Filled with the depth of despair, we are sorry to inform you all that veteran playback singer Malaysia Vasudevan has breathed his last after...
Vasudevan had the title of 'Malaysia' prefixed to his name with accordance to his birth place and created a record of singing around 8,000 songs in Tamil alone while 4,000 in other regional languages. Apart from his involvement in musical field, he has won appreciations for his acting in nearly 100 movies.
The ace playback singer holds special mention for his association with music directors across various generations from M.S. Viswanathan to A.R. Rahman.
He was 67 and survived by wife and two children, both of whom are singers.
Family sources said he was hospitalised last week after suffering a cardiac arrest.
The veteran singer, known for his memorable numbers from movies like '16 Vayathinile', starring Kamalhassan and Rajnikanth and Sivaji Ganesan starrer 'Muthal Mariyathai,' had also acted in a number of films, many of them as a villain.
Meanwhile, AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa condoled his death and recalled that he had sung around 8000 songs.'His demise is a big loss to the Tamil cinema industry,' she said. She expressed her condolences to the bereaved family members.
We as the members of Thecinemanews.com express our condolences to his family members and close friends, who have lost a wonderful person…
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Popular playback singer and actor Malaysia Vasudevan passed away on Sunday afternoon at a private hospital after being admitted there a few days ago due to cardiac arrest. He was 67 and is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter (both of who are playback singers). That he had touched the lives of many in the Tamil film industry was evident as practically the entire film community plunged into mourning on his demise.
In his long and chequered career, the singer sang over 8,000 songs in Tamil and lent his voice to several prominent actors including Shivaji Ganesan, Kamal Hasan and Rajinikanth. He has also sung over 4,000 songs in other south Indian languages and acted in nearly 85 films.
He was born as Vasudevan Nair to Keralite parents in the rubber estates of Klang Valley in Malaysia. However, Klang Valley had a predominantly Tamil population and Vasudevan grew to love the language and its cinema. His father Chathu Nair was musically inclined and he passed it on to his children. Vasudevan started his career as a singer cum actor in Tamil drama troupes in Malaysia and later moved to Madras to pursue his career in singing. Since he could sound like T M Soundarajan, he was taken by Paavalar Brothers, the troupe formed by Ilayaraja and his brothers even before the composer had entered the industry as a music director. After years of struggle, he got his first break as a singer in the film, Delhi to Madras'. He was later christened Malaysia Vasudevan by veteran director A P Nagarajan.
Vasudevan's claim to fame however, came later, with the movie 16 Vayithinile', where he sang Attukutti Muttaittu', composed by Ilayaraja, which went on to become a huge hit. "That is one of my favourite songs," said music director Deva, who had used Vasudevan's voice for several films. "Another personal favourite is the song Poonkatru Thirumpuma', which he sang for one of my movies, Mudhal Mariyadhai.'" In this song, the singer brings out a beautiful metamorphosis of emotions, as he begins the song on a sad note and ends by striking happy notes on a soaring high.
"Vasudevan and I, we have some great memories together during our tours abroad. He even had fans in European countries. I had always wanted to stage a concert in Chennai with him, singing light music songs, but that will now remain a dream," said Deva.
A visibly upset Kamal Hasan, the lead actor of 16 Vayithinile', was seen condoling the family. "He has been my friend, my voice and co-actor for many years," he told the media. "He was ill for a long time and I had recently gone with SPB to meet him." Indeed, Vasudevan has also worked as an actor alongside Kamal Hasan in several movies -- the most noted among them being Oru Kayidhinil Diary'.
Malaysia Vasudevan's signature songs were folksy village songs with a lot of emotion in them and peppy numbers in the same genre, which is also known as Dappankoothu. Ironically, Vausdevan, who started his singing in Madras as T M S's voice reached the peak of his career when he succeeded TMS as the ghost voice of veteran actor Shivaji Ganesan. Singer Mano, who has also sung several songs with him said, "He has a separate style and a unique voice which cannot be matched by any singer today."
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