Srabanti Chakrabarti talks to talented singer Vijay Prakash, who has made quite a name for himself down south, and seeks to replicate the same in the field of Bollywood playback.
![Vijay Prakash]( "Vijay Prakash")
Decades back, Gulzar had written in his famous song Naam ghum jaayega, "Meri awaaz hi pehchaan hai." One feels this aptly defines singer Vijay Prakash, whose songs are more famous than the man himself. Be it Jai ho, Cheeni kum, Beera Beera or Hoshana, the baritone voice of this singer from Mysore is known to almost everybody in India. However, despite the fact that Vijay has sung for more than 3,000 jingles and a number of Hindi film songs, his name in Bollywood isn't as well known.
Both his parents were trained musicians. "My father trained my mother and fell in love with her after listening to her sing," he explains with a smile on his face. His grandparents were also into music and used to render epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata through songs. Coming from such a musical family, it was only natural for Vijay to take up music as his career. "My initial training was under the tutelage of my grandparents. Carnatic music was what I learnt first. During those days, film songs were not so popular or frequent in radio and television. We used to wait for a programme called Chitrageete every morning. That is how I got exposed to film songs," he recollects.
By the time he was in his teens, Vijay started giving stage performances in classical music. Since his mother was from Tamil Nadu, he also developed a liking for Tamil music. "Illaiyaraaja's compositions had a massive effect on me," says the singer. "I was barely 20 when I moved to Mumbai. I had no godfather and did not know what to do in this huge city. My karma took me to Suresh Wadkar — the man who has trained many new singers. I was lucky to be under his tutelage. After that, I started singing jingles in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi," says Vijay, who has sung for various brands. "It is an amazing industry — the pay is good, you have some really talented people, and it gives you scope for creativity. It was a great platform for me to showcase my talents and also live my dreams. I was exposed to jazz, western and Indian classical music while doing these ads," explains Vijay.
Eventually, Vijay stepped into mainstream film music and participated in Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, largely due to the encouragement of Sonu Nigam. It brought Vijay into the limelight and music directors got to know that he was the voice behind all the jingles they had been listening to. Vijay also met his better half in the industry — she being a dubbing artiste — and got married.
Bollywood breakthrough
Vijay's real break in the Hindi film industry came after he sang Pal pal hai from the film Swades. "It was an interesting incident. Noted voice over artiste Brij Bhushan ji had introduced me to A R Rahman. One day, I got a call from someone who mentioned that A R Rahman wanted to meet me at a place in Panchgani. I initially thought it was a prank, but did not want to take any chances. So I drove down to Panchgani," he remembers. "When I went there, I was surprised to see Ashutosh Gowariker, Shahrukh Khan, Javed Akhtar and of course, A R Rahman! That is when they selected me for the song in Swades," explains Vijay, who went on to sing the award-winning Jai ho later on. This gave him his much-needed break and since then, there has been no looking back. He even got to sing under the legendary Illaiyaraaja for the title song of the film Cheeni Kum. Apart from this, he has also lent his voice for films like Yuvvraj, Baaz, Kyun! Ho Gaya Na..., Nayee Padosan and others.
The singer, who gets his inspiration from the seven notes and legends like Kishore Kumar and Michael Jackson, also does a lot of concerts with famous musicians like Zakir Hussain, Taufeq Khureishi and Ranjit Barot. So, what does he plan to do next? "You know, I feel there is no better satisfaction and happiness than practicing music. When I do that for two to three hours at a stretch, I feel at peace. But, if you ask me about my next goals, it would definitely have to be that of cementing my position in the Hindi film playback industry. In this industry, I will only be considered if they feel that a song suits my voice. Down south, they compose songs for me. I want to see the same thing in the Hindi film industry as well," concludes Vijay.
Decades back, Gulzar had written in his famous song Naam ghum jaayega, "Meri awaaz hi pehchaan hai." One feels this aptly defines singer Vijay Prakash, whose songs are more famous than the man himself. Be it Jai ho, Cheeni kum, Beera Beera or Hoshana, the baritone voice of this singer from Mysore is known to almost everybody in India. However, despite the fact that Vijay has sung for more than 3,000 jingles and a number of Hindi film songs, his name in Bollywood isn't as well known. Both his parents were trained musicians. "My father trained my mother and fell in love with her after listening to her sing," he explains with a smile on his face. His grandparents were also into music and used to render epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata through songs. Coming from such a musical family, it was only natural for Vijay to take up music as his career. "My initial training was under the tutelage of my grandparents. Carnatic music was what I learnt first. During those days, film songs were not so popular or frequent in radio and television. We used to wait for a programme called Chitrageete every morning. That is how I got exposed to film songs," he recollects.
By the time he was in his teens, Vijay started giving stage performances in classical music. Since his mother was from Tamil Nadu, he also developed a liking for Tamil music. "Illaiyaraaja's compositions had a massive effect on me," says the singer. "I was barely 20 when I moved to Mumbai. I had no godfather and did not know what to do in this huge city. My karma took me to Suresh Wadkar — the man who has trained many new singers. I was lucky to be under his tutelage. After that, I started singing jingles in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi," says Vijay, who has sung for various brands. "It is an amazing industry — the pay is good, you have some really talented people, and it gives you scope for creativity. It was a great platform for me to showcase my talents and also live my dreams. I was exposed to jazz, western and Indian classical music while doing these ads," explains Vijay.
Eventually, Vijay stepped into mainstream film music and participated in Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, largely due to the encouragement of Sonu Nigam. It brought Vijay into the limelight and music directors got to know that he was the voice behind all the jingles they had been listening to. Vijay also met his better half in the industry — she being a dubbing artiste — and got married.
Bollywood breakthrough
Vijay's real break in the Hindi film industry came after he sang Pal pal hai from the film Swades. "It was an interesting incident. Noted voice over artiste Brij Bhushan ji had introduced me to A R Rahman. One day, I got a call from someone who mentioned that A R Rahman wanted to meet me at a place in Panchgani. I initially thought it was a prank, but did not want to take any chances. So I drove down to Panchgani," he remembers. "When I went there, I was surprised to see Ashutosh Gowariker, Shahrukh Khan, Javed Akhtar and of course, A R Rahman! That is when they selected me for the song in Swades," explains Vijay, who went on to sing the award-winning Jai ho later on. This gave him his much-needed break and since then, there has been no looking back. He even got to sing under the legendary Illaiyaraaja for the title song of the film Cheeni Kum. Apart from this, he has also lent his voice for films like Yuvvraj, Baaz, Kyun! Ho Gaya Na..., Nayee Padosan and others.
The singer, who gets his inspiration from the seven notes and legends like Kishore Kumar and Michael Jackson, also does a lot of concerts with famous musicians like Zakir Hussain, Taufeq Khureishi and Ranjit Barot. So, what does he plan to do next? "You know, I feel there is no better satisfaction and happiness than practicing music. When I do that for two to three hours at a stretch, I feel at peace. But, if you ask me about my next goals, it would definitely have to be that of cementing my position in the Hindi film playback industry. In this industry, I will only be considered if they feel that a song suits my voice. Down south, they compose songs for me. I want to see the same thing in the Hindi film industry as well," concludes Vijay.