3rd Nov 1935-16th August 2004
The golden era of Tamil film music had great singers , many of whom have slowly faded away from our memory. The sole idea of my blogs is to keep their memories alive by way of a small tribute to them . My own knowledge about many of the legendary artists, especially those who were more active in early 50’s and 60’s , is limited. I might have heard only a handful of their songs and I have to take a deep dive to check out their famous songs. But the effort is always so rewarding and satisfying as I find they were superbly talented .
One such singer that I have selected for this blog is Pillavalu Gajapathy Krishnaveni (3 November 1935 – 16 August 2004), more famously known as Jikki. She was also the wife of another legendary music composer and singer A.M Rajah on whom I have already written in this blogsite. Jikki might have sung around 1000 + songs in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Sinhalese, and Hindi languages. Like it happens with many such artists, the data available on their exact number of songs are sketchy .
Her voice was captivating and she could sing effortlessly any genre-romantic songs, peppy dance numbers, classical ones, sad songs with full of emotions, western jazz, or pop etc. That is why I have titled this “ a voice that flowed like a river” ! When Jikki sang, each and every note came to life -listen to her very famous Kannum Kalanthu with P Leela in which she makes a grand entry like a superstar with “ Jilu Jilu Jilu endru naane , jagattai mayakidivene” or the “ Jalilo Gymkhana” song or the sweet “ Mayakkum Maalai Pozhude Nee Po that she sang with her husband A M Rajah.
We will look at these plus many more in this compilation of 27 songs that I could make with the very limited knowledge that I have,
Jikki was born in Chennai on November 3rd, 1935 to her parents, Gajapathi Naidu and Rajakanthamma, a Telugu family, belonging to Chandragiri, near Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh. The family moved to Chennai for their livelihood. Her uncle, Devaraju Naidu, worked as a music composer with the celebrated Kannada theatre legend and movie pioneer Gubbi Veeranna and this introduced the young Jikki to the music and film world.
Like many artists of those years, Jikki also began her career as a child artist in 1943 and played some minor roles in Telugu movies Panthulamma, and Mangalasutram, Despite her lack of training in classical music at that time, she got attention for her musical prowess and her lilting mellifluous voice.
In the year 1948, she got a lucky chance to sing for the successful Tamil film Gnanasoundari in 1948 for which music was composed by the then doyen of film music, S. V. Venkatraman. The song was the super hit “Arul Thaarum Deva Maathaavey Aadhiyey Inba Jothi” (Picture: Gnanasoundari , Lyrics : Kambathasan, Music Composer: S. V. Venkataraman, Singera: Panruti A Periyanayaki , Jikki ). Jikki sang the initial part picturized on a child artist and the later part of the song for the heroine sung by the yesteryear legendary singer, P. A. Periyanayaki. This became a turning point for Jikki , and gradually she began her career as a playback singer not only for Tamil and Telugu films, but also for Kannada and Malayalam films.
Look at the matured way a 13-year-old Jikki singing that song.
In the year 1950 , she met her husband-to-be, A. M. Rajah, during the recording for the Tamil film Samsaram , produced by Gemini’s S. S. Vasan. The duet “ Kada Kada Loda Loda Vandi “ could have been their first duet. Interestingly in this film Jikki sang two solos and two duets, A M Rajah two solos and one duet. S S Vasan also introduced her to the Hindi film world by getting her to sing for his production Mr.Sampath in 1952. P. B. Srinivas also sang his first song in this film in a chorus. Many may not be aware that Jikki could have been the first female playback singer from the South to sing in a Hindi film! She also sang many Sinhalese songs since during those days the Sinhalese films were produced in Madras ( as Chennai was known earlier).
Jikki and P. Leela, were the leading singers in the South Indian film world in the early part of the 1950s, till another phenomenon called P. Susheela stormed into the industry with her equally great singing. Those days there were many singers of great calibre and though there was competition, many of them had great respect for each other and we can see many superb duets rendered by these singers.
A mother of six children, Jikki had some setback in her career as her husband’s mercurial temperament made him a grossly mis-understood man and as he stopped singing for films, she also followed suit. Though she did sing for few films in the late 60’s and 70’s, the couple had their own tourist car business that helped them during the lean period and they also did lot of live musical shows that kept them going.
