S. Janaki Explained

S. Janaki ఎస్. జానకి
Birth Name:Sistla Janaki
Alias:Janakiamma, Gana Kokila, Gana Kogile, Nightingale of India
Occupation:Playback singer
Years Active:1957–2019
Birth Date:1938 4, df=yes
Birth Place:Pallapatla, Guntur, Madras Presidency, British India (Currently in Andhra Pradesh)
Children:1
Relatives:Garimella Balakrishna Prasad (nephew)
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Sistla Janaki (born 23 April 1938) is an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer from Andhra Pradesh. She is widely referred to as "Janaki Amma" and "Nightingale of South India". She is one of the best-known playback singers in India. She has recorded over 50,000 songs[1] in films, albums, TV and Radio which includes solos, duets, chorus and title tracks in 17 languages including Kannada, Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Sanskrit, Odia, Tulu, Urdu, Punjabi, Badaga, Bengali, Konkani and also in foreign languages such as English, Japanese, German and Sinhala; the highest number of songs in her career were in Kannada followed by Malayalam.[2] [3] Started in 1957 with the Tamil film Vidhiyin Vilayattu, her career has spanned over six decades. She is referred to as Gaana Kogile in Karnataka, Gaana Kokila in Telugu States and Isaikkuyil in Tamil Nadu. '''S. Janaki is widely acclaimed as a Queen of Expressions & Modulations in any language with nativity.''

Widely acclaimed as one of the most versatile singers, her association with singer S. P. Balasubrahmanyam and composer Ilaiyaraaja is most talked about. In the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s her duets with P. B. Srinivas, S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, K. J. Yesudas, P. Jayachandran and Dr. Rajkumar topped the charts across all the South Indian languages.[4] She has sung in almost all the genres and has performed live on stage in more than 5000 concerts across the globe. She is the only singer to have sung 100 songs in four South Indian languages (Telugu, Malayalam, Tamil and Kannada) in the first year of her career. In October 2016, Janaki announced her retirement from singing for films and stage appearances. However, upon insistence from the film fraternity, she made a comeback for the Tamil film Pannadi in 2018.[5]

Early life and family

Janaki was born on 23 April in Pallapatla, Repalle Taluka, in Guntur, Madras Presidency, British India (now in Andhra Pradesh).[6] Her father, Sreeramamurthy Sistla was an Ayurvedic doctor and teacher. She spent most of her childhood in Sircilla where she got her first on-stage performance opportunity at the age of nine. She learnt the basics of music through a Nadaswaram vidwan Paidiswamy. She never pursued any formal training in the classical music.[7]

Janaki married V. Ramprasad in 1959. He encouraged her career and accompanied her during most of her recordings. He died in 1997 due to cardiac arrest.[8]

Janaki amma's mother tongue is Telugu and she can fluently converse and write in Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi.[9] [10] [11] [12] [13]

Career

See main article: List of songs recorded by S. Janaki. While in her twenties, Janaki moved to Chennai on the advice of her uncle, to work with Music composer R. Sudarsanam in AVM Studios as a singer. She started her career as a playback singer in the Tamil movie Vidhiyin Vilayattu in 1957. Subsequently, she performed in the Telugu film M.L.A.. She sang film songs in 6 languages in her first year.

She picked a Malayalam lullaby "Amma Poovinum" from 10 Kalpanakal as her swansong of her 60-year singing career and retired on 28 October 2017 with a concert held at Mysuru .[14]

Kannada films

S Janaki's highest number of songs are in Kannada.[15] Her solos and duets, with P B Srinivas, S. P. Balasubrahmanyam and Dr. Rajkumar are considered evergreen.

Janaki sang her first Kannada song in 1957. By the early 60s, she had started working with many prominent music composers. Throughout the 1970s and 80s she remained the number one female playback singer in Kannada films. Most of the music directors, from G. K. Venkatesh, Rajan–Nagendra to Hamsalekha, gave her most of their top compositions.

