Jikki

Pillavalu Gajapathi Krishnaveni, more famously known as Jikki, was a popular film playback singer from Andhra Pradesh. She sang over nearly 10,000 songs in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Hindi, and Sinhala languages. Her mother tongue was Telugu. She speaks Tamil fluently.^[1]

Early life

Jikki was born in Chennai on 3 November 1935 to Gajapathi Naidu and Rajakanthamma, a Telugu family who had moved from Chandragiri, near Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh to Chennai for their livelihood.

Her uncle Devaraju Naidu worked as music composer with celebrated Kannada theatre legend and movie pioneer Gubbi Veeranna and this gave exposure to the young good-looking girl, Krishnaveni, to the music and film world.

Career

Baby Krishnaveni began her career as a child artist in 1943 and played a minor role in a Telugu movie named Panthulamma directed by Gudavalli Ramabrahmam. In 1946 she once again hit the silver screen with the movie Mangalasutram, the rehash of a Hollywood movie'Excuse Me'.She was already being noted for her musical prowess and her lilting mellifluous voice although she did not undergo any orthodox classical training in music at that stage. Soon a chance came her way to sing for the successful Tamil film 'Gnanasoundari' in 1948 for which music was composed by the doyen of the film music then, S. V. Venkatraman. The song was the super hit Arul Thaarum Deva Maathaavey Aadhiyey Inba Jothi for Kumari Rajamani who acted as the young girl growing into the young woman, M. V. Rajamma the heroine taking over the song with P. A. Periyanayaki singing as the scene advanced in time.This was the turning point in her life and changed the child actress Krishnaveni into a regular playback singer, Jikki, with chances pouring from not only for Tamil and Telugu films, but also for Kannada and Malayalam films – soon her staking a claim as the No.1 female singer of South India.

She met her husband to be, A. M. Rajah in 1950 when he was introduced in the Tamil film Samsaram as a new playback singer by Gemini's S. S. Vasan. He then introduced her to the Hindi film world by getting her to sing for his production Mr.Sampath in 1952. Incidentally P. B. Srinivas too got his chance to sing his first song in this film in a chorus. She also sang Sinhalese songs as well at that stage since the Sinhalese films were produced in Madras during those years.

She together with P. Leela reigned supreme in the South Indian film world in the early part of the 50s. Though they were in competition, they were fond of each other and behaved like two sisters and sang many songs together.

Music composers she sang for

S. V. Venkatraman, G. Ramanathan, C. R. Subburaman, S. M. Subbaiah Naidu, S. Hanumantha Rao, S. Rajeswara Rao, G. Govindarajulu Naidu, R. Sudharsanam, R. Govardhanam, Viswanathan-Ramamoorthy, S. Dakshinamurthi, C. N. Pandurangan, Adepalli Rama Rao, Emani Sankara Sastry, Master Venu, K. Vara Prasada Rao, T. A. Kalyanam, M. S. Gnanamani, K. V. Mahadevan, Pendyala Nageswara Rao, G. Aswathama, V. Dakshinamoorthy, T. G. Lingappa, P. Adinarayana Rao, P. S. Diwakar, T. R. Papa, A. M. Rajah, T. V. Raju, C. S. Jayaraman, Ghantasala, Vedha, M. S. Viswanathan, T. K. Ramamoorthy, Rajan-Nagendra, G. Devarajan, M. Ranga Rao, Vijaya Bhaskar, M. S. Baburaj, K. Raghavan, L.P.R. Varma, K. G. Moorthy, T. Chalapathi Rao, R. K. Shekhar, Brother Lakshmanan, Jeevan, Ilaiyaraja, Shankar-Ganesh, Chandrabose, Deva and Hindi film music composers, Shankar-Jaikishan and C. Ramchandra.

