Short Biography
Vani Jairam was born on 30-11-1945 in Vellore in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. She is an Indian Singer & Playback Singer who well known for her work in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Hindi, Bengali, Marathi & Gujarati cinema.
Vani Jairam Complete Bio & Career
Vani Jairam, also known as ‘Meera of modern India’, is a well known Indian singer, known for her playback singing especially in South Indian cinema. She was enrolled in Ranga Ramunaja Iyengar classes where she learned Muthuswami Dikshitar kritis. R. S. Mani, R. Balasubramanian, and Kadalur Srinivas Iyengar gave er formal training of Carnatic. She was a fan of Radio Ceylon channel and started loving Hindi songs played on it. She performed for the first time in front of the public when she was just 8.She performed at All India Radio, Madras. She completed her studies and joined State Bank of India, Madras and later was transferred to Hyderabad branch. After marriage, her husband encouraged her to complete her training in Hindustani classical music. She quit the job and got trained under Ustad Abdul Rehman Khan of the Patiala Gharana. She started her career in music. She learned various vocal forms such as Bhajan, Thumri, and Ghazal and had her first concert in 1969. She sang a song "Runanubandhacha" with Kumar Gandharv composer Vasant Desai for his Marathi album. She received a positive response from the audience. She even sang for the movie ‘Meera’ with the veteran vocalist of Agra charan Pt. Dinkar Kaikini and Pt. Ravi Shankar was the one who gave music to the song.
Her good professional relationship with Vasant Desai helped her to get her breakthrough with famous movie ‘Guddi’ directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee. She sang 3 songs for the film and the song "Bole Re Papihara" featuring popular actress Jaya Bachchan, gave her unique recognition and popularity among the audience. She taught Marathi songs in school while touring with her mentor Vasant Desai.Later she worked with many famous music directors of the time including Chitragupta, Naushad, Madan Mohan, R. D. Burman, Laxmikant Pyarelal, Jaidev, and Kalyanji Anandji.A song composed by Pandit Ravi Shankar "Mere To Giridhar Gopal" sang by her gave her a bigger success fetching a Filmfare award. She even started getting offers for South Indian films. Her first Tamil song ‘Thayum Seiyum’ was directed by S. M. Subbaiah Naidu in 1973.But the movie was unreleased. Her first released song was for the film ‘Veettukku Vandha Marumagal‘ and T. M. Soundararajan sang this romantic duet with her."Ezhu Swarangalukkul", "Ennulil Engo", "Keliviyin Nayagane", "Yaaradhu Sollamal", "Kavidhai Kelungal", "Megamae Megamae", "Nadhamenum Kovililae", Sugamana Raagangale", and "Aana Kana" are few of the famous songs recorded by her in the language.
Her debut song in Malayalam was 1973 song "Sourayudhathil Vidarnnoru" for the movie ‘Swapnam’. She has more than 600 songs in Malayalam.Few of the famous ones include “Thiruvonapularikal", "Seemantha Rekhayil","Dhoomthana", "Oru Raaga Nimishatil" etc. She recorded 1st Telugu song "Eppativalekaadura Naa Swami" for the movie ‘Abhimanavanthulu ‘ in 1973.Her songs "Poojalu Cheya" and "Ennenno Janmala Bandham" gave her name and fame both. Apart from that, she had also sung in other languages such as Gujarati, Marwari, Haryanvi, Oriya, Marathi, and Bengali. She has received many National Film Awards, Filmfare Award, and State Awards for her contribution towards the music industry.