Biju Narayanan

It's on everyone's lips, this song and switch on the TV and you see this song sequence. It stands out for its lyrical quality and melody: It's `Kalabham tharam... ' from the film `Vadakkumnathan,' the last movie for which Raveendran Master scored music. And the singer, Biju Narayanan, is savouring every moment of this runaway hit.

A post-graduate in Political Science, music was always Biju's first love. He picked up the basics of music from his mother and used to often sit next to his sister Uma when she went through her music lessons.  His first stage performance was with T. S. Radhakrishnan's troupe where his sister and her husband were regular singers. For eight years Biju studied Carnatic music under Aryanad Sadasivan. Soon, Biju was singing devotional tracks for P. Jayachandran, Unni Menon, Markose and others. Slowly Biju's talent was recognised and he managed to get some of his own songs recorded. In 1992, when he was a second year degree student, Biju had his first exclusive album, a Hindu devotional, released. The following year came his first film song. In 1996, Biju was adjudged the best male singer in the State drama awards.

Today, this talented singer has rendered more than 200 songs, in almost every South Indian language. Working under stalwarts like Ilayaraja, Dakshinamoorthy, M. K. Arjunan, M. S. Viswanathan, Mohan Sithara, Johnson, Vidyasagar, M. Jayachandran, S. P. Venkatesh and others was a wonderful, enlightening experience for him.

Biju's only other interest in life, apart from music, is travelling. The travel bug is satiated by the musical tours that have taken him to the United States, Australia, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Singapore and other countries. Married to his college-time sweetheart Srilatha, a lawyer who prefers to devote time to her toddlers instead of practising law, Biju is a contented man. The future is bright for this young singer and he appears confident that he has a long way to go. Deeply religious, he begins his stage performances with the evergreen semi-classical hit, `Swarghanandini swapnaviharini... ' (Lankadhahanam).