'Nightingale of South India' S Janaki passes away at 88

Popular Indian playback singer S Janaki passed away on Saturday. She was 88 years old.

She breathed her last at a private hospital in Mysuru, according to PTI.

Sistla Janaki, popularly known as S Janaki or Janaki Amma, was one of the most celebrated playback singers in Indian music. Often referred to as the "Nightingale of South India", she was known for her remarkable voice and versatility across multiple Indian languages.

During her illustrious career spanning nearly seven decades, Janaki recorded more than 48,000 songs across films, private albums, television and radio. Her versatile voice brought life to solo numbers, duets, chorus tracks and title songs in 20 Indian languages.

Her musical journey also extended beyond Indian languages, with recordings in English, Japanese, German and Sinhala. Janaki shared a remarkable partnership with late playback singer S P Balasubrahmanyam (SPB), with the duo estimated to have recorded between 5,000 and 10,000 songs together. Some of their most popular collaborations include 'Andamalo' and 'Om Namaha'.

She also delivered numerous chart-topping duets with other acclaimed playback singers, including K J Yesudas and P B Srinivas, further cementing her status as one of India's greatest playback singers.

Janaki was born on April 23, 1938, in Pallapatla, Guntur, in Andhra Pradesh. She made her playback debut at the age of 19 with the 1957 Tamil film ‘Vidhiyin Vilayattu’. In the very first year of her career, she recorded songs in six different languages, offering an early glimpse of the extraordinary versatility that would define her journey.

Her expressive voice and effortless command over multiple languages made her one of the most sought-after singers in Indian cinema, with memorable songs in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Hindi and several other languages.

Over the course of her illustrious career, Janaki received numerous honours, including four National Film Awards and 33 State Film Awards, making her one of the most decorated playback singers in the country. She also received an honorary doctorate from the University of Mysore, the Kalaimamani award from the Tamil Nadu government, and the Rajyotsava Prashasti from the Government of Karnataka.

In 2013, she refused to accept the Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian award of the Government of India, saying it came too late. Janaki had also expressed that she deserved the Bharat Ratna, the country's highest civilian award, for her contributions to music.

Among her most beloved Malayalam songs are ‘Vasantha Panchami Naalil’, ‘Suryakanthi… Suryakanthi’, and ‘Thumbi Vaa Thumbakudathil’, timeless classics that continue to resonate with generations of listeners.