Playback singers she sang with

She sang immemorable duets with all the leading male singers with most with A. M. Rajah and others such as T. M. Soundararajan, Seerkazhi Govindarajan, Thiruchi Loganathan, Ghantasala, C. S. Jayaraman, P. B. Sreenivas, T. A. Mothi, S. C. Krishnan, V. N. Sundharam, A. L. Raghavan, R. B. Ramachandra, Pithapuram Nageswara Rao, M. Sathyam, M. S. Rama Rao, S. P. Balasubramaniam, K. J. Yesudas, Malaysia Vasudevan & Mano.

She also sang duets with female singers with most notably with P. Leela and others like P. A. Periyanayaki, M. L. Vasanthakumari, T. V. Rathinam, P. Suseela, A. P. Komala, Radha Jayalakshmi, Soolamangalam Rajalakshmi, K. Jamuna Rani, S. Janaki, A. G. Rathnamala, K. Ranee and Vani Jairam.

The singing actors she sang with are M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar, K. R. Ramaswamy, P. Bhanumathi and J. P. Chandrababu.

Jikki(bottom row, second from right) with Ghantasala(Middle row, second from left)

Personal life

She was married to successful playback singer and music director A. M. Rajah. A.M. Rajah-Jikki duets have been super-duper hits. Jikki has also sung many songs in her husband's direction – songs that still play in radio stations. A mother of six children, Jikki lost her husband in a train mishap. He slipped and fell in between the tracks while boarding a train. This was one incident that she could never forget. After her husband's death she stopped singing for sometime. Then she came out of retirement and sang for Ilaiyaraja. She also started a music troupe with her two sons and performed in many countries including United States.

Personality

Unlike many singers she was not always after money. Once when she sang five songs for a Tamil film, She asked the producer 'Valampuri Somanathan' to reduce her remuneration because he had given her the opportunity to sing so many songs in a single movie, such is her dedication for singing.

Death

She had been suffering from Breast Cancer and had surgery, but the cancer soon spread to her Kidneys and eventually the Liver. Several attempts were made to save her life by her close friend and singer Jamuna Rani which were supported by donations through musical nites, medical/financial support from Governments of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Then Tamil Nadu chief minister J.Jayalalitha and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu had granted Jikki of Rs 100,000 (one lakh rupees) from the 'Dr. MGR' trust and Rs 200,000 (two lakh rupees) respectively after hearing her illness and her difficulty to meet the treatment expenses. Finally, she died on 16 August 2004 in Chennai.

Awards and honours

She was honoured with "Ugadi Puraskaram" by Madras Telugu Academy and Government of Tamil Nadu awarded her "Kalai Ma Mani".

Jikki singing at an honouring event

Filmography

Jikki has sung in a total of 98 Telugu and 71 Tamil films.

Telugu

1. Mana Desam (1949)
2. Palletoori Pilla (1950)
3. Shavukaru (1950)
4. Samsaram (1950)
5. Patala Bhairavi (1951)
6. Navvite Navaratnalu (1951)
7. Dharmadevata (1952/I)
8. Palletooru (1952)
9. Aah (1953)
10. Bratuku Theruvu (1953)
11. Devadasu (1953)
12. Pardesi (1953)
13. Pratigna (1953/I)
14. Rechukka (1954)
15. Todu Dongalu (1954)
16. Donga Ramudu (1955)
17. Rojulu Marayi (1955)
18. Anarkali (1955)
19. Ardhangi (1955)
20. Chiranjeevulu (1956)
21. Bhale Ramudu (1956)
22. Edi Nijam (1956)
23. Jayam Manade (1956)
24. Kanakatara (1956)
25. Penki Pellam (1956)
26. Suvarna Sundari (1957/I)
27. Maya Bazaar (Telugu, 1957)
28. Maya Bazaar (Tamil, 1957)
29. Bhale Bava (1957)
30. Panduranga Mahatyam (1957)
31. Sarangadhara (1957)
32. Thodi Kodallu (1957)
33. Chenchu Lakshmi (1958/I)
34. Mangalya Balam (1958)
35. Krishna Leelalu (1959)
36. Raja Makutam (1959/I)
37. Pelli Kaanuka (1960)
38. Sahasra Siracheda Apoorva Chinthamani (1960)
39. Shantinivasam (1960)
40. Sri Venkateswara Mahatyam (1960)
41. Sri Seetha Rama Kalyanam (1961)
42. Batasari (1961)
43. Sabash Raja (1961)
44. Thirudathe (1961)
45. Bhishma (1962)
46. Gulebakavali Katha (1962)
47. Siri Sampadalu (1962)
48. Tirupathamma Katha (1963)
49. Lava Kusha (1963/I)
50. Sampoorna Ramayanam (1971)
51. Shrimanthudu (1971)
52. Vattathukkul Chathuram (1978)
53. Aditya 369 (1991)
54. Seetharamaiah Gari Manavaralu (1991)
55. Ninne Pelladatha (1996)
56. Murari (2001)
57. Muthal Thethi (1955)

