In the list of the national film awards, announced in New Delhi on Friday, there were quite a few familiar names.

Like K.J. Yesudas.

It was after a long gap of 24 years that he was returning to the winners list, at the age of 78. And it was a record eighth national award for the best playback singer for him.

The latest one was for his song Poyimaranja kaalam… (Viswasapoorvam Mansoor). It was composed by Ramesh Narayan.

“I am delighted that I tuned the song that fetched Yesudas a national award after a gap of so many years,” Ramesh told The Hindu.

“He had sounded very happy when he spoke to me after the awards were announced on Friday; and it proved a day of double delight for me, as I had won the national award for music in the non-feature section.”

Ramesh was only a student of music when Yesudas won his first national award, way back in 1973. That was for the song Manushyan mathangale srishtichu... (Achanum Bappayum).

It was composed by G. Devarajan and the lyrics were by Vayalar Ramavarma.

The lines of that timeless song – about the meaninglessness of religious strife – would sound truer than ever in the present time.

His second national award came the following year, for the film Gayathri(Padmatheerthame unaroo…).

That classic song was also created by the Vayalar-Devarajan combine.

Yesudas’s third award, which he won four years later, though was for a Hindi song written and composed by Ravindra Jain. Gori tera gaon bada… (Chitchor) was a phenomenal hit and made him popular beyond the southern States.

His fourth award, which he won in 1982, too was in another language – Telugu.

The film was Meghasandesam and the composer Ramesh Naidu.

All his other national awards have been for the songs he sung in Malayalam – Unnikale Oru Katha Parayam (1988), Bharatham (1992) and Sopanam (1994).

Ramesh said when he came up with the tune for Poyimaranja…, he was convinced that only Yesudas could sing it.

“Nobody else could have done justice to it,” he said.

“He has sung about 15 songs for me. And it is the song Oru narupushpamaayi… (Meghamalhar) that established me as a composer.”

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Kerala / by P.K. Ajith Kumar / Kozhikode – April 14th, 2018