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

playback singer A playback singer, as they are usually known in South Asian cinema, or ghost singer in Western cinema, is a singer whose performance is pre-recorded for use in films. Playback singers record songs for soundtracks, and the performers lip-sync the ...

and actor. He sang for South Indian language films and acted in several

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

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 (village), Vazhuvoor. He learne ...

. 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 :ta:சிறப்பு நிலை நகராட்சிகள், Special Grade Municipality and district headquarters of Mayiladuthurai district in Tamil Nadu, India. The town ...

in the then

Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency or Madras Province, officially called the Presidency of Fort St. George until 1937, was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India and later the Dominion of India. At its greatest extent, the presidency i ...

. His father

was a

Bharatanatyam ''Bharatanatyam'' is a Indian classical dance form that came from Tamil Nadu, India. It is a classical dance form recognized by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, and expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas of Hinduism and Jainism.< ...

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

Tamil film Tamil cinema is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Tamil language, the main spoken language in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is nicknamed Kollywood, a portmanteau of the names Kodambakkam, a Chen ...

industry. He was introduced to

Carnatic Carnatic may refer to: *Carnatic region, Southern India *Carnatic music, the classical music of Southern India *, the name of several ships *, a minesweeper of the Royal Indian Navy *, the name of several ships of the Royal Navy See also *Karnata ...

and

Hindustani music Hindustani classical music is the Indian classical music, classical music of the Indian subcontinent's northern regions. It may also be called North Indian classical music or ''Uttar Bhartiya shastriya sangeet''. The term ''shastriya sangeet'' ...

by his uncle. He picked up the

Nadaswaram The ''nadaswaram'' 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 and in the northern and eastern parts of Sri Lanka. This i ...

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

Dhill ''Dhill'' () is a 2001 Indian Tamil-language action film directed by Dharani. The film stars Vikram in the lead role, alongside Laila, Ashish Vidyarthi, Nassar and Vivek in supporting roles. The music was composed by Vidyasagar, while cine ...

'', with the song "Kannukkulla Gelathi" 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 ...

. His debut in acting was for ''

Thiruda Thirudi ''Thiruda Thirudi'' () is a 2003 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film written and directed by debutant Subramaniam Siva. The film stars Dhanush and Chaya Singh (in her Tamil film debut), with Karunas, Manikka Vinayagam, and Krishna in supp ...

'' playing the father character to

Dhanush Venkatesh Prabhu Kasthuri Raja (born 28 July 1983), known professionally as Dhanush, is an Indian actor, filmmaker, lyricist and playback singer who primarily works in Tamil cinema. Having starred in Dhanush filmography, 50 films over his car ...

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

devotional Devotional may refer to: * Acts of devotion, especially those repeated regularly * Devotional song, a hymn which accompanies religious observances and rituals * ''Devotional'' (video), of the 1993 Depeche Mode tour * Daily devotional, religious p ...

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

love Love is a feeling of strong attraction and emotional attachment (psychology), attachment to a person, animal, or thing. It is expressed in many forms, encompassing a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most su ...

and

Carnatic music Carnatic music (known as or in the Dravidian languages) is a system of music commonly associated with South India, including the modern Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and southern Odisha. 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, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

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

Selected discography

Films

Source(s):

Television

Acting filmography

Source(s): * ''

'' (2001) * ''

'' (2003) * ''

Gambeeram ''Gambeeram'' () is a 2004 Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language action film written and directed by Suresh (director), Suresh. The film, starring R. Sarathkumar and Laila (actress), Laila, with Vadivelu, Pranathi and Tanikella Bharani in suppor ...

'' (2004) * ''

Perazhagan ''Perazhagan'' ( ) is a 2004 Indian Tamil-language comedy drama film directed by Sasi Shanker and produced by AVM Productions. It is a remake of the director's 2002 Malayalam film '' Kunjikoonan'' which itself was adapted from the play ''Vikalan ...

'' (2004) * ''

Donga Dongadi ''Donga Dongadi'' is a 2004 Indian Telugu-language romantic comedy film written and directed by Subramaniam Siva and starring Manoj Manchu and Sadha while Sunil, Manikka Vinayagam, and Rajiv Kanakala play supporting roles. The film's soundtrack ...

'' (2004; Telugu) * '' Giri'' (2004) * '' Arivumani'' (2004) * ''

Bose Bose may refer to: * Bose (crater), a lunar crater. * ''Bose'' (film), a 2004 Indian Tamil film starring Srikanth and Sneha * Bose (surname), a surname (and list of people with the name) * Bose (given name), a given name * Bose, Italy, a ''fra ...

'' (2004) * '' Kalvanin Kadhali'' (2006) * ''

Thimiru ''Thimiru'' () is a 2006 Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language action film directed by Tarun Gopi (in his directorial debut), written by G. V. Renjith and produced by Vikram Krishna under G K Film Corporation. It stars Vishal (actor), Vishal, alo ...

'' (2006) * '' Thullal'' (2007) * ''

Puli Varudhu ''Puli Varudhu'' () is a 2007 Indian Tamil language romantic comedy film directed by G. V. Kumar, starring Jithan Ramesh and Mallika Kapoor, with Manivannan, Saranya, Karunas, and Livingston in supporting roles. The music was composed by Srik ...

'' (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 Ravi Mohan (credited as Jayam Ravi) and Genelia ...

'' (2008) * ''

Mathiya Chennai ''Mathiya Chennai'' () is a 2009 Indian Tamil-language film directed by Vivekanand and Veerasingam. Produced by Rajesh J. Chandan, the film stars Jaivanth and Ramya Barna, while Prakash Raj, Sangeetha, Mahadevan, and Ganja Karuppu play support ...

'' (2009) * ''

Thozhi ''Thozhi'' () is a 2009 Tamil language romantic drama film directed by Elango Lakshman. The film stars Prabha and newcomer Dwaraka, Shyam Ganesh and Manikka Vinayagam, with Tirupur Selvaraj, Bharath, Venkat and Vijaya Manohari playing supportin ...

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

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

'' (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) * ''

Aadu Puli ''Aadu Puli'' () is a 2011 Indian Tamil language action drama film written and directed by newcomer Vijay Prakash and produced by S. Michael Rayappan. The film stars Aadhi, Poorna, and Prabhu, while Suresh, Ravichandran, K. R. Vijaya, Anupam ...

'' (2011) * '' Singam Puli'' (2011) * ''

Avargalum Ivargalum ''Avargalum Ivargalum'' () is a 2011 Indian Tamil language romantic drama film directed by Veerapandian. The film stars newcomers Vimal Natarajan, Sathish, Aishwarya Rajesh and Supraja, with Charle, Manikka Vinayagam, G. M. Kumar, Agathiyan ...

'' (2011) * ''

Enbathettu ''Enbathettu'' () is a 2017 Indian Tamil-language crime thriller film written and directed by Madhan starring himself and Upasana RC while Jayaprakash and Daniel Balaji play supporting roles. The film had a theatrical release on 21 July 2017, ...

'' (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