Manikka Vinayagam (10 December 1943 – 26 December 2021) was an Indian

playback singer 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 ap ...

and actor. He sang for South Indian language films and acted in several Tamil films as a character artist. He was the son of the dancer

Vazhuvoor B. Ramiah Pillai Vazhuvoor Ramaiah Pillai (1910–1991) was an Indian Bharatanatyam dance teacher and choreographer. Early life Vazhuvoor Bagyathammal Ramaiah Pillai was born in 1910 to Parthiban and Bagyathammal in Vazhuvoor. He learned the arts of Nattuva ...

. His uncle and music guru was the singer C. S. Jayaraman.

Biography

Vinayagam was born on 10 December 1943 in

Mayiladuthurai Mayiladuthurai (formerly known as Mayavaram or Mayuram) is a town and district headquarter of Mayiladuthurai district in Tamil Nadu, India. The town is located at a distance of from the state capital, Chennai. Mayiladuthurai was ruled by Medi ...

in the then

Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency, or the Presidency of Fort St. George, also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision (presidency) of British India. At its greatest extent, the presidency included most of southern India, including th ...

. His father

was a

Bharatanatyam Bharatanatyam () is a major form of Indian classical dance that originated in Tamil Nadu. It is one of the eight widely recognized Indian classical dance forms, and expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas, particularly of ...

dancer while his uncle C. S. Jayaraman was a singer, music director, and actor in the

Tamil film Tamil cinema, also known as Kollywood is a part of Indian Cinema; primarily engaged in production of motion pictures in the Tamil language. Based out of the Kodambakkam neighbourhood in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, it is popularly called ''Kollywo ...

industry. He was introduced to Carnatic and

Hindustani music Hindustani classical music is the classical music of northern regions of the Indian subcontinent. It may also be called North Indian classical music or, in Hindustani, ''shastriya sangeet'' (). It is played in instruments like the violin, si ...

by his uncle. He picked up the

Nadaswaram The Nagaswaram (nādḥasvaram) is a double reed wind instrument from South India. It is used as a traditional classical instrument in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, and Kerala. This instrument is "among the world's loude ...

, a wind instrument, in his youth. Vinayagam debuted as a playback singer in the

'' Dhill'', with the song "Kannukkulla Gelathi" composed by Vidyasagar. His debut in acting was for '' Thiruda Thirudi'' playing the father character to

Dhanush Venkatesh Prabhu Kasthuri Raja (born 28 July 1983), known professionally as Dhanush, is an Indian actor, producer, director, lyricist and playback singer who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. Starring in 46 films over his career, among hi ...

. Since then, he has sung close to 800 songs in various languages. Apart from these, he has sung close to 15000 devotional

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

love Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest Interpersonal relationship, interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of ...

and

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 ...

songs. Vinayagam also had an orchestra ''Starlings'', which consisted of musicians and singers who were children of other actors. Vinayagam died from a cardiac arrest at his home 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 ...

, on 26 December 2021, at the age of 78.

Selected discography

Source(s): * "Kannukkulle" - '' Dhill'' (2001) * "Yelai Imayamalai" - ''

Thavasi ''Thavasi'' is a 2001 Indian Tamil-language action drama film directed by K. R. Udhayashankar starring Vijayakanth in dual lead roles, with Soundarya, Vadivelu, Jayasudha, Prathyusha, Nassar, Ponnambalam playing other pivotal roles. The film ...

'' (2001) * "Vidai Kodu" - ''

Kannathil Muthamittal ''Kannathil Muthamittal'' (also released internationally under the translated title ''A Peck on the Cheek'') is a 2002 Indian Tamil-language musical war film produced and directed by Mani Ratnam. It was based on a short story, "Amuthavum Avanum ...

'' (2002) * "Theradi Veethiyil" - ''

Run Run(s) or RUN may refer to: Places * Run (island), one of the Banda Islands in Indonesia * Run (stream), a stream in the Dutch province of North Brabant People * Run (rapper), Joseph Simmons, now known as "Reverend Run", from the hip-hop grou ...

'' (2002) * "Subbamma Subbamma" - '' Roja Koottam'' (2002) * "Vandi Vandi" - '' Jayam'' (2002) * "Kadhal Vandhal" - '' Iyarkai'' (2003) * "Koduva Meesai" - '' Dhool'' (2003) * "Chinnaveeda" - ''

Ottran ''Ottran'' () is a 2003 Indian Tamil-language spy thriller film starring Arjun, Simran, Manorama, Vadivelu, Tejashree, Sarath Babu and directed by Ilankannan. The score and soundtrack was composed by Pravin Mani. Plot Karthik is an upri ...

