Manjari to tie the knot

Manjari, Kerala State Award winning playback singer (2004) for the song "Mukilin Makalee" from director Jayaraj's offbeat film Makalkku, is all set to tie the knot with a naval officer settled in Kochi.

It is learned that the marriage will take place next year in Thalassery, the native place of the groom, who is said to be related to actor Vineeth, the hero of Uliyin Osai (Tamil).

Manjari, who has already notched up a reputation as an Ilayaraja favourite, started learning music at the age of five at the insistence of her parents. She admits that she became serious about music when she was in the 11th standard. Her first stage performance was with the band Shiva, the Kolkata-based rock band, when she was in class eight.

In 2004, she was casually asked by Malayalam lyricist Gireesh Puthenchery to try out an audition for Ilayaraja, who was at that time working on a Malayalam film. Manjari was really excited and went on to complete five songs in two days. Manjari loves to sing both Hindustani and Carnatic as she believes there is divinity in both streams of music.

No wonder she has sung in most of the recent Malayalam films! Fans can expect to hear more from this precocious talent who has already sung the compositions of Ramesh Narayan, Ilayaraja, M.G. Radhakrishnan, Kaithapuram Viswanathan, Vidyasagar, M. Jayachandran, Yuvanshankar Raja and the late Ravindran. All the best, Manjari!