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 language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

. He is the son of acclaimed singer K. J. Yesudas. 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 movie ...

'', 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 * ...

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

Padaiveeran ''Padaiveeran'' () is a 2018 Indian Tamil-language drama film written and directed by Dhana. The film features Vijay Yesudas and debutant Amritha Aiyer in the lead roles, with Bharathiraja and Akhil in supporting roles. The film features music ...

'' (2018).

Early life

Vijay Yesudas was born to singer K. J. Yesudas 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 Kattassery Augustine Joseph (24 March 1912 – 3 February 1965) was an Indian classical musician and stage actor from Kerala, India. He was the father of Indian playback singer K. J. Yesudas and grandfather of singer Vijay Yesudas. Life He ...

. 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 th ...

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 Florid ...

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 ...

in the early 1997. He is popular for songs sung under composer

Yuvan Shankar Raja Yuvan Shankar Raja or Abdul Haliq (born 31 August 1979) is an Indian film score and soundtrack composer and singer-songwriter. He mainly scores music for Tamil films. Considered a versatile composer, he is particularly known for his use of Wes ...

. He has collaborated with various other composers such as Dakshinamoorthy Swami, Ilaiyaraja,

A. R. Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967) is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer and songwriter, popular for his works in Indian cinema; predominantly in Tamil and Hindi films, with occasional forays in int ...

, Raveendran,

Hamsalekha Gangaraju (born June 23, 1951), professionally known as Hamsalekha, is an Indian film composer and a songwriter who works in South Indian cinema, predominantly in the Kannada film industry since the late 1980s. He is also a screenplay writer, di ...

Deva Deva may refer to: Entertainment * ''Deva'' (1989 film), a 1989 Kannada film * ''Deva'' (1995 film), a 1995 Tamil film * ''Deva'' (2002 film), a 2002 Bengali film * Deva (2007 Telugu film) * ''Deva'' (2017 film), a 2017 Marathi film * 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 Madhusoodanan Jayachandran is an Indian composer, singer, and musician. He has won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Music Director for a record number of nine times. In 2005, he also won the state award for best male singer. In 2015, he w ...

, 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 K ...

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 Immanuel Vasanth Dinakaran (born 24 January 1983), better known as D. Imman, is an Indian film composer and singer, predominantly working in Tamil cinema. Also worked in Kannada, Malayalam, Telugu, and Hindi film industry. His first film as m ...

Srikanth Deva Srikanth Deva is an Indian music director of Tamil films. He made his debut as music director in the Tamil movie ''Doubles'' in 2000. He is the son of composer Deva, nephew of the famous music director duo Sabesh–Murali and the cousin of acto ...

, and

Deepak Dev Deepak Devraj Komath (born 30 April 1978), better known as Deepak Dev, is an Indian music composer, best known for his compositions in Malayalam cinema. He started his career in the Film Industry through the movie '' Chronic Bachelor'' (2003) di ...

. Vijay made his playback 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 The Kerala State Film Award for Best Singer is an honour, established in 1969, and presented annually at the Kerala State Film Awards of India for best female and male playback singer in Malayalam cinema. The first recipients of the award were P ...

for "Kolakkuzhal Vili Ketto" in '' Nivedyam'' (2007). Vijay made his acting debut in the 2010 Malayalam film '' Avan''. 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''. That year, he also acted as villain in the commercially successful Tamil film '' Maari''. 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, wikt:دبي, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the List of cities in the United Arab Emirates#Major cities, most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 ...

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, thr ...

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

Trivandrum Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its List of renamed Indian cities and states, former name Trivandrum (), is the Capital city, capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as ...

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

Awards

Kerala State Film Awards 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 Ch ...

: * 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 The Filmfare Male Playback Award is given by the ''Filmfare'' magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards South for Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the ...

– ''

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 ...

'' – "Ee Puzhayum" * 2012 –

– '' 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 -

- ''

'' – "Poomuthole" IIFA Utsavam: *2016– 1st IIFA Utsavam for playback singer male – Malayalam *2017– 2nd IIFA Utsavam for playback singer male – Malayalam Nandi Awards: *2014–

Nandi Award for Best Male Playback Singer Nandi may refer to: People * Nandy (surname), Indian surname * Nandi (mother of Shaka) (1760–1827), daughter of Bhebe of the Langeni tribe * Onandi Lowe (born 1974), Jamaican footballer nicknamed Nandi * Nandi Bushell (born 2010), South Afric ...

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 apprec ...

: *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 artis ...

– 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