Singer Vani Jayaram breathed her last today, February 4. Reportedly, the acclaimed playback singer because of an injury on forehead passed away at her residence in Nungambakkam, Chennai. The actress has sung more than 10,000 songs in Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali and even Odia. She recently won the Padma Bhushan as well.
Speaking to ETimes, director Arun Vaidyanathan stated that he vividly remembers the time he once interview the veteran singer for a TV program. “It was back in 1996, I was just 21 years old but Vani Jayaram respected me for who I am and welcomed and made me feel comfortable. I also remember that her husband was there at the time during our interview. We had just scheduled for one hour, but the talk went for nearly 2 hours and more.”
The director stated that as a singer who has sung very tough songs, her voice was peculiar too. “I think as a singer, Vani Jayaram was celebrated less. She had immense knowledge on music. These days, even when a person sings a song or two, their fame gets skyrocketed but Vani Jayaram was still unknown to the younger generation. I wish she was praised more. At least now, the government recognised and presented her with a national award.”
Director Arun Vaidyanthan concluded saying that even today he feels nostalgic about the time he interviewed her whenever he listens to a song sung by the veteran singer.