The Versatile S. Janaki

Born: 23^rd April , 1938

If I have not covered a living legend like Sistla Janaki in my blogs it is because of a simple reason . The dilemma of how to select few songs from the huge number of hit songs that she has rendered in Tamil films alone, apart from all the other South Indian languages, in a career that spans around six decades. Of course, my own limited knowledge about her songs also prevented me from writing about her till now. Even now, I am not confident if I would be able to do some justice to her, but let me at least try.

S Janaki ( henceforth I will refer to her as SJ ) , a living legend, has rendered some of the most difficult songs in film music. In her own words , the song “Shiva shiva ennada naaligeyeke” for the Kannada film Hemavathi was her toughest song , composed in Thodi and Aabhogi , alternating between these two ragas and the lightning speed in which she sings the swaras towards the end of the song is something unbelievable. I am providing the link to that song here:

Almost similar , but more melodious, is her famous Singara Velana Deva from the Tamil film Konjum Salangai, in which she matched the virtuosity of the legendary Nadaswaram player Karakurichi Arunachalam, note by note. For many legendary singers , unfortunately we do not have any authentic source on exact number of songs rendered by them . SJ might have definitely sung thousands of films songs, albums, songs for TV & Radio , sung as solo, duet and with multiple singers. I do not have any official statistics for this number. Since she sang in all the four southern languages , it must be at least in the range of 10,000-20,000 in my own estimate.

Born on 23^rd April 1938 to Sistla Sreeramamurthy & Satyavati in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh. Her father was an Ayurvedic doctor and teacher. Although she never had any formal training in classical music, she did learn some basics from a Nadaswara vidwan Paidiswamy. In the town of Sircilla , she spent her childhood and at the young age of 9 , she sang for the first time on stage. Later , when she was in her twenties, on the advice of her uncle she moved to Chennai and approached the noted music director R Sudarsanam. However it was with the composition of T Chalapathi Rao for the film Vidhiyin Vilayattu in 1957 ( the song was En Aasai Paazhunaathu Eno) she began her glorious career. Immediately after this film she started singing in Telugu and Kannada. Statistically , she is said to have sung the maximum songs in Kannada, followed by Malayalam , Telugu, and Tamil.

Although SJ was singing many songs in Kannada, Malayalam & Telugu , in Tamil till the mid 70’s she sang lesser number of songs as P Susheela was already established as the number one female playback singer during the 50’s & 60’s . However, in my opinion, SJ sang some of the best songs of her career during that period. Of course , in 1976 , there came a turning point in her career with the film Annakili , after which there was no looking back for her in Tamil film music .

Her versatility is unmatched- she could sing like a small kid, intensely emotional songs, folk songs, pure classical songs, devotional songs and one of the most popular genres- her romantic and sensuous songs-all with equal fervour. The ease with which she reaches the higher octaves is simple unbelievable. Starting her career with the yesteryear legends like G Ramanathan, KV Mahadevan, Vishwanathan -Ramamoorthy she could easily adapt her singing style to newer generation music directors like Ilayaraja, A.R Rehman , Vidyasagar etc. Of course she did the same in other languages like Kannada, Malayalam, Telugu but I am restricting my blog to only the music I am aware of, i.e. Tamil and that too within my limited ability.

I have tried my best to select few songs from her vast repertoire and tried including a mix of her early songs that are also my personal favourites, and her later, more popular songs. They include her fabulous solos and some of her best duets. Songs have been arranged in chronological order of the film’s year of release , with song , film, year , music director , lyricist, and co-singer.

I have to confess here that my knowledge about SJ’s songs is limited-I have listened to few of them and they are mostly from the pre-90’s and so many readers may find my selection a bit strange. I have tried my best to include her best solos and duets with most of the prominent male playback singers – SPB ( the most popular pair! ) , TMS,P.B. Sreenivas, KJ Yesudas, Malaysia Vasudevan, P Jayachandran, M.S Vishwanathan & Ilayaraja . Among the composers , I have not ventured into the songs she must have sung for many later composers in Tamil films as I have very little idea about that period.

Singara Velane Deva” –Konjum Salangai -1962-S.M Subbiah Naidu-Ku. Ma. Balasubramaniam-Nadaswaram played by the legend Karakurichi P. Arunachalam

Though SJ was singing for almost 5 years in Tamils films, this epic “ duet” of SJ with the Nadaswaram played by the maestro Karakurichi P Arunachalam is considered as one her career best. It is said that initially they considered many other singers , but ultimately selected SJ to sing this , matching the high octave of the nadaswaram. The making of this song itself is an interesting story and this has been explained so nicely & comprehensively by Ms Subashree Thanikachalam in her QFR series and I am providing a link to that here.
The way in which SJ matches each and every note of the nadaswaram is something that has to be mentioned in golden letters of the annals of Tamil film music history.

