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…”

AWARDS


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.

PERSONAL LIFE

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.


Keywords: Playback singer, malayalam film singer, tamil film singer, S.Janaki, S.Janaki profiles, Chandrasekharam,Singer of the Century, Bharatidas, Achiever Award, song Thaliritta Kinaakkal, song Sooryakanti,song Mathalappoo Poloru