Viji Manuel

Viji Manuel
Born
Vijay Manuel
Died15 August 2015
Chennai
NationalityIndian
OccupationMusician
Children1
FatherHandel Manuel

Vijay Manuel (died 15 August 2015) was an Indian musician who worked mainly in Tamil cinema. He was the son of pianist Handel Manuel.

Early and personal life

Vijay[1] "Viji" Manuel was the son of pianist Handel Manuel and soprano singer Alice,[2][3] who died in 2018.[4] Unlike his classical trained father, Viji was self-taught and formed a rock band "Plastic Glow" and used to play at a hotel at Mussorie where he used to play other instruments if anyone from the band did not show up.[5]

Career

Viji Manuel started his career as bass guitarist for composer Shyam and then went to work for many established composers such as M. S. Viswanathan, K. V. Mahadevan and with Ilaiyaraaja as acoustic guitarist.[5][6] He also recorded a Christmas album with his father.[7]

He also composed music for two films: Idhaya Vaasal (1991) and Iravu Sooriyan (1992) however he stopped composing for films due to interfering from producers who insist on "giving me reference songs".[5] Viji composed the score of Thulluvadho Ilamai (2002) at the request of Yuvan Shankar Raja who had to leave for London on an urgent work.[5] His final film where he played keyboard was Kanithan (2016) which was released a year later after his death.[8]

Personal life

Viji Manuel was married,[9] and has a son born in 1974.[1] In the late 2000s, Viji broke his femur after a slip and fall,[10] and was inactive professionally for almost five years until 2014.[11] He died on 15 August 2015 at the age of 64 due to kidney ailments.[8]

Discography

References

  1. ^ a b "Change of Names" (PDF). Tamil Nadu Government Gazette. 23 October 2013. p. 2976. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 June 2024. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
  2. ^ "This Handel of Madras was a jolly good fellow". The Times of India. 8 May 2018. Archived from the original on 16 June 2024. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
  3. ^ Frederick, Prince (3 May 2018). "Handel — the man and the Musician". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 17 June 2024. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
  4. ^ "Obituary" (PDF). Kirkspire. September 2018. p. 19. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 June 2024. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d "Back with a bang". The Hindu. 4 September 2014. Archived from the original on 19 February 2018. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
  6. ^ "Viji Manuel, the keyboard player par excellence, is dead". The Hindu. 16 August 2015. Archived from the original on 22 May 2021. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
  7. ^ Laul, Brian (6 November 1994). "The Ivory King". The Indian Express. p. 19. Archived from the original on 17 June 2024. Retrieved 13 June 2024 – via Google News Archive.
  8. ^ a b "Keyboard maestro Viji Manuel's last piece to release in September". The Times of India. 18 August 2015. Archived from the original on 16 June 2024. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
  9. ^ "Handel Manuel dead". The Indian Express. 23 October 1994. p. 9. Archived from the original on 16 June 2024. Retrieved 13 June 2024 – via Google News Archive.
  10. ^ Shenoy, Sonali (14 October 2014). "Lord of the Keys Returns". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 13 June 2024. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
  11. ^ MK, Surendhar (19 July 2014). "The musician who stunned AR Rahman". Only Kollywood. Archived from the original on 13 June 2024. Retrieved 13 June 2024.