wed Aug 28 22:04:43 EDT 2002
  
  Cinema Virumbi,
  
  Thanks for your post. I have not seen any Chandrakantha movies. But I have listened to her on several radio plays. It is a fact that Tamils take local talents for granted. ("Ada namma local party thaane"). But if you come from out-of-state then immediately the exoticism becomes superiority.
  
  I heard this from someone very reliable. When the movie "Poompuhar" was made, everyone's choice for Kannagi was Padmini. But MuKa was stubborn on giving that role to a Tamil woman and so it went to Vijayakumari. I personally would have preferrred Padmini too eventhough I am "pro-tamil"???!!! Other than the classic looks of Padmini, Vijayakumari was in every way equal to Padmini and was well qualified to play that part. MuKa should be commended.
  
  Lately, Bharathiraja and Mahendran are talking about "native talents" also but during their peak days they crossed the broder for almost every one of their movies. BR more than M.
  
  If local talents are not encouraged it will very soon disappear completely, it already has almost disappeared in the film industry.
  
  

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