Jensy Anthony alias Jensy Gregory (also written as Jency Anthony) is a playback singer who worked in Malayalam & Tamil cinema in the late 1970s and late 1980s. She was mostly associated with Ilayaraaja’s Tamil compositions and M. K. Arjunan’s Malayalam songs. Though a few, she sang some memorable songs in Malayalam & Tamil. She has also recorded songs for Gangai Amaran and Shankar–Ganesh in Tamil, and A. T. Ummer, Shyam, M. G. Radhakrishnan, Vidyadharan, Kannur Rajan and Berny Ignatius in Malayalam. In an active career spanning to more than one decade, she recorded nearly 90 songs belonging to Tamil, Malayalam and a few in Telugu languages.
Jensy Anthony – Malayalam Playback Singer
Jensy Anthony’s debut song was for Malayalam film Vezhambal
Jensy is of Kerala origin and belongs to a musical family. She started singing prayer songs at the age of 5. Her father Anthony, a building contractor, first noticed her singing talents and put her into singing classes. She started formal training in Carnatic music at a younger age, and started singing in stage shows.
She marked her playback singing with Malayalam films, and she was introduced to Tamil cinema by the legendary composer Ilaiyaraaja. Jensy recorded her first song for the movie, Vezhambal by M. K. Arjunan. She was introduced as Baby Jensy by the composer, after he spotted singing in children’s music troupe of Kalabhavan. Her early songs went unnoticed, and it was only during late 1970s, she turned popular, especially with Ilaiyaraaja melodies.
Ilaiyaraaja introduced her to Tamil through the song, Vaanathu Poonkili
It was singer Yesudas, who introduced Jensy to the music maestro and one day she got a call from Chennai. Vaanathu Poonkili from the movie Thiripurasundari (1978) was her first recorded song in Tamil. The song was composed by Ilaiyaraaja, who later made her sing for the movies, Mullum Malarum, Priya, Poonthalir, Ullasa Paravaigal, Alaigal Oivathillai, Tick! Tick! Tick!, Echchil Iravugal, Metti etc. Envanine Poy Vennilla pictured on Rajnikanth and Sridevi is one such golden song in the early 1980s.
Jensy Anthony used to travel by train from Kochi to Chennai to record songs and her father used to accompany her. Initially, she was not aware about the craze created by her Tamil songs in Tamil Nadu, as she was settled in Kerala. The solo track – Adi Penney of Mullum Malarum and Ennuyir Neethaane of Priya, a duet aside Yesudas are among her most noticed songs. Though Ilaiyaraaja asked them to settle in Chennai, her father’s busy profession in Kochi didn’t allow it.
A few more hits of Jensy Anthony with Ilaiyaraaja include:
Aada Sonnare from Vattathukkul Sathuram, Alankaara Pon Oonjale from Sonnadhu Nee Thanaa, Thamthana Namthana and Idhayam Poguthey from Puthiya Vaarpugal, Aayiram Malargaley from Niram Maaratha Pookkal, Geetha Sangeetha from Anbe Sangeetha, Mayile Mayile from Kadavul Amaitha Medai, Thottam Konda Rasave from Pagalil Oru Iravu, Hey Masthana from Azhage Unnai Aarathikkiren, Akka Oru Rajaathi from Mugathil Mugam Paarkkalaam, Gnan Gnan Paadanum from Poonthalir, Naan Unnai Thirumba Thirumba from Ellam Un Kairasi, En Vaanile from Johnny, Meenkodi Theril from Karumbu Vil, Deiveega Raagam from Ullasa Paravaigal, Theertha Karai Thanile from Thai Pongal
Her major works in Malayalam were with M. K. Arjunan
Jensy Anthony was introduced to Malayalam cinema as a child singer by M. K. Arjunan, who regularly worked with her in the early 1980s, until his golden era faded away. Though she owned a beautiful voice, she didn’t get much opportunity from her mother tongue Malayalam. But a few composers from Tamil really appreciated her talents. Also read about the talented singer Unni Menon, who got more recognition from Tamil, despite being a Malayali.
Ekanthathe Ninte Dweepil from 1982 Padmarajan film, Novemberinte Nashtam, filmed on actress Madhavi is one of her Malayalam memorable songs. ‘Kannippoomanam’ – Kelkkatha Sabdam, ‘Thali Peeli Kaattinullil’ – Visa, ‘Swapnam Kondu Thulabharam’ – Veena Poovu and ‘Ekanthathe Ninte’ – Novemberinte Nashtam are some other noted songs of Jensy Anthony in Malayalam.
After her marriage, she became less active in the industry
Suddenly Jensy Anthony walked away from fame after marrying a businessman, Gregory and got settled with family life. He is into automobile business. The couple has two children. After her marriage, rumours spread that she stopped singing and offers suddenly axed drastically. Later she took a music teacher’s job at Gujarati High School in Mattancherry where she taught music to students till class 7, and she retired from her job in 2018.
In 2010, Jensy Anthony gave an interview to a magazine, and after reading this, Srikanth Deva gave her a break in 2010 through one of his compositions. Surprisingly, her voice quality had not faded even after years. She recorded ‘Pokaruthen Makane’ in ‘Njan Steve Lopez’ released in 2014, after a hiatus of nearly 25 years.
Jensy Anthony alias Jensy Gregory – Some less-known and interesting facts
1. A. R. Rahman was working as a keyboard player under Ilaiyaraaja when Jensy was active in playback singing. In fact, his first work as a keyboard player was for the duet, ‘Hasbi Rabbi’ sung by Yesudas and Jency for the movie Adimachangala.
2. The first ever song filmed on Mohanlal was a duet sung by Jensy and Unni Menon – ‘Vanil payum’ from Thenum Vayambum.
3. Her initial hits in Tamil were for Bharathiraja films. Her songs were frequently included in the director’s films, and most times, it was Illayaraja’s music.
4. Apart from Illayaraja, Jensy Anthony recorded songs for Gangai Amaran, Sankar Ganesh, Chandrabose, Malaysia Vasudevan, Deva and many others in Tamil.
5. She recorded a duet with Lathika in Raveendran’s debut work, Choola. The song was “Uppinu Pokana Vazhiyethu“.
6. She has served as a Jury member in Kerala state film awards.
Recent Comments