S Janaki - Gifted Singer

Smt. S. Janaki, the gifted singer is no doubt, the undisputed melody queen of the South. For years, we have been listening to her sweet voice convey the beauty of the birds and the flowers. Her magical and stimulating voice airs our joys and sorrows, dreams and aspirations. She sways the hearts of music lovers - soothing and stirring them or bringing tears to their eyes, with her mellifluous voice.

Janaki is not only a musician but also a magician. She does wonders with her voice and changes her tone to match each and every stage of human life. Her range of singing is very wide while it encompasses the songs that are worshipful, mellisonant, off-colored, rebellious and imitative. She walks mutely and pleasingly into the hearts of audience with her soulful and stirring voice. Janaki has a sweet voice that can reach high pitches with consummate ease.

Janaki has been lilting the south Indian film music lovers with her uninterrupted singing for several decades. At sixty plus, and after 15,000 songs in various Indian languages including over a hundred in Hindi, the evergreen singer is uncontaminated by age, going strong and still sweet as honey. She is a strong believer in self-learning, and has come up with sheer hard work and commitment to music.

A devotee of Lord Krishna and Shirdi Sai Baba, she spends a lot of time praying. “Do you know how I perform?” she asks. “The truth is that I don't sing at all. It is Krishna, the dweller of my heart, who sings,” says Janaki. Apart from singing, she also likes to draw pictures, sew and paint a little bit.

Janaki is married to Sri. V. Rama Prasad. Her son Mr. V. Murali Krishna, who has an audio business of his own, has acted in a couple of movies, one being Sruthilayalu. He is now acting in some T.V. serials. Her father-in-law is the famous mono actor, Fun Dr. V. Chandrasekharam. Her daughter-in-law, Uma Murali Krishna, is a classical dancer, adept at both Bharathanatyam and Kuchipudi and is a recipient of the title "Yuva Kala Bharathi." Janaki is blessed with two lovely granddaughters, Amruthavarshini and Apsara.

Janaki, apart from being a prolific singer, is also a good lyricist and a very good music composer. Seeing her caliber, producer Ramoji Rao chose her as music director for his Telugu film Mouna Poraatam, in the year 1988. She is the third lady music director in Telugu Cinema field, after Bhanumati and P. Leela. She has also written lyrics for a number of songs in Tamil and Telugu. Janaki sang a sensational Tamil song for a small girl of 3 or 4 years old in a child's voice that paved the way for a variety of “child songs” in different languages in her voice. Her voice did wonders when she sang for a sixteen-year-old boy, a grown up lady, a very old woman, and some rustic songs. Her magical voice represents that of a baby, an adolescent, and even of a man's. She let her voice strolled to get consorted with great instrumentalists like

Bismillah Khan (on Shehnai for a Kannada film),
M.S. Gopalakrishnan (on Violin for a Kannada film),
Karaikuruchi Arunachalam (on Nadaswaram for a Tamil film),
Naamagiri Pettai Krishnan (on Nadaswaram for a Malayalam film) and
Hari Prasad Chaurasia (on Flute for Malayalam & Telugu films).

She moulds her voice according to the artiste for whom she renders a song. Sometimes she even adds certain breathtaking special effects into her songs. In the Malayalam song “Nadha Nee Varum…,” for the film Chamaram, she included a soft laughter that leaves the listener with goosebumps. She laughs melodiously for the Telugu song “Sirimalle Puvvalle Navvu…” in the film Jyothi, which was released in 1976 under the music direction of Chakravarthi. She brought out a typical child's voice for the Telugu songs “Gunnamaamidi Komma Meeda…” in the film Baalamithrula Katha, in 1973, and “Govullu Thellana Gopayya Nallana…” in the film Saptapadi, in 1981. Her Malayalam song, “Kokkaamandi Konanirachi…,” with the voice of a baby girl, left listeners awestruck. She even imitated a drunkard's voice in the song “Paapa Peru Malli… Ooru Kotta Dhilli…” in the film Mouna Geetham.

According to Janaki, her voice is God's gift. She neither practices nor does anything to maintain or improve her voice. She believes that God maintains it for her. All she does is avoid ice cream and cold drinks. She just goes to the recording room or the stage and sings, leaving everything to God. Janaki normally gets not much of a notice before she has to sing at a recording. The music directors usually call her up on the phone and ask her to go for recording of the song the next day.

Compared to singing at a studio recording, Janaki likes to perform live on stage. She opines that the enjoyment of the audience is what makes any singer happy. She thanks God for whatever she is and whatever she has been able to do. Janaki says that she will keep singing as long as her fans want her to. She thanks all her fans for supporting her.

