famous singer from Triplicane - MJ Shriram

In 1980s – he was a small kid, very popular in TP Koil Street, his mother treated the other playing kids affectionately, his father MJ Narayanan was a Civil Engineer.  MJ Shriram even as a child was very dynamic, fast and bubbled with enthusiasm.

 

Besides his Sports exploits, he could sing well too.  Much later he blossomed to become an actor and sing in films too.    He is best known for his songs in Pachchak Kuthira (2006) and his role in Sivakasi (2005).  Away from movies, he is a famous concert singer. 

Shiram began singing  at a very young age and back in 1993, shared the stage with Kamal Haasan at a concert in Singapore.  He played a small role in Sollamale (1998) before playing Vijay's friend in the film, Sivakasi (2005), which is considered his acting debut. He made his singing debut in Parthiban's Pachchak Kuthira (2006). 

The no.of songs he has done in movies do not do justice to his calibre – the stage programs, the concerts have revealed his class.  His wife is also a famous singer – Mrs  Srilekha Parthasarathy – together they  have been entertaining the audience at various stages and  online through some hit songs.  When Covid made people sit at home,   MJ Shriram and wife Srilekha Parthasarathy, took to social media to entertain people. Shriram is known for his SP Balasubrahmanyam-Ilaiyaraja nights, a music concert series, which is an ode to both the legends, while Srilekha is a popular singer of the ‘90s with chartbusters like Kalyanam than  Kattikittu, Thimsu Kattai and Pambarakannu.  Srilekha  began her professional career in 2000,  with the nice  jingle for the "Idhayam Oil" advertisement. 

Sriram comes in the lineage of   a double Inernational. Morappakam Josyam Gopalan  [1906 – 2003] represented India in cricket and hockey. When Ranji Trophy was inaugurated in 1934, MJ Gopalan delivered  the first ball of the  Ranji tournament. His only Test match was against England at Calcutta in early 1934.  In 1936 he was selected in the hockey team for the Berlin Olympics and the cricket team to tour England.  He chose Cricket over Hockey  which turned out to be a terrible decision. The hockey team captained by Dhyan Chand, one of the finest teams in the history of the sport, won the gold medal with little difficulty. As it turned out, Gopalan did not play a Test in England.  

 

Here is a picture of MJ Shriram with my brother S Sundararajan.

 
Regards – S Sampathkumar
31.10.2024