Venugopal has endeared himself to Malayalis
and South Indians all over the world with his melodious voice and style.
He is a singer who excels in rendering melodies. He has left an indelible
imprint in the minds of music lovers through songs, such as 'Chandana
manivathil... ' and 'Kananazhakulla manikka kuyile... ' Gifted
with a voice described by music lovers as "unbelievably rich",
and a singing quality filled with depth and warmth, Venugopal has in
a short span of time made a mark as a singer of the truest kind.
Before making his debut as a playback singer with the lullaby, 'Ponnin
thingal... ' in the film 'Onnu Muthal Poojyam Vare'(1985), Venugopal
had established himself as a singer of repute by winning prizes in the
university youth festivals. Since his debut, he has sung in more than
280 films and has over 250 cassettes to his credit. The many awards
he has won, includes the coveted Best Playback Singer in Kerala (which
he has won thrice), the Film Critics award and the Kerala Kaumudi Gallop
Poll award (which he's won twice), further restates his popular appeal.
Winning the Kerala State Award for Best Playback singer for the third
time in 2004 was a recognition for Venugopal, who completed two decades
as a playback singer. Like 'Unarumee gaanam... ' (composed by
Ilayaraja) and 'Thane poovitta moham... ,' which won him two awards
earlier, the song in 'Ullam' too is a melodious song, which won him
the State award this time.
Venugopal has been
at the forefront of developing a distinct stream of music that is a
blend of poetry and music. This rare combination has been well received
and the series, 'music with meaning' has many takers. The first experiment
in this genre was an album called 'Kavyaragam.' It comprised the poems
of many popular Malayalam poets. In
'Kavyaragam,' Venu had sung some of the poems of O.N.V. Kurup, Sugathakumari,
Sachidanandan, Kadammanitta Ramakrishnan, Vishnu Narayanan Namboothiri,
and V. Madhusudanan Nair, which had been set to music by Suresh Krishna.
G.
Venugopal is a postgraduate in Literature and Journalism. Having
hailed from a family of gifted classical musicians has no doubt shaped
the formative years of this talented young singer. He
resides in Thiruvananthapuram with his wife, Reshmi and two children,
Arvind and Anupallavi.