Jikki lost her husband A.M Rajah in 1989, due to a freak accident at a railway station when he slipped and fell between the tracks while boarding a train. This shattered her and she stopped singing for some time. After many years she sang for Ilayaraja , Deva, and few other music directors in the 90’s and even a song she sang for a Telugu film Murari in the year 2002 could have been her last recorded song for a film.
During her last years she had been suffering from cancer and passed away on 16th August 2004 in Chennai , leaving behind a great treasure of songs that ring with her mellifluous voice that mesmerize the listeners even today. She was honoured with “Ugadi Puraskaram” by Madras Telugu Academy and Government of Tamil Nadu awarded her “Kalai Mamani”.
To the best of my ability , I have selected few songs , listing them chronologically , with the song, film, year, music director, so-singers wherever applicable and lyricist mentioned in that order.
- Vaarai Nee Vaarai-Manthirikumari-1950-With Tiruchi Loganathan-A Maruthakasi
I will be repeating two songs -this one and the next from my earlier blog on Tiruchi Loganathan. They are worth repeating many times as they are timeless classics for the music, lyrics, and the great singing by Tiruchi Loganathan and Jiikki.
2. Ulavum Thendral Katrinile- Manthirikumari-1950-With Tiruchi Loganathan-A Maruthakasi
3. Ekanthama Immalayil-Avan-1953-Shankar Jaikishan-Kambadasan
This could be a surprising selection for many. The Hindi film Aah , made by Raj Kapoor was dubbed into Tamil and the emperors of Hindi film music , Shankar-Jaikishan had selected AM Rajah and Jikki to render the songs in the Tamil version . This one is the equivalent of Yeh Sham Ki Tanhaiyan sung by Lata Mangeshkar. Superbly rendered by Jikki.
4. Oh devadas, Oh Parvati-Devadas-1953-C R Subbaraman-With Ghantasala-Udumalai Narayana Kavi
Devadas, was a popular film in many languages , made at different times, depicting a tragic love story . This was quite popular those days and remains so even today. The music director C R Subbaraman was the mentor for our Mellisai Mannargal-Vishwanathan -Ramamoorthy and this film had many memorable songs including the “ Ulage Mayam , Vazhve Mayam sung by Ghantasala.
5. Sirpi Chedukkatha Porchilaye- Ethirpaarathathu-1954-C N Panduranagan- K S Gopalakrsihnan
In my blog on AM Rajah , I had listed this song -this is a tandem song, popular in many films where there are two versions, mostly by a male and female singer. Jikki’s version is a happier one , whereas Rajah’s , picturized on Sivaji Ganesan is a sad one. The link that I am posting here wrongly attributes the composition to Chalapathi Rao , whereas the actual composer is C N Pandurangan.
6. Unakkum Enakkum- Illara Jyothi-1954-G. Ramanathan- Kannadasan
Many of the songs by Jikki are peppy, joyful numbers , but at the same time she had rendered some sad ones with so much of pathos and emotion. A true, versatile singer ! Note those subtle vibratos that she brings out in this song.
7. Kannaalae Pesum Pennale-Gul-E-Bakavali-1955-Vishwanathan Ramamoorthy- Thanjai N Ramaiaha Das
The story Gul-E-Bakavali means “ The Flower of Bakavali” , may have been derived from Arabian/Persian folklore and has been the inspiration for many films In Indian languages like Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil & Telugu over many years. In Tamil the film is written as Gulebakavali as a single word. Jikki renders a melodious Arabian style song composed by the Mellisai Mannargal-one of their early hits.
8. Mayakkum Maalai Pozhude- Gul-E-Bakavali-1955- K V Mahadevan- With A M Rajah-Kavignar Vinthan
The interesting story around this song must be known to many. This was originally composed by K V Mahadevan for the film Koondukili that was the only film to star both the legends-MGR & Sivaji Ganesan. However the producer-director T R Ramanna felt even while making that film that he made a mistake in bringing in the two leading superstars together and the film could be a flop( and his apprehension was true!). So instead of wasting this gem of a song in that movie, he used it for his next venture-Gul-E-Bakavali. However the music for all other songs in Gul-E-Bakavali was composed by V-R and so in many places this song is credited to them-those days the legends did not bother much about these issues! One of the most beautiful and melodious duets of Jikki with her husband A M Rajah, based on the Hindustani Bhageshree raagam.