Tamil

1. Anarkali (1950)
2. Aravalli (1950)
3. Manthiri Kumari (1950)
4. Naan Petra Selvam (1950)
5. Pathala Bairavi (1951)
6. Avan (1953)
7. Asai Magan (1953)
8. Edhir Paaradhadu (1954)
9. Kalyanam Panniyum Brahmachari (1954)
10. Illara Jothi (1954)
11. Ethiparathathu (1954)
12. Nalla Thangai (1955)
13. Gulebagavali (1955)
14. Gomathiyin Kaadalan (1955)
15. Mangaiyar Thilagam (1955)
16. Paasa Valai (1956)
17. Alibabavum 40 Thirudarkalum (1956)
18. Pennin Perumai (1956)
19. Madurai Veeran (1956)
20. Raja Rani (1956)
21. Amara Deepam (1956)
22. Thaikku Pin Tharam (1956)
23. Karpuku Arasi (1957)
24. Maya Bazar (1957)
25. Nilai Malai Thieruden (1957)
26. Samaya Sanjeevi (1957)
27. Malliga (1957)
28. Chakravarthy Thirumagal (1957)
29. Mudhalai (1957)
30. Puthumai Pitthan (1957)
31. Senkottai Singam (1958)
32. Thirumanam (1958)
33. Vanggi Kotai Valiban (1958)
34. Neelavukku Neranja Manasu (1958)
35. Uthama Puthiran (1958)
36. Pathi Bakthi (1958)
37. Annaiyin Aanai (1958)
38. Naadodi Mannan (1958)
39. Kathavarayan (1958)
40. Manjal Magimai (1959)
41. Sivagangai Cheemai (1959)
42. Enga Veetu Mahalakshmi (1959)
43. Kalyana Parisu (1959)
44. Aaval Yaar (1959)
45. Baaga Pirivinai (1959)
46. Thaay Makalukku Kattiya Thaali (1959)
47. Ondru Pattal Undu Vazhvu (1960)
48. Anbukor Anni (1960)
49. Meenda Sorgam (1960)
50. Raja Thesingu (1960)
51. Vidi Velli (1960)
52. Punar Janmam (1961)
53. Naan Vanagum Deivam (1963)
54. Arunagiri Nadhar (1964)
55. Bommai (1964)
56. Sorgam (1970)
57. Pugunda Veedu (1972)
58. Naan Yen Pirandhaen (1972)
59. Puthumadha Bandham (1974)
60. Enakoru Mahan Pirappaan (1975)
61. Vatathukkul Sathuram (1978)
62. Kannil Theriyum Kathaigal (1980)
63. Avan (1985)
64. Dharmam Vellum (1989)
65. Paatukoru Thalaivan (1989)
66. Pangali (1992)
67. Senthamizh Paatu (1992)
68. Aboorva Shakthi 369 (1992)
69. Aasai (1995)
70. Murati (2002)
71. Anbu (2003)

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Discography

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

References

• "Her tantalising voice will live forever ...". The Hindu. Retrieved 18 November 2013. 

External links

• Jikki at the Internet Movie Database