Vaikom Vijayalakshmi sets world record on the eve of Women's Day

Singer Vaikom Vijayalakshmi has set a world record by playing 69 songs non-stop on her single-stringed Gayatri Veena.

The gifted singer, who is visually challenged, broke into the Tamil playback scene with the film Cuckoo (2014). Since then, Vijayalakshmi has sung for films like Mass (2015), Baahubali: The Beginning (2015), and Theri (2016). 

 What makes Vijayalakshmi's feat special is that it has comes in the wake of some personal problems.  Recently, the singer had to call of her wedding with musician Santosh. The two were engaged last year. 

Vijayalakshmi called off the wedding on the grounds that Santosh had asked her to give up singing after their marriage. The singer had recently stated that she did not regret calling off her wedding. She also added that since the incident, she had found renewed energy.  Sources suggest that the singer had made the decision to attempt the record immediately after her marriage was fixed. In an interview after the break up, she had said, "When I had to choose him over music, I opted for the latter." 

The Filmfare Awards (South) winning singer accomplished the record on Sunday by playing the songs on her Gayatri veena, a single stringed instrument used in classical Carnatic music.

Several people from the film and the music world too celebrated Vijayalakshmi’s accomplishment. Music director D Imman, who has delivered several chart toppers in Tamil, took to Twitter to express his happiness.

He tweeted, “ Proud of my sis Vaikom Vijayalakshmi for setting a world record by playing 67 songs nonstop on her single stringed Gayatri Veena! Kudos!”