Supremely versatile playback singer S. Janaki passed away on 11th July at a private hospital in Mysore due to age-related illnesses. She was 88. Mysore deputy commissioner Lakshmikanth Reddy said, Janaki would be given state funeral.
Few singers in South Indian cinema could alter the texture of their voice like S. Janaki could. Whether it was a romantic song or an emotional number, whether a devotional or a comic one, she used to sing with such passion and grace that her rendition used to make her songs extremely entertaining and often memorable.
Janaki was born in Andhra Pradesh and moved to Madras in the mid-1950s. She joined AVM Studios and went on to become the voice of Tamil cinema for decades. However, she recorded the highest number of songs in Kannada.
Her playback singing journey began with Tamil film Vidhiyin Vilayattu, but she got unmatched fame with Singara velane deva from Konjum Salangai (1962). Throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, she delivered memorable hits in Tamil cinema under the baton of celebrated music composer M.S. Viswanathan. But it was Ilaiyaraaja who elevated her to legendary status. She rendered a number of songs under his music composition, with playback singer S.P. Balasubrahmanyam from late 1970s to 1990s.
In all, S. Janaki recorded more than 48,000 songs in over 20 languages in a career spanning more than six decades. In 2017, Janaki quit the industry and settled in Mysore.
Janaki won four National film awards and a number of other awards and honours. She declined the Padma Bhushan awarded by the government as a mark of protest because she felt, South Indian artistes had not been suitably recognised.
