Nazriya Nazim is Arya’s leading girl now!

Veteran playback singer S Janaki, who turned 74 yesterday, is one of of the most loved singers Kerala has ever seen. Janaki amma, as she is popularly called, is by birth a Telugu, but the innumerable Malayalam songs that she has rendered with perfection, has made her a household name that every Malayali holds close to their heart.

Starting off her career in Malayalam films in the 60′s, S Janaki has come up with many a remarkable song with M S Baburaj. Who would forget the songs like ‘Sooryakanthi…’ (Kaatuthulasi), ‘Avidunnen Gaanam Kelkkan…’ (Pareeksha) or ‘Pottithakarnna Kinaavu…’ (Bhargavi Nilayam). She went on to record hits for M B Srinivasan and gave us gems like ‘Nirangal than Nrutham…’ (Parasparam) and  ‘Ettumaanoor Ambalathil…’ (Oppol).

With M S Viswanathan we heard her singing ‘Veena Poove…’ (Jeevikkan Marannu Poya Sthree) and with Ilayaraja she came up with ‘Thumbi Vaa Thumbakkudathil…’ (Olangal). The Dakshinamurthy – S Janaki combination gave us the delightfully mischievous ‘Varumallo Raavil…’ (Kannur Deluxe) and the romantic ‘Vaikathashtami Naalil…’ (Bharyamar Sookshikkuka). Teaming up with Salil Choudhary, Janaki amma sang ‘Sharike…’ and ‘Mazhavilkodi…’ (Swapnam).

A T Ummer and S Janaki gifted us with hit numbers as ‘Pinneyum Inakkuyil…’ (Aalmaram) and ‘Mazhamukiloli Varnan…’ (Abhijathyam).  Under the musical direction of Johsnon she sang the evergreen hit ‘Aadi Vaa Kaate…’ (Koodevide). She has worked with several other music directors like M K Arjunan, Shyam, Jerry Amal Dev, Raveendran and many more, and each time has enthralled us with her magical voice.

Her duets with K J Yesudas, P Jayachandran topped the charts and remained as all time hits . She won awards almost every year for a decade in Malayalam . She remained as undisputed melody queen of Malayalam film industry from late 60′s to late 80′s. Throughout a career spanning more than five decades, she has recorded over 20,000 songs, won four National Film Awards and 31 different State Film Awards.