Offers suddenly dwindled for Jency after it was rumoured that she would quit from films after marriage.Jency is a singer who sang several hit songs in Malayalam and Tamil. But her career was interrupted for almost a quarter of a century after a rumour spread that she would quit singing after marriage.
A regular at the children’s music group of Cochin Kalabhavan, ‘Baby Jency’ was introduced to Malayalam film field by the legendary music director MK Arjunan through the movie Vezhambal. Her debut in Tamil was facilitated by another legend, Ilayaraja. She sang a duet along with S Janaki in the film Tripurasundari which was released in 1978.
A string of superhit songs followed in Tamil. Jency’s voice in the background of Kizhakke Pokum Rail which was arranged by Ilayaraja bowled Bharathiraja over. All films of Bharathiraja that followed featured songs sung by Jency. They included Puthiya Varppukal, Niram Maratha Pookkal, Alaikal Oivathillai and Tick Tick Tick, which had some evergreen hits in her voice.
Apart from Ilayaraja, music directors like Gangai Amaran, Sankar Ganesh, Chandrabose, Malaysia Vasudevan and Deva also utilized Jency’s vocal talents in Tamil. Other major hit songs she sung were heard in films like Mullum Malarum, Johny, Priya, Ullasa Paravaikal, Pakalil Oru Iravu and Karimbuvil. However, Jency sang relatively fewer songs in Malayalam. Asirvadam, Aval Oru Devalayam, Lovely, Jayikkanayi Janichavan and Irumbazhikal were some of the films she was involved with. But the songs were not noticed.
Malayalees remember Jency for songs like ‘Thali Peeli Kaattinullil’ (film - Visa), ‘Kannippoomanam’ (Kelkkatha Sabdam), ‘Swapnam kondu Thulabharam’ (Veena Poovu) and ‘Ekanthathe ninte’ (Novemberinte Nashtam) which were hits. Even then, Jency failed to be counted as a leading playback singer in Malayalam. MK Arjunan, Johnson, AT Ummer, Syam, KJ Joy, MG Radhakrishnan, Jithin Syam, Vidyadharan, KK Antony and KC Varghese were among the music directors for whom Jency sang in Malayalam.
The first song in Choola, in which Raveendran debuted as composer, was recorded in the voice of Jency and Lathika. AR Rahman, who was earlier named Dileep, entered cinema field as a keyboardist in the song ‘Hasbi rabbi’ sung by Yesudas and Jency for the movie Adimachangala. Another milestone in Jency’s career was singing the song ‘Vanil payum’ in Thenum Vayambum along with Unni Menon. This was the first ever song picturised on Mohanlal.
During this time, everyone in the film music field heard that Jency would no longer sing as she had got married. Ironically, Jency herself did not hear the ‘news’. Offers suddenly dwindled. Jency’s voice gradually faded away from films. But she was not dejected and joined the Gujarati high school in Mattancherry as music teacher. Jency also became active singing songs for dramas and religious numbers.
After nearly 25 years, Jency returned to film playback singing with ‘Pokaruthen makane’ in ‘Njan Steve Lopez’ released in 2014. The Rajeev Ravi film had music composed by Paris Chandran and the song was a huge hit. But the very long absence of a talented singer is a painful episode. It is also a grave injustice, whoever was responsible for the imagination of Jency’s career plans.
