Online event tomorrow (Monday) by his son Yugendran at 4 pm IST (1030 pm NZT)
Venkat Raman
Auckland, June 14, 2020
Had he been alive, Malaysia Vasudevan would have received millions of birthday wishes, felicitations and requests for rendition of more than 8000 songs that made him the Golden Voice of South Indian Cinema for almost 50 years.
Although Mr Vasudevan would have actually been 76 years old tomorrow (Monday, June 15, 2020) his Auckland based son Yugendran and daughter-in-law Hayma Malini are marking ’75 years of Malaysia Vasudevan’ over an online event under their banner ‘Rambutan Media Works.’
Twenty-Two artistes are participating in this seven-and-half-hours Programme that can be seen live on Facebook and later on YouTube, bringing the best of the veteran singer.
The Programme will commence at 4 pm Indian Standard Time, corresponding to 630 pm in Singapore and Malaysia and 1030 pm in New Zealand.
https://www.youtube.com/yugendranvasudevan
About Malaysia Vasudevan
An interview with Malaysia Vasudevan was a delight for journalists like me, for the man had a unique blend of humility, friendliness and vivacity, which were exemplified by his innate talent to represent almost any hero of his time in films- that spanned from 1962 to his illness that began to overtake him in 2003. He battled a number of health-related challenges until his death in 2011.
He had his moments of anxiety and frustration but he seldom raised his voice- except to match the tone of the actor on whom a song was being picturised.
With more than 8000 songs rendered for a variety of actors, composed by almost all the frontline names of his era, Mr Vasudevan was a legend. He belonged to the class of A M Raja, P B Srinivas, T M Soundararajan, Sirgazhi Govindarajan, all of whom were the icons of Tamil music industry.
Veteran film producer-director A P Nagarajan added ‘Malaysia’ to his name.
Bridging two States and Nations
Born into a Malayali family- he was the eighth child of Chathu Nair and Ammalu Ammai- in Malaysia on June 15, 1944, he evinced interest in Tamil, Tamil Cinema and Tamil Performing Arts, thereby strengthening the bridge between Kerala and Tamil Nadu and Malaysia and India.
Says Yugendran: The Producer ‘Rattha Pei’ was keen on making it a film and had brought the cast and crew to India. It was at this point that decided that his future was in Chennai. After a long hiatus and struggle even for a meal, he was spotted by V Kumar and was given an opportunity to sing in the movie ‘Delhi to Madras.’ His career began with the song ‘Paalu Vikkura Pathuma’ picturised on Nagesh in that film.”
Hits after hits
Another veritable chance came through ‘Bharatha Vilas,’ a 1973 Tamil film, in which ‘Mellisai Mannar’ M S Viswanathan slotted him along with himself, T M Soundararajan, A L Raghavan, K Veeramani, P Susheela and L R Eswari. The song, which speaks of national unity, was a hit.
“His turning point came when Kunrakkudi Vaithiyanathan gave him an opportunity to sing in his composition. However, his major was with maestro Ilayaraja. The duo went on to give numerous hits and there was no turning back,” Yugendran said.
Awards and Citations
Recipient of the prestigious ‘Kalaimamani Award’ and many other Tamil Nadu State awards, the legendary actor and singer was a man of humility.
He left behind on February 20, 2011, his wife Usha Vasudevan, their son Yugendran and daughters Pavithra and Prashanthini.
Yugendran is a singer, music director and actor is now settled in New Zealand with his wife Hayma Malini and their three children. Pavithra is married, has a son and is settled in Malaysia and Prashanthini, a playback singer, is married and lives with her husband and son in Chennai.
About the Tribute online
Yugendran has brought together several singers of the Tamil Cinema industry and other enthusiasts for the Online Tribute.
Among them rendering live are Yugendran Vasudevan, Aalaap Raju, Bhavatharini, Deepan Chakravarthi, Devan Ekambaram, Haricharan, Hariharasudhan, Harini, Mukesh, Naveen, Nikhil Mathew, Pooja, Priyanka, Rajaganapathi, Ranjith, Roshini, S P B Charan, Sri Ram, Surmukhi, Tippu, Venkat Prabhu and Vijay Yesudas.
S P B Charan, Vijay Yesudas, Devan Ekambaram, Bhavatharini, Tippu, Harini, Deepan Chakravarthi, Haricharan, Mukesh, Surmukhi, Rajaganapathi, Roshini, Priyanka, Nikhil Mathew, Hariharasudhan, Ranjith, Aalaap Raj, Naveen, Sri Ram, Pooja and Venkat Prabhu.
The Programme will include Video Greetings from Bharathi Raja, Ilayaraja, Sivakumar, Kamal Hassan, A R Rahman, S P Balasubrahmanyam, Gangai Amaran, Radha Ravi, Sathyaraj, S P Sailaja, Chitra, Mano, Anuradha Sriram, Sirpy, Sarathkumar, Radhika Sarathkumar, Khushbu Sundar and Suresh Chakravarthi.
Yugendran collaborated with more than 30 artistes during the Covid-19 Level 4 Lockdown period to do a cover of A R Rahman’s ‘Vellai Pookal song,’ which went viral, with more than one million views. His other cover with the next generation singers (children of popular playback singers) ‘Uyirum Neeye’ as a Mother’s Day dedication fetching more than 100,000 views.