( I thank Ms Subashree Thanikachalam for sharing this story in one of her QFR episodes)
9. Chokka Potta Navabu- Gul-E-Bakavali -1955-Viswanathan-Ramamoorthy-Thanjai .N.Ramiah das
That starting “ la la la” and a brief “ Urrrrrr” -wow what a gifted singer Jikki was. It is truly a pity that such legends are slowly fading away from our memory.
10. Rajasekhara En Mel-Anarkali-1955-With Ghantasala-P Adi Narayana Rao- Thanjai N Ramaiaha Das
Just like the story of Gul-E-Bakavali , the fable related to the dancer in Emperor Akbar’s court , Anarkali and her love with the Prince Jehangir inspired many films in our country. The Hindi version of Anarkali , with music by the legendary C Ramachandra has many famous songs and the Telugu-Tamil bi-lingual version had some songs inspired from that film. For example Jeevithame Sabalamo by Jikki is inspired from the very famous Yeh Zindagi Usiki Hai sung by Lata Mangeshkar. However some of the songs have been composed independently and I have listed two here. Rajasekara En Mel is quite famous and rendered beautifully by Ghantasala and Jikki.
11. Naanum Kudithhen Ena Ninaikuthu Intha Ulagamey- Anarkali-1955- P Adi Narayana Rao- Thanjai N Ramaiaha Das
This one is definitely not to be missed- I heard this for the first time-Jikki proves her versatility with those hiccups in between the singing.
12. Oru Murai Thaan Varum-Mangayar Thilakam-1955- S.Dakshina Murthy- Kannadasan
A brilliant Mandolin plays throughout the song, composed by veteran S Dakshinamurthy , with Jikki rendering one more joyful song.
13. Yeru Pootti Povaaye-Kaalam Maari Pochchu-1956-Master Venu-Mukavai Rajamanikam
One more interesting song that has a history starting from Telegu folk music , travelling to a Telugu film ( Yeruvaaka Saagaaro Ranno Chinnanna” from Rojulu Marayi) , its Tamil version -listed here, also inspiring the veteran G Ramanathan for his song Summa Irunthaa Sothukku Kashtam for the film Madurai Veeran. Around 5 years later this tune found its way all the way to Bollywood with the veteran S D Burman taking this as his inspiration for Dekhne Mein Bhola Hai Dil Ka Salona for the 1960 film Bambai Ka Babu!
The unique thing is that the Telugu and Tamil versions composed by Master Venu and the one by G Ramanathan for Madurai Veeran( listed under # 15 here) were all sung by Jikki!!
14. Poovaa Maramum-Naan Petraselvam- 1956-With T.M. Soundararajan-G. Ramanathan-Ka Mu Sheriff
A typical GR composition with his trademark Tabla “ nadai” , with TMS and Jikki coming out with fast-paced alaaps with ease.
15. Summa Irunthaa Sothukku Kashtam-Madurai Veeran-1956-G Ramanathan-With P Leela- Pattukkottai Kalyanasundaram
I have already mentioned about the story behind this tune under song #13.
16. Salaam Babu-Alibabavum 40 Thirudargalum-1956- S.Dakshina Murthy-A. Maruthakasi
In the 50’s many films were made that had the folklore of Arabian Nights as their base. This is one more story made in many languages, multiple times. When it comes to dance numbers , Jikki was a favourite singer for most of the composers of that era. She sings with absolute ease. A rare sight to see the song picturized on the actress who later made her name in Hindi films- Waheeda Rehman .
17. Jalilo Jimkana-Amara Deepam- 1956-T. Chalapathi Rao- Thanjai .N.Ramiahadas
Now-a-days there is a popular concept of a “ kuthu” song in Tamil films-sort of peppy, fast paced numbers. Those days even such songs were so melodious. This could be one of the early pioneering tunes in that genre. This one is famous till now that it has even inspired a song made in 2022!