Janaki’s favorite singers are Mohammed Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar, and Asha Bhonsle. One of Janaki’s most memorable moments was her meeting with Lata Mangeshkar in Hyderabad at a function to honor Ghantasala. They met each other on the stage, and spontaneously hugged each other. Janaki recalls that as a very memorable event in her life.

Janaki has also released quite a few albums of her songs on various subjects, including one with love songs. She has also brought out an album with patriotic songs, in which her son has sung the title song with her.

Thousands of songs that Janaki has rendered as a playback singer have left a lasting impression in the hearts of her fans, with hardly anyone who could match her pitch and talent.

The Telugu songs

“Nee Aasaa Adiasaa Lambodolla Ramadasa…”
“Nenoka Poola Mokka Kada Nilichi…”
“Nee Leela Paadedha deva…” (Muripinche Muvvalu)
“Pagale Vennela…” and
“Ye Divilo Virisina Parijathamo…”

are still as captivating as they were when they first came out.

She gave her voice to dance numbers like "Naravaraa O Kuruvaraa" (NartanaSaala, 1963 – Susarla Dakshinamurthy),
"O VannekaaDaa Ninnu ChooDa" (PaanDava Vanavaasamu, 1965 - Ghantasala),
"NaruDa O NaruDa Emi KOrika" (award winner) (Bhairava Dweepam, 1994 – Madhavapeddi Suresh),
"AaDadaani Ora ChoopulO" (Aaradhana, 1962 – S. Rajeswara Rao),
"MuttemanTi Chinadaanni MogalirEkupoovu Danni" (AakaSaraamanna, 1965 – Rajan-Nagendra)
are some of the popular ones.

She sang for five generations of heroines:
Jamuna – PagalE Vennela JagamE Ooyala (Poojaaphalam, 1964 – S.Rajeswara Rao),
Janaki – OhO OhO Paavuramaa,
Vanisree – PagalaitE DoravEraa Raatiri Naa Raajuvura (Bangaaru Panjaram, 1968 – S. Rajeswara Rao),
Vijayashanthi – Bujji PiTTa Bulli PiTTa GooTilOni GuvvapiTTa (ChinaraayuDu, 1992 – Ilayaraja),
Amala – Sarasaalu Chaalu Sreevaaru VELa Kaadu (Shiva, 1990 – Ilayaraja),
Rambha – NaruDa O NaruDa Emi KOrika (Bhairava Dweepam, 1994 – Madhavapeddi Suresh).

She always sang so very naturally that one feels that the heroine is singing the song herself. She excelled in all type of combinations:
with Ghanatasala – NaDi REyi E JaamulO (Rangula RaaTnam, 1967 – S. Rajeswara Rao–Gopalam),
with Balamurali Krishna - Vasanta Gaaliki Valapulu REga (KarNa - Pendyala Nageswara Rao),
with Susheela – SarilEru Neekevvaru Narapaala Sudhaakara (KanchukOTa, 1967 – K.V. Mahadevan)
are only some of the many examples.

In Malayalam, among her evergreen songs are

“Thaliritta Kinaakkal…”
“Sooryakanti…”
“Sandhye Kannerithenthe…”
“Mathalappoo Poloru…” and
“Anjana Kannezhuthi…”

Janaki, recipient of innumerable awards, has the remarkable distinction of having rendered 15,000 songs in 15 different languages namely Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Hindi, Sinhalese, Bengali, Oriya, English, Sanskrit, Konkani, Tulu, Saurashtra, Baduga and German, which is a veritable feat that carved a permanent niche for her.

She won All India Radio Second Prize (1956) from the then President of India Late Dr. Rajendra Prasad. Janaki has bagged many awards as the “Best Female Play-Back Singer.” She has received many awards from various government and non-government institutions as recognition for her great singing talent.

Janaki has performed many stage shows world wide, for light-music troupes like Swaramaadhuri, the troupe that has over 1000 artistes and singers associated, and has the distinction of rendering over 5000 concerts in the past. Janaki won the first national award for the song “Senthoora Poove…” in the Tamil film Padhinaru Vayathinile, under the music direction of Ilaiyaraja. She won Tamil Nadu State Government award six times, Andhra Pradesh State Government award six times, “Kalai Maamani” in 1986, “Sur Singaar” in 1987, “Singer of the Century” award, and “Bharatidas” award. The Andhra Pradesh Kalavedika complimented her with “Sangeeta Ratna” award and one lakh rupees, on The 100 Years of Cinema festival. She won four national awards. She was honored for her outstanding contribution to South Indian cinema. Her song “Ee Duryoadhana Dussaasana…” in Pratighatana,composed by Chakravarthi, secured her the Best Singer award for the year1986. She was also honored with the Cinema “Achiever Award” by the Government of Kerala in the year 2002. She has won awards for her songs in the Malayalam film Oppol, Telugu film Sithara (which had the same music composition as the Tamil song “Thoorathil Naan Kanda…” in the movie Nizhalgal). She also won the award for the fourth time for the song “Inji Iduppazhaga…” in the Tamil film Devar Magan. She has received many State Film awards during 1969 – 2001, as a female playback singer for singing in different films. She has also acquired an award by Sangeetha Ganga Gayana Organization. After her husband's demise she almost broke off singing for films. She is now totally indulged in making her own albums like devotional songs of Meera etc.

