Veteran singer S Janaki has announced that she will quit playback singing. Her final song will be a lullaby for an upcoming Malayalam film 10 Kalpanakal, starring Meera Jasmine and Anoop Menon. Talking to Times Of India, S Janaki said, “I think I have sung enough. I sang in many languages. I am old now and I want to rest and relax. My final song will be in Malayalam. It wasn’t a pre-determined effort to call it quits with a Malayalam song. It’s a lullaby and it’s close to my heart.”
The song is titled ‘Ammanipoovu’ and is composed by Mithun Eshwar. “It will be my final song, I will not be recording anymore nor will I be singing at any functions.” said Janaki.
Mithun Eshwar met Janaki for the first time at an event in Calicut, which was held to commemorate her 50th year in the film industry. “I had played her favourite song Singara Velane Deva on the violin that day and she liked it. I told her I would love to compose a song for her and she agreed. So, when this song came up, director Don Max and I approached her.”
The composer recorded the song in Hyderabad last month. “She was extremely happy about singing a lullaby. Once we finished the recording, she told us she wanted to end her career with this track. It took us by surprise. It’s not that she can’t sing anymore, but she doesn’t want to strain herself.” he said.
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In her career spanning 59 years, S Janaki has sung close to 48,000 songs in multiple languages. Fondly referred to as Janakiamma, the singer is a recipient of four National Awards for her singing. A native of Pallapatla village, Guntur, Janaki began her singing career in 1957 with the Tamil movie, Vidhiyin Vilayattu. In the 60s and 70s, she worked with the top musicians of the country, across languages, and her songs with Ilaiyaraaja and duets with SP Balasubramanyam became instant hits and are still immsensly popular.
S Janaki had refused the Padma Bhushan award in 2013 saying that it had come ‘a little too late’. A book titled ‘Aalpanathile Thenum Vayambum’, authored by Abhilash Pudukad was published last year.