18. Chinna Pennana Pothile-Aravalli-1957-G Ramanathan-With A M Rajah- Pattukkottai Kalyanasundaram
Our own version of Que Sera Sera, whatever will be , will be ( originally composed by Jay Livingston in 1956 and sung by Doris Day and appearing in Alfred Hitchcock’s film The Man Who Knew Too Much) . GR does a superb adaptation, ably assisted by Jikki’s brilliant singing. Those days, even when they took a tune as an inspiration, they did lot of improvisations and made it sometimes even more beautiful! Jikki’s voice literally flows like a river in this song!
19. Yaaradi Nee Mohini-Utthama Putthiran-1958- G. Ramanathan -With T.M. Soundararajan, A.P. Komala & Jamuna Rani-Udumalai Narayanakavi
This song may be repeated many times in future blogs also! I had written in detail about this in my earlier blogs on G Ramanathan and TMS. An epic song that deserves to be permanently etched in our memory. Jikki , along with her co-singers create a magic that is unparalleled!
20. Kannum Kannum Kalanthu Inbam-Vanjokottai Valiban-1958-C Ramachandra-With P Leela-Kothamangalam Subbu
What I wrote for Yaaradi Nee Mohini is applicable for this song also. This one , from the music director C Ramachandra, known for his fabulous scores in Hindi films , can be counted among the top ten songs of Tamil film music. P Leela and Jikki sing brilliantly , with a contrasting tone.
21. Jigu Jigu-Kathavarayan- 1958- G. Ramanathan -With J.P. Chandrababu- -Thanjai .N.Ramiah das
One more peppy number from the team of GR & Jikki!
22. Kannil Vanthu Minnalpol-Nadodi Mannan-1958-T.M. Soundararajan-S.M. Subbaiah Naidu-Suradha
Among the many songs of Jikki, this is a very famous one and appears in any playlist of Jikki.
23. Thullatha Manamum- Kalyana Parisu-1959- A.M. Rajah-Pattukkottai Kalyanasundaram
I can say this could be the most famous song of Jikki-the film Kalyana Parisu was a landmark for the director C V Sridhar as well as AM Rajah as a composer-his first one as composer.
24. Vanamevum Rajakumaraa-Raja Desingu-1960-G Ramanathan- With Seerkazhi Govindarajan , C S Jayaraman & Bhanumathi-Ambikapathi
In the 50’s and 60’s G Ramanathan was reigning supreme with masterpieces after masterpieces coming out from his baton. Jikki & Seerkazhi Govindarajan complement each other in this mesmerizing quartet , in which CSJ & Bhanumati join at the end.
25. Oorengum Thedinaen-Then Nilavu-1961-A M Rajah-Kannadasan
I never understood why AM Rajah gave only one solo in the film Then Nilavu-all the other songs were sung by P Susheela and one by S Janaki. Though an under-rated song , Jikki renders a song that has an under-current of some disturbing even about to happen.
26. Manjalum Thanthaal-Thenum Paalum-1971-MSV-With S Janaki-Kannadasan
One can observe the ten-year gap in my selection. By the early 60’s , Jikki had very few songs may be due to her personal issues but the quality of singing remained intact.
27. Kadal Ennum Kaviyam-Vattathukkul Chathuram-1978-Ilayaraja-Panju Arunachalam
Ilayaraj brought out the reticent Jikki from her hibernation and gave some good songs during her last years. I have posted two such songs here. Even as late as 1989 , her voice and singing remained pristine.
28. Ninaithathu Yaaro-Paattuku Oru Thalaivan- 1989-Ilayaraja-With Mano-Gangai Amaran
I hope I have been able to do some justice to this great singer . If I had missed any of her great songs, it is mainly due to my own lack of knowledge . I was able to listen to many of her songs only during my research for this blog. As always it is a pleasure to keep listening to a variety of artists from the golden era!
Acknowledgements and Disclaimer:
I sincerely thank the publishers of following Internet sources for the information that I could gather for this article:
- You Tube
- Wikipedia
- Ragamalika TV-QFR series
The songs mentioned are from the popular, public domain and have been embedded here only for the listening pleasure of the music lovers. This blog does not claim any copyright over them, which rests with the respective owners of the rights The photograph is taken from the internet, duly recognizing the full copyrights for the same to the original creator or the site where they were originally displayed .This blog does not claim any copyright over them, which rests with the respective owners of the rights.
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