Vijay Yesudas (born 23 March 1979) is an Indian playback singer and actor. He has sung over 1000 film songs. Vijay works predominantly in the South Indian film industry, mostly in Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil,

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

, and

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of North India, northern, Central India, centr ...

. He is the son of acclaimed singer

K. J. Yesudas Kattassery Joseph Yesudas (born 10 January 1940) is an Indian playback singer and musician who sings Indian classical, devotional and film songs. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest singers in the history of Indian Music and also as a ...

. Vijay made his debut as a singer with the 2000 Malayalam film ''

Millennium Stars ''Millennium Stars'' is a 2000 Indian Malayalam-language drama film directed by Jayaraj, starring Jayaram and Suresh Gopi in lead roles, and also features Biju Menon and Abhirami. The soundtrack of the film was composed by Vidyasagar. The mov ...

'', which had music composed by

Vidyasagar Vidyasagar or Vidya Sagar may refer to: People * Acharya Vidyasagar (born 1946), prominent Digambar Jain Acharya (1946-) *Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar (1820–1891), Bengali scholar *Vidyasagar (composer) (born 1963), South Indian music director *C ...

. Vijay Yesudas won three Kerala State Film Awards for Best Singer for the songs "Kolakkuzhal Vili Ketto" in '' Nivedyam'' (2007), "Akaleyo Nee" in '' Grandmaster'' and "Mazhakondu Mathram" in '' Spirit'' (2012), and "Poomuthole" in ''

Joseph Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the m ...

'' (2018). He has also won five Filmfare Awards for Best Singer and four SIIMA Awards for Best Male Playback Singer. He made a foray into acting by playing the villain role in the Tamil film ''

Maari Maari may refer to: * ''Maari'' (film), a 2015 Indian Tamil-language action-comedy film by Balaji Mohan ** ''Maari'' (soundtrack), the soundtrack album for the 2015 film **''Maari 2'', its 2018 sequel * ''Maari'' (TV series), a 2022 Indian Tamil-la ...

'' (2015) and the lead role in the Tamil film '' Padaiveeran'' (2018).

Early life

Vijay Yesudas was born to singer

and Prabha. He is the second son in the family, having an elder brother named Vinod and a younger one, Vishal. He is the grandson of stage singer Augustine Joseph. He studied in

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of ...

until 9th grade and went to the U.S. for further studies. He graduated from

Florida International University Florida International University (FIU) is a public research university with its main campus in Miami-Dade County. Founded in 1965, the school opened its doors to students in 1972. FIU has grown to become the third-largest university in Florida ...

with a BA in music.

Career

Vijay Yesudas started learning

Carnatic music Carnatic music, known as or in the South Indian languages, is a system of music commonly associated with South India, including the modern Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, and Sri Lanka. It is o ...

in the early 1997. He is popular for songs sung under composer Yuvan Shankar Raja. He has collaborated with various other composers such as Dakshinamoorthy Swami, Ilaiyaraja, A. R. Rahman, Raveendran, Hamsalekha, Deva, Ouseppachan,

, Mani Sharma,

M. M. Keeravani Koduri Marakathamani Keeravani (born 4 July 1961; credited as M. M. Keeravani) is an Indian film composer, playback singer, and lyricist, who predominantly works in Telugu cinema along with other languages including Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, and Ma ...

, and Mohan Sitara along with new-generation composers such as Karthik Raja, M. Jayachandran, Sabesh–Murali,

Harris Jayaraj Harris Jayaraj (born 8 January 1975) is an Indian composer from Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He composes soundtracks predominantly for Tamil films, while also having composed for a few films in Telugu and two films in Hindi. He has been honoured with ...

G. V. Prakash Kumar G. V. Prakash Kumar is an Indian composer, actor, producer and singer known for his work in Tamil films and a few Telugu films as well. His first film was S Pictures' ''Veyil'' (2006) and he became popular in Tamil cinema by the early 2010s. He ...

, D. Imman, Srikanth Deva, and Deepak Dev. Vijay made his

playback Playback or Play Back may refer to: Film * ''Playback'' (1962 film), a British film in the ''Edgar Wallace Mysteries'' series * ''Playback'', a 1996 film starring Shannon Whirry * ''Playback'' (2012 film), an American horror film by Michael A. N ...

debut in the 2000

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 wa ...

film ''

'', on the composition of

. He won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Singer for "Kolakkuzhal Vili Ketto" in '' Nivedyam'' (2007). Vijay made his acting debut in the 2010 Malayalam film ''

Avan Avan may refer to: Films * ''Aah'' (film), a 1953 Hindi-language film dubbed into Tamil as ''Avan'' * ''Avan'' (1985 film), a 1985 Tamil-language film * ''Avan'' (2010 film), a 2010 Malayalam-language film Places * Avan, Armenia, a villag ...