P Susheela - South Indian Nightingale

P. Susheela. The very name would evoke memories of many a number rendered in her rich, reverberating and resonant voice to the fans of South Indian movies, be it Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada or even Sinhalese. With her mellifluous voice she has breathed life into thousands of lyrics, bringing out the right emotion lying under each word and making the song waft straight into the listener's heart.

A point to be noted here is the care with which she pronounced the words, though she sang in different languages. That is something we are not able to see in most of our present day singers. Words are the victims of rather constricted rhythms and contorted beats, compacted and deformed between the tongue and the teeth. But it was Susheela's school to render them with effortless ease, as they are pronounced by the people speaking each individual language in which the lyrics are written.

Susheela started way back in 1952. She was the recipient of the national award for best singer in the years 1969, 1971, 1977, 1982 and 1983. At the state level, both Tamil Nadu and Kerala have honoured her with several awards. The Tamil Nadu Government recognised her genius in the years 1968, 1980, 1981, 1989 and 1991 with various titles, prizes and awards.

Born in 1935 in Vijayanagaram in a music-loving family, Susheela had an innate talent in music. The seniors in the family arranged for her training in Carnatic music at a very young age. With a properly nurtured talent, she used to participate any competition in music held in her school or in Vijayanagaram and had always come home with the first prize in each competition. She then went to the Music College in Vijayanagaram and passed her diploma in first class. Her natural taste for music and her voice of gold were finely honed by the training she received and Susheela soon absorbed the finest nuances of giving expression to the verses she rendered.

It was in 1950 that music director Nageswara Rao was looking for new talent and approached the All India Radio with a request to refer to him the good singers who used to participate in their programmes. And the radio station sent five persons to him. Susheela was selected after necessary audition tests.

'Petra Thaai' was being made in 1952 in Tamil (Kanna Thalli in Telugu) with A. Nageswararao and G. Varalakshmi in lead roles. Susheela sang her first song - a duet with A. M. Raja - 'Edhukku azhaithaai' for the movie.

She was then an employee of the AVM Studios, receiving a fixed amount as her monthly salary, for several years after her introduction in Petra Thaai. Meyyappa Chettiar, the demanding perfectionist that he was, appointed a Tamil teacher for Susheela to train her in proper pronunciation of words. (Hmmmm… keep praying for the arrival of another Meyyappa Chettiar to save our ears from jarring crudities of mispronunciation that the present generation of singers subject them to.)

The songs that she sung in 'Kanavane kan kanda dheiyvam' (1955) brought her the popularity that she so well deserved. Especially songs like 'Endhan ullam thulli vilyaaduvadhum,' 'unnaik kan thedudhe' brought out her talent for rendition. Then came 'Missiyamma' in the same year. Susheela became very popular with 'Brindha vanamum Nandha kumaranum' and 'ariyaa paruvamada' set to Karaharapriya. Her name soon spread and was respected among the elite and the masses.

It was a time when several other women had established their talents already and were reigning supreme - like P. Leela who started her career in 1948; Jikki who allured the audience with her lilting voice; the Carnatic music genius M. L. Vasanthakumari; P. A. Periyanaayagi, actress and singer; Jamuna Rani, A. P. Komala; R. Balasaraswati, Sulamangalam Rajalakshmi and Jayalakshmi, K. Rani, A. Rathnamala, S. J. Kantha among others. Each had a unique and distinct character and quality and had a large number of admirers.

Susheela made her entry when so many singers were displaying their talents and were very popular. But her entry in 1952 outshone others and soon pushed all of them to the background. Right from 1955 there was not a single movie - for a very very long time - that did not have a song in her voice. Her career was at its best in the 60s and the early 70s. Whoever be the music director, whoever be the lyricist, whoever be the co-singer, the song became popular with her finesse. Her popularity among the masses was just unprecedented in the annals of Tamil cinema.

After her splendid performance in Kalyana Parisu, melody itself assumed a new dimension and soon a trend was set in motion that placed equal emphasis on songs on par with story, scenes and sequence. Susheela's contribution to this trend was considerable. She has given hundreds of golden melodies under the direction of stalwarts Viswanathan - Ramamurthy. That her name is well known and is remembered with feelings of joy for more than 50 years now goes to her credit. She continues to rule supreme in the hearts of her fans through the thousands of numbers she has rendered in a very long and enviable career.