Nanjiyamma (born 1 January 1958) is an Indian

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

who hails from a tribal community in

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

. She garnered public attention after singing playback in the

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

film '' Ayyappanum Koshiyum'' in 2020. The film's title song "Kalakkatha" written by herself in

Irula language Irula is a Dravidian language spoken by the Irulas who inhabit the area of the Nilgiri mountains, in the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka, India. It is closely related to Tamil. It is written in the Tamil script. Origins The langu ...

and composed by

Jakes Bejoy Jakes Bejoy (born 27 May 1984) is an Indian film score composer, music producer, and singer. He predominantly works in Malayalam cinema, but has also worked in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi languages. He started his film musical career as a singer, i ...

attained popularity after its release on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

. The song received more than 10 million views in a month.

Early life and career

She hails from an Irula community in Nakkupathi, a tribal village in

Attappadi Attappady (HQ:Agali) is a tribal taluk in Kerala state covering an area of . It is carved out from Mannarkkad taluk in Palakkad district on February 2021. Attappady Reserve Forest is a protected area comprising 249 km2 of land area in ...

Palakkad district Palakkad District () is one of the 14 districts in the Indian state of Kerala. It was carved out from the southeastern region of the former Malabar District on 1 January 1957. It is located at the centre of Kerala. It is the largest district i ...

, India. Nanjiyamma is a folksinger of the ''Azad Kala Samithi'', led by Pazhani Swami, a

tribal The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to conflic ...

artist in

. Later in 2020, she was introduced into

playback singing A playback singer, also known as a ghost singer, is a singer whose singing is pre-recorded for use in films. Playback singers record songs for soundtracks, and actors or actresses lip-sync the songs for cameras; the actual singer does not app ...

through the film '' Ayyappanum Koshiyum''. She has also played the role of

mother-in-law A parent-in-law is a person who has a legal affinity with another by being the parent of the other's spouse. Many cultures and legal systems impose duties and responsibilities on persons connected by this relationship. A person is a child-in-la ...

to the

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...

Biju Menon Biju Menon (born 9 September 1970) is an Indian actor who predominantly appears in Malayalam films, and also has a few Tamil cinema, Tamil and Telugu cinema, Telugu film credits. He made his debut in the 1994 Malayalam film ''Puthran''. In a car ...

in the film. She finds a livelihood by farming and feeding cattle. She sings mostly folk songs that went past through generations. She first sung for a documentary for Mathrumozhi titled ''Aggedu Nayaga'' directed by Sindhu Sajan. Nanjiyamma sung the promotional song for

Government of Kerala Government of Kerala is the subnational government of the Indian state of Kerala. The government is led by a chief minister, who selects all the other ministers. The chief minister and their most senior ministers belong to the supreme decision ...

's housing programme Life Mission and it was the first time

was used for a public relations program in

. Nanjiyamma was awarded the

National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer The National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer is an honour presented annually at the National Film Awards of India since 1968 to a female playback singer for the best renditions of songs from soundtracks within the Indian film industry ...

in the

68th National Film Awards The 68th National Film Awards ceremony was an event during which the Directorate of Film Festivals presented its annual National Film Awards to honour the best films of 2020 in Indian cinema. The awards ceremony was originally slated to be held ...

of India for the song "Kalakkatha" song from the movie '' Ayyappanum Koshiyum''. She received special Jury Award of

Kerala State Film Award The Kerala State Film Awards are the film awards for a motion picture made in Kerala. The awards started in 1969 by the Department of Cultural Affairs, Government of Kerala and since 1998 the awards have been bestowed by Kerala State Cha ...

in 2020.

Discography

Filmography

Television

References

{{Commons category Living people 1960 births Singers from Kerala Malayalam playback singers Indian women playback singers Best Female Playback Singer National Film Award winners Scheduled Tribes of Kerala Actresses in Malayalam cinema Actresses in Malayalam television