She has a record number of duets with P B Srinivas, S P Balasubrahmanyam and Dr Rajkumar. She was awarded the Karnataka Rajyotsava awarded in 2014. She was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Mysore for her contributions to Kannada film and music.

Some of her top hit solos in Kannada cinema are:

Malayalam films

S Janaki and Malayalam songs are inseparable, and she sang her first Malayalam song back in 1957. She practiced the correct accent and the nuances of the language which later made her one of the most sought after singers in the industry. She was the favorite of many popular music composers like V Dakshinamoorthi, MS Baburaj, Shyam, MB Sreenivasan, A.T.Ummer and Salil Choudhary.

S Janaki went on to sing thousands of songs from the early 1960s to mid 80s. She received her first Kerala state film award for best singer in 1970 and went on to win the same almost every year for the next 15 years. It was her command over the language and perfect diction that took her to great heights in Malayalam films. S Janaki is perhaps the only non-Malayali artist who has won maximum awards in Malayalam films.

Some of her hit solo tracks in Malayalam films are:

Tamil films

S Janaki sang her first Tamil song in 1957. The song Singaravelane Deva from the movie Konjum Salangai brought her to limelight in Tamil films. M. S. Viswanathan gave her many hit songs every year throughout 60s and early 70s. It was the song Unnidathil ennaik kodutthen Avalukendru Or Manam (1971) that consolidated her position as the most promising singer thereafter.

She sang many songs under many famous composers. Ilaiyaraaja – S. P. Balasubrahmanyam- S Janaki combination gave hit after hit from the mid 1970s till the 1990s. S Janaki is the only singer who has won state awards under the oft-called top three music composers of the state (M. S. Viswanathan, Ilaiyaraaja and A. R. Rahman).

Some of her best solos in Tamil cinema are:

Telugu films

S Janaki started her career in Telugu films in 1957 in a Movie MLA. Movies like Bava maradalu, Pooja Phalam and Bangaru Panjaram had songs by S Janaki which were immensely popular. She gave continuous hits throughout the 1960s and 70s. She continued to give hits till mid 90s. S Janaki has won 12 Nandi awards, 10 for films and 2 for television serial songs.A few of her solos are:

Hindi films

Composer Bappi Lahiri was impressed by a Hindi song sung by S Janaki for a Tamil movie, when he visited Prasad Studio. He decided to have songs sung by her in his upcoming Hindi movies and introduced her to Bollywood. She sang many duets with singer Kishore Kumar.

Some of her notable Hindi songs are

Odia films

Janaki sang many evergreen songs in Odia. She has sung about 68 songs in Odia films. Her songs are still popular today and she also won 1 Orissa State Film Award for Odia film Sata Kebe Luchi Rahena (1986)

Other languages

Janaki also sang a few songs in other languages.

Collaboration with Music Directors

Janaki has worked with music directors of different generations. From the early 1960s she was given songs by composers mainly in Kannada and Malayalam films.Though she sang fewer songs in Telugu and Tamil during the beginning of her career she went on to rule the playback industry across all four south Indian languages from the mid 1970s.

G. K. Venkatesh

G. K. Venkatesh was one of the early composers who brought a renaissance in Kannada film music.He started composing for more films from the early 1960s and went on to give some remarkable songs to Janaki. GKV-SJ-PBS combination was the talk of the town those days.Two songs which need special mention from this combination are "nambide ninna naadhadevate" from Sandhya Raga and "Karedaru kelade" from Sanaadi Appanna: both became very popular.Dr. Rajkumar, who had begun his acting career in the 1950s, got to sing his first duet with S. Janaki – "Tumbitu Manavaa" – for the film "Mahishasura Mardini" in which he played the villain.