'' (2003) * "Theeratha Dum" - '' Parthiban Kanavu'' (2003) * "Markandeya" - '' New'' (2004) * "Punnakunnu" - '' Arul'' (2004) * "Pattu Pattu" - '' Shankar Dada M.B.B.S.'' (2004) * "Kokku Para Para" - ''

Chandramukhi ''Chandramukhi'' () is a 2005 Indian Tamil-language comedy horror film written and directed by P. Vasu. A remake of Vasu's Kannada film '' Apthamitra'' (2004), which itself loosely based on the Malayalam film '' Manichitrathazhu'' (1993), th ...

'' (2005) * "Kattu Kattu" - ''

Thirupaachi ''Thirupaachi'' is a 2005 Indian Tamil-language action film written and directed by Perarasu. The film stars Vijay, Trisha and Mallika, with Livingston, Pasupathy, Benjamin, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Vaiyapuri and Manoj K. Jayan in other roles ...

'' (2005) * "Thaai Sollum" - '' Kana Kandaen'' (2005) *"Mannargudi kalakalakka"- sivappathigaram'' (2006) * "Allave yengalin thaai bhoomi" - '' Aran(Keerthi Chakra)'' (2006) * "Ennamma Devi" - '' Thambi'' (2006) * "Chethavadam" - '' Veyil'' (2006) * "Aiyyyayyyo" - ''

Paruthiveeran ''Paruthiveeran'' () is a 2007 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film written and directed by Ameer. The film stars Karthi in his feature film debut as the title character, with Priyamani as the female lead and Ponvannan, Saravanan, Ganja ...

'' (2007) * "Hey Pangaali" - ''

Majaa ''Majaa'' is a 2005 Indian Tamil-language masala film directed by Shafi, starring Vikram, Asin, Pasupathy, Vadivelu, Anu Prabhakar, Vijayakumar, Manivannan, Murali and Biju Menon (in his Tamil debut). The music was composed by Vidyasaga ...

'' (2007) * "Vaa Mahaney Vaa" - '' Onbadhu Rubai Nottu'' (2007) * "Jigu Jickan" - '' Oram Po'' (2007) * "Namma Ooru Nallarukku" - '' Seval'' (2008) * "America Endralum" - '' Santhosh Subramaniam'' (2008) * "Veeramulla" - '' Kaalai'' (2008) * "Theakku Maramaattam" - '' Magizhchi'' (2010) * "Naane Inthiran" - ''

Singam ''Singam'' () is a 2010 Indian Tamil-language action film written and directed by Hari, and produced by K. E. Gnanavel Raja under his Studio Green banner in association with Reliance Big Pictures, and distributed by Sun Pictures. It sta ...

'' (2010) * "Antharathil aadum" - '' Thoppul kodi'' (2010) * " Virugambakkam vettu kili" - ''Pathiladi'' (2015)

Acting filmography

Source(s): * '' Dhill'' (2001) * '' Thiruda Thirudi'' (2003) * '' Gambeeram'' (2004) * ''

Perazhagan ''Perazhagan'' () is a 2004 Indian Tamil-language comedy drama film directed by Sasi Shanker, starring Suriya and Jyothika with both playing dual roles. The supporting cast includes Vivek, Manorama and Manobala. The movie's score and soundtr ...

'' (2004) * '' Donga Dongadi'' (2004; Telugu) * '' Giri'' (2004) * '' Arivumani'' (2004) * '' Bose'' (2004) * '' Kalvanin Kadhali'' (2006) * '' Thimiru'' (2006) * '' Puli Varudhu'' (2007) * ''

Santosh Subramaniam ''Santosh Subramaniam'' (spelt ''Santhosh Subramaniyam'' onscreen) is a 2008 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film directed by Mohan Raja and produced by Kalpathi S. Agoram. The film stars Jayam Ravi and Genelia while Prakash Raj, G ...

'' (2008) * '' Thozhi'' (2009) * '' Vettaikkaran'' (2009) * '' Bale Pandiya'' (2010) * ''

Va Quarter Cutting ''Va'' ( ta, வ; Tamil numeral for 1/4; working title: ''Va Quarter Cutting'') is a 2010 Indian Tamil-language black comedy film written and directed by Pushkar-Gayathri. It stars Shiva, SPB Charan and Lekha Washington , with Kalyan, John ...

'' (2010) * ''

Yuddham Sei ''Yuddham Sei'' () is a 2011 Indian Tamil-language neo-noir mystery thriller film written and directed by Mysskin. It stars Cheran and debutant Dipa Shah alongside an ensemble cast including Y. G. Mahendra, Lakshmi Ramakrishnan, Jayaprakash ...

'' (2011) * '' Avargalum Ivargalum'' (2011) * ''Embathettu'' (2017)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vinayagam, Manikka 1943 births 2021 deaths Indian male film actors Indian male playback singers Male actors from Tamil Nadu Male actors in Tamil cinema People from Mayiladuthurai district Tamil male actors Tamil playback singers