Chennai: Running the rat race and struggling through the chores, is for the ordinary. Stars are born with the gift of determination to make things happen.
The story of Jaya Rajagopalan, a resident of Ashok Nagar, is all about chasing dreams and turning them into reality.
She started her chase at a very young age, by singing in light music troupes. With her soft, tuneful and rich voice, she soon became a popular figure in the music industry.
Jaya has lent her voice to around 40 songs in Tamil and about 200 songs in various other languages like Telugu, Kannada and Hindi dubbed movies.
Twice a week, Jaya whips her fans into a frenzy as she dances and belts out the best of the Bollywood golden classics at her popular retro show, ‘Jaya Ho’.
“Singing Hindi songs in a State of Tamils was definitely the biggest challenge. But, the love I slowly started receiving from my audience, indeed proved that music has no barriers. Not even language,” she says. She now celebrates over 300 weeks of blissful nights at Residency Towers, T Nagar, every Friday and at Radisson Blu, Egmore, every Wednesday. She is on her way to fulfil her dream of reaching the mark of 1,000 shows.
When Jaya is not doing shows or recording songs, she trains kids in music. She takes pride in all small and big achievements of all her students. Little did she know that she was carving the way to success for one of her students, Nithyashree Venkataraman, who became the very first contestant from Chennai to win the first runner-up in Indian Idol Junior 2015.
Even heroes have heroes, and Jaya was immensely happy on meeting her hero, Asha Bhonsle. Popularly known as the Asha Bhonsle of South India, Jaya said, “Standing next to her, and singing for her was the day I had been for all my life. When she told me how much she loved my voice, I finally felt worthy of the title I had been given. That day will always be the biggest victory of my entire career.”
“The secret to my success is that I derive my energy from the audience. It is my passion that keeps me connected to my favourite place – on the stage, behind the mike,” she says.
Jaya Rajagopalan resides at G7, Balaji Towers, #74, Moovendar Colony, 10th Avenue, Ashok Nagar. Ph: 98401 23344.
| Her notable songs in Tamil cinema |
| * Macha kanni from Naan Avan Illai * Thee kuchi penne penne from JaiSurya, * Medhuvai Medhuvai from Mathi Yosi. * She has also sung in movies like M3V, Jilla, Dhuddu. * Apart from movies, she has also taken steps in the TV industry, singing for a lot of serials like Satya Sai Baba telecast in Vijay TV. |
Article by Sakshi Shah