''. In 2013, he won his second Kerala State Film Award for Best Singer for "Akaleyo Nee" in '' Grandmaster'' and "Mazhakondu Mathram" in '' Spirit'' (2012). In 2015, Vijay sang "Malare" in the Malayalam film '' Premam'', went viral among young audiences. The song was often shared soon after its video release, he also had another successful song, "Hemnathamen Kaikumbili" from ''

Kohinoor The Koh-i-Noor ( ; from ), also spelled Kohinoor and Koh-i-Nur, is one of the largest cut diamonds in the world, weighing . It is part of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom. The diamond is currently set in the Crown of Queen Elizabeth The Q ...

''. That year, he also acted as villain in the commercially successful Tamil film ''

''. His performance received appreciation. He has sung 178 Malayalam songs and 118 Tamil songs.

Personal life

Vijay Yesudas and Dharshana at 60th South Filmfare Awards 2013

Vijay met his future wife Darshana at a music concert held in

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics ...

on 2002

Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, throu ...

. After five years of dating, he married Darshana in 2007 at

Trivandrum Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...

. They have a daughter, Ammeya, and a son, Avyan.

Awards

Kerala State Film Awards: * 2007– Best Singer – '' Nivedyam'' – "Kolakkuzhal Vili Ketto" * 2012– Best Singer – '' Grandmaster'' – "Akaleyo Nee", '' Spirit'' – "Mazhakondu Mathram" * 2018– Best Singer – ''

'' – "Poomuthole" Filmfare Awards South: * 2011 – Filmfare Award for Best Male Playback Singer – Malayalam – ''

Indian Rupee The Indian rupee (symbol: ₹; code: INR) is the official currency in the republic of India. The rupee is subdivided into 100 '' paise'' (singular: ''paisa''), though as of 2022, coins of denomination of 1 rupee are the lowest value in use wher ...

'' – "Ee Puzhayum" * 2012 – Filmfare Award for Best Male Playback Singer – Malayalam – '' Spirit'' – "Mazhakondu Mathram" * 2013 – Filmfare Award for Best Male Playback Singer – Malayalam – '' Memories'' – "Thirayum Theeravum" * 2015 – Filmfare Award for Best Male Playback Singer – Malayalam – '' Premam'' – "Malare Ninne" * 2018 - Filmfare Award for Best Male Playback Singer – Malayalam - ''

'' – "Poomuthole" IIFA Utsavam: *2016– 1st IIFA Utsavam for playback singer male – Malayalam *2017– 2nd IIFA Utsavam for playback singer male – Malayalam

Nandi Awards The Nandi Awards are the awards that recognise the excellence in Telugu cinema, Telugu theatre and Telugu television, and Lifetime achievements in Indian cinema. Presented annually by the Government of Andhra Pradesh, the award is named af ...

: *2014– Nandi Award for Best Male Playback Singer for the song "Nee Kanti Choopullo" from ''

Legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess ...

South Indian International Movie Awards South Indian International Movie Awards, also known as the SIIMA Awards, rewards the artistic and technical achievements of the South Indian film industry. It was launched in 2012 by Vishnu Vardhan Induri and Brinda Prasad Adusimilli to appre ...

: *2012– SIIMA Award for Best Male Playback Singer – ''ee Puzhayum'' *2013– SIIMA Award for Best Male Playback Singer – "Mazha Kondu'' * 2014 – SIIMA Award for Best Male Playback Singer – "Thirayum Theeramum" *2016– SIMA Award for Best Male Playback Singer – ''Malare'' Asiavision Awards: * 2011– Asiavision Awards – Best Male Singer * 2013 – Asiavision Awards – Best Male Singer * 2015 – Asiavision Awards – Best Male Singer Asianet Film Awards: * 2012 –

Asianet Film Award The Asianet Film Awards is an award ceremony for films presented annually by Asianet, a Malayalam-language television network from the south-Indian state of Kerala. Asianet says that awards ceremony has been instituted to honour both artist ...

– Best Male Singer * 2013 –

– Best Male Singer * 2015–

– Best Male Singer Vanitha Film Awards: *2012 – Best singer male *2016 – Best singer male *2018 – Best singer male Edison Awards (India): *2014-Best Male Playback singer North American Film Awards: *2016-Best Male singer - ''Premam'' and ''Ennu Ninte Moideen'' *2018-Best Male singer Anand TV awards: *2016-Best Male singer CERA BIG Malayalam Music Awards: * 2014 – CERA BIG Malayalam Music Awards – Best Male Singer Mangalam Music awards *2017 – Best Playback Singer Flowers Music awards *2018 – Best Playback Singer

Discography

Telugu discography

Malayalam discography (partial)

Kannada discography

Tamil discography

Hindi discography

Filmography

References

External links

* * *
Complete Analysis of Vijay Yesudas' Malayalam career from MSI/MMDb Encyclopedia
* * Chronological listing of film songs sung by Vijay Yesudas i

an

categorised by song title {{DEFAULTSORT:Vijay Yesudas Bollywood playback singers Telugu playback singers Malayalam playback singers Indian male playback singers Singers from Kochi Tamil playback singers Kannada playback singers 20th-century Indian singers Malayali people Living people Film musicians from Kerala Kerala State Film Award winners Filmfare Awards South winners 21st-century Indian singers 20th-century Indian male singers 1979 births 21st-century Indian male singers