M. Ranga Rao

M. Ranga Rao was one of the composers who contributed memorable songs to Kannada film music.He collaborated with S. Janaki for many films, including Edakallu Guddada Mele ("Sanyasi Sanyasi") directed by Puttanna Kanagal. Ranga Rao composed memorable duets sung by Dr. Rajkumar and S. Janaki for "Vasanta Geeta", "Hosabelaku" and "Samayada Gombe".

For Hosabelaku, Ranga Rao composed a melodious tune for a poem by Rashtrakavi Kuvempu "Teredide Mane O Baa Atithi" and S. Janaki sung this along with another legendary singer Vani Jayaram.

M. S. Baburaj

The earliest recognised collaboration of S Janaki's was with the Malayalam composer MS Baburaj, who specialised in Hindustani music. Under his direction, Janaki was able to give voice to some of Kerala's best loved film songs of all time during the 1960s and early 1970s. The songs they've worked on have been known for their outward expressions, both in voice and the composition by itself. Some of Janaki's best known solos come from this collaboration, including Vasantha Panchami Naalil (Bhargavi Nilayam), Anjana Kannezhuthi (Thacholi Othenan) and Thaane Thirinjum Marinjum (Ambalapravu).

Ilaiyaraaja

Ilaiyaraaja knew about Janaki's vocal range and versatility when he worked with G. K. Venkatesh. When he got a chance to compose music for his debut film Annakkili (1976) he made Janaki sing 3 songs which became immensely popular thus beginning an era in Tamil cinema. This combination churned out hits after hits pushing S Janaki to the numero uno position for at least the next 2 decades. S Janaki won 4 state awards in Tamil in his compositions. He explored her voice in wide variety of songs and she became the first choice for songs with village background.

She sang maximum duets with Balasubrahmanyam, Malaysia Vasudevan, Mano, Yesudas, Jayachandran. Ilayaraaja himself sang around 200 duets with Janaki; most were chart busters. After Ilaiyaraaja started giving more songs to S. Janaki, even other music composers followed by making her sing their top hits.

SPB-IR-SJ created some of the finest duets of Tamil cinemas. 1980s saw the meteoric rise of Janaki with a strong back up from Ilayaraja, as she sang his songs in all four South Indian languages.

Rajan–Nagendra

Rajan and Nagendra have a unique place in the hearts of Kannada music lovers. S Janaki was a part of almost all their albums. During the initial days, RN gave many duets to PBS-SJ. Later their main singers were SPB and S Janaki. Almost all of their songs remain etched as the unforgettable melodies of Kannada Cinema. The romantic duets that came out from the SPB-S Janaki-Rajan–Nagendra combination are considered to be heavenly and evergreen. Radios called the pair of SPB and S Janaki as "Love Birds" and are termed to be the "Best singing pair" in Kannada cinema, owing mainly to their romantic duets composed by Rajan–Nagendra in the 1970s and 80s[17] In terms of numbers, it was Rajan–Nagendra who gave maximum songs to Janaki after Ilaiyaraaja.The solos and duets that S Janaki rendered under these music composers can never be erased from the minds of the Kannada audience. Some top hit songs came from movies such as Eradu Kanasu, Hombisilu, Gaali Maathu, Pavana Ganga, Avala Hejje, Chandana Gombe, Naa Ninna Bidalare and the list continues.

Hamsalekha

By the end of 80s Hamsalekha established himself as the top music composer in Kannada cinema pushing all the veteran composers to the background. His strong association with actor Ravichandran resulted in so many hit songs. S Janaki was his first choice during the initial days of his career. SPB-SJ-HL created some of the evergreen duets in movies like Premaloka and Ranadheera. S Janaki worked in more than 40 films with Hamsalekha and sang all-time hit solos and duets.

Vijaya Bhaskar

Kannada cinema offered SJ real gems of her singing career and Vijaya Bhaskar is no exception. Though his main singers were P Susheela in 60s and Vani Jayaram and Chitra in 70s and 80s, he gave some of his best compositions to S Janaki in movies like Gejje Pooje, Bellimoda, Upasane, Seetha (1970 film); he chose her whenever the song needed some special singing. "Gaganavu ello bhoomiyu ello" remains one of the most memorable songs of S Janaki. If we take the top 10 songs of S Janaki in Kannada cinema there would definitely be at least 2 songs composed by Bhaskar.

A. R. Rahman

During the '90s, Janaki sang many great Tamil and Telugu songs for A. R. Rahman at the early stage of his career. Songs like "Ottagatha Kattiko", "Gopala Gopala", "Nenjinele", "Kadhal Kaditham Theetave", "Mudhalvane", "Endhan Nenjil", "Margali Thingal" and many are still popular. She won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Female Playback for "Margazhi Thinkal Allava" from the film Sangamam under his composition.

Legacy and popularity

Janaki and voice modulation is synonymous. She has done a wide range of voice modulation according to the age of the character in all four South Indian languages. She is perhaps the only singer who won state awards for the same. Tamil Nadu state award for "Poda poda pokka" song from Uthiripookkal (1978) and Andhra Pradesh State award for "Govullu tellana" song from Saptapadi (1981 film).The song "Kanna nee engey" from the Tamil film Rusi kanda poonai(1980),also penned by her,was sung entirely by Janaki in a child's voice. So was the song "Mummy Mummy" sung by her from the Malayalam film Ee thanalil ithiri nerum (1985). Songs she sang in kids-voice in 70s in Kannada too were popular, one such song is "Thayiya thandeya" from the film Madhura Sangama(1978). She sang many such songs for many different characters of different ages. She sang more than 48000+ songs across all languages.

Toughest song

Janaki says that the toughest song of her singing career is the fastest swaras Kannada song "Shiva shiva ennada naaligeyeke" from the movie Hemavathi (film). The song, which is in two different ragas, Thodi and Aabhogi, was composed by L. Vaidyanathan.[18] [19]

Awards & honours

Awards
AwardsWins
National Film Awards
Kerala State Film Awards
Andhra Pradesh State Film Awards
Tamil Nadu State Film Awards
Karnataka Rajyotsava award
Orissa State Film Award
Total
National Film Awards
  • Best Female Playback Singer
    Mirchi Music Awards
    Filmfare Awards South
    Kerala State Film Awards
  • Best Female Playback Singer
    Nandi Awards (Andhra Pradesh State Film, Music, Television and Arts Awards):Best Female Playback Singer
    Tamil Nadu State Film Awards
  • Best Female Playback Singer
    Orissa State Film Awards
    Filmfare Awards
    Special Honours:
    Other Awards:

    External links

    Notes and References

    1. Web site: S Janaki returns to playback singing . The Times of India . 5 December 2018.
    2. News: Nostalgia alert: Nightingale of South, S Janaki recorded her first song on this day in 1957! . The Times of India . 4 April 2023 .
    3. Web site: Dr. S Janaki Speaking at Naadanamana ll Part 2 . live . https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/lIJwJEinfnw . 21 December 2021 . YouTube.
    4. Web site: "Kavidaye Padalaga," presented by poet and film lyricist Vairamuthu, this evening, will transform poetry into song . https://archive.today/20130126105125/http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/thscrip/print.pl?file=2004072700010100.htm&date=2004/07/27/&prd=mp& . usurped . 26 January 2013 . The Hindu . 27 July 2004 . 11 August 2012.
    5. Web site: S Janaki makes singing comeback . Cinema Express . 7 December 2018.
    6. News: Timeless voice . https://web.archive.org/web/20121108154101/http://www.hindu.com/fr/2007/06/29/stories/2007062950420200.htm . dead . 8 November 2012 . Chennai, India . . 29 June 2007.
    7. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67d3peJHqHo SP Balu birthday Special Townhall Nellore
    8. Sagaram, Sangeetha (12 October 2016) S. Janaki Sings For You. Hostsar
    9. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wV2K1aYOyr8 Legendary singer S.Janaki interview
    10. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQPIZ7uI-eM S Janaki musical night- Speech
    11. Sagaram, Sangeetha (11 October 2016) S. Janaki on the Show!. Hotstar
    12. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlyH2GQYz_8 S Janaki speaks about A R Rahman @ ARR honored by cine musicians union
    13. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQO84i2QDTU South Indian singer S Janaki refuses to accept Padma Bhushan
    14. News: I have sung enough: S. Janaki . P. K. Ajith . Kumar . The Hindu . 23 September 2016 .
    15. Web site: Dr. S Janaki Speaking at Naadanamana ll Part 2 . live . https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/lIJwJEinfnw . 21 December 2021 . YouTube.
    16. News: Watch S Janaki's last song Ammapoovinum from Malayalam movie 10 Kalpanakal . Yahoo! News . en-IN.
    17. http://www.sjanaki.net/kannada/with-spb With S P Balasubramanyam
    18. Web site: South Indian Singer S.Janaki Explains why She is not Accepting the "Padma Bhushan"Award . 28 January 2013.
    19. Web site: YouTube . YouTube.
    20. Web site: Lifetime Achievement Award (South) winners down the years... . filmfare.com . 29 March 2015.
    21. Web site: Awards . Kerala Film Chamber . 10 March 2019.
    22. Web site: STATE FILM AWARDS . https://web.archive.org/web/20160303232254/http://www.prd.kerala.gov.in/stateawares.htm . dead . 3 March 2016 . 10 March 2019.
    23. Web site: +++++++++++++ official website of INFORMATION AND PUBLIC RELATION DEPARTMENT OF KERALA +++++++++++++ . https://web.archive.org/web/20160303232254/http://www.prd.kerala.gov.in/stateawares.htm . dead . 3 March 2016 . 3 March 2016 . 10 March 2019.
    24. Web site: S.Janaki-Playback singer-personalities- Musicians . 2023-01-29 . webindia123.com.
    25. Book: Darpan, Pratiyogita . Competition Science Vision . August 1998 . Pratiyogita Darpan . en.
    26. Web site: 15 March 2009 . Kannada composers laud S Janaki for doctorate honor . 11 August 2012 . Zee News.
    27. Web site: 7 March 2009 . Mysore Varsity confers doctorate on playback singer Janaki . 4 August 2020 . The Times of India.
    28. Web site: Vairamuthu, S Janaki – On-Spot: Vijay Music Awards 2012 . MSN . 5 November 2012 . 1 October 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131002184522/http://entertainment.in.msn.com/gallery/Photoviewer.aspx?cp-documentid=251286705 . 2 October 2013 . dead.
    29. Web site: MAA music life time achievement award 2013 to S Janaki – Telugu cinema news . Idlebrain.com . 19 January 2013 . 1 October 2013.
    30. News: Veteran singer S Janaki refuses to accept Padma Awards . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150303190330/http://ibnlive.in.com/videos/317932/veteran-singer-s-janaki-refuses-to-accept-padma-awards.html . 3 March 2015 . 27 January 2013 . CNN-IBN.
    31. Web site: Eng . David . 2013 Udaya Film Awards – winners . Chino Kino . 6 March 2013 . 1 October 2013.
    32. Web site: S Janaki Receive Award . https://web.archive.org/web/20141104053334/http://www.indiaglitz.com/channels/kannada/article/117767.html . dead . 4 November 2014 . indiaglitz.com . 29 March 2015.
    33. https://web.archive.org/web/20160605041822/http://www.dakshinamoorthysangeetholsavam.com/dakshinamoorthy-awards/ Dakshinamoorthi Awards
    34. http://www.viggy.com/english/current_udayshankar_award.asp PB, SP and S. Janaki to receive Udayshankar Award

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