The song:

The story behind the song’s creation

2. Kannan Mananilayai” –Deivathin Deivam -1962- G Ramanathan-Mahakavi Subramanya Bharatiyar

A rare song that is truly a gem from the early years of SJ’s career. A superb raagamaligai from the great composer G Ramanathan ( I have written about this song in my blog on GR) , that starts off with Bhimpalasi , then meanders to a soft Bhageshree and ends with raag Bihaag that smoothly flows with romance. Matching step by step with SJ is the veenai played with so much of classicism . No doubt SJ had her most popular and brilliant songs in 70’s and later, but her earlier songs had a purity and innocence that was unmatched.

3. Pon Enben Siru Poovenben-Policekaran Magal-1962- Vishwanathan-Ramamoorthy-Kannadasan-Duet with PBS

Sounding so sweet in lower notes is a difficult thing to achieve. PB Sreenivas and SJ are too good in this song that starts off at a slow pace and with lower octaves. And then after Vishwanathan-Ramamoorthy ‘s scintillating interlude with veenai , flute & strings the song shifts to a faster tempo and higher notes. An immortal melody from V-R based on Darbari Kanada raagam. I consider this as one of the most melodious duets of PBS & SJ.

4. Chinnanjiriya Vanna Paravai-Kungumam-1963-K. V Mahadevan-Kannadasan-Duet with TMS

The same raagam Darbari Kanada is handled in a different way by another legendary composer, K V Mahadevan. In this , TMS joins SJ and both render a masterpiece together, matching note by note so well. The intricate alaapanai towards the end of the song seem so effortless when these two legends sing together.

5. Ninaithal Pothum Paduven-Nenjirukkum Varai-1967-M.S Vishwanathan-Kannadasan

Hidden amongst the more famous songs in this film like the evergreen TMS & P Susheela duet Muthukalo Kangal and P Susheela’s solo Enge Neeyo Naanum ange unnodu, this SJ solo remained a relatively unheard one , but as usual SJ shows her immense talent in singing this in a truly amazing way. The starting itself is at such a high note and the excellent orchestration by MSV adds so much power to the song. Those who are hearing this for the first time, like me, are sure to hear it repeatedly.

6. Unnidathil Ennai Koduthen -Avalukendru Oru Manam-1971-M.S Vishwanathan-Kannadasan

As I keep discovering more and more gems of SJ from the Black & White era films, I am truly amazed at the immense variety of songs she had rendered. The tune , interludes & charanam are all vintage MSV! Superb shehnai as in most of MSV’s old songs and when we have SJ going all out , then it has to be a masterpiece.

7. Sollathan Ninaikiren- Sollathan Ninaikiren-1973- M.S Vishwanathan-Vaali-Duet with MSV

Whenever I listen to this song, I wonder how futuristic , MSV’s tunes were!

There is a sweet contrast in the voices-rustic, heavy voice of MSV coupled with a soft and velvety voice of SJ. As such MSV sang very rarely and with SJ , must be just a handful. The tune itself is so mesmerising and the orchestration by MSV , with those superb guitars, flutes, that solo violin, MSV’s trademark piano-all simply out of the world. The last stanza is normally not heard in the audio versions and I think only the film version has it.

8. Then sinthuthe vaanam -Ponnuku Thanga Manasu-1973-G.K Venkatesh-Kannadasan-Duet with SPB

G.K Venkatesh , the legendary composer in Kannada films , scored for few Tamil films only but whatever he composed were superb tunes. The golden combination of SPB & SJ would later go on to create great waves in Tamil films with Ilayaraja, GKV’s protégé . It is said that GKV was quite busy during the time of composing this song and he had created the basic melody and gave it to his assistant Ilayaraja to arrange and conduct . Note how SJ effortlessly reaches the high octaves in the lines “ Vaidehi munne raghuvamsha raman.”

9. Machana Patheengala-Annakili-1976-Ilayaraja-Panchu Arunachalam

Although SJ was singing for a long time in Tamil films and even more in the other southern languages, it was this song that took her to the Mt Everest of Tamil film music! The brilliance in IR’s composition was evident in his very first film , that continued at least for another two decades, almost uninterrupted.

SJ’s mastery over the emotions in the song , along with her trademark pitch makes this a milestone song in her career.

10. Kaatrukenna Veli-Avargal-1977- M.S Vishwanathan-Kannadasan

If IR had triggered the SJ wave with Annakili, MSV , who , till then had relatively given only few songs to her, came up with a masterpiece. In my purely personal opinion , this is one of her greatest songs. I simply cannot get tired listening to this. The way SJ carried this song is very difficult to explain. MSV comes up with a unique concept of starting the song with a fast tempo & chorus humming. His typical drums give the kick start and then SJ makes her grand entry like a superstar in a film scene with her extraordinary alaap. The core theme of the song , as usually written so well by the great Kannadasan, is about how the heroine feels after falling in love after years of slogging to support the large family she is burdened with . MSV’s tune, Kannadasan’s words and SJ’s singing -all create the exact feel for the situation. That is why songs created by those legends are evergreen.

11. Senthura Poove-16 Vayathinile-1977- Ilayaraja-Gangai Amaran

After Annakili , this was one more feather in SJ’s cap. IR’s guitar, flute , strings that dominate the prelude is etched in our memory even after 48 years . This song brought the first National award for best female playback singing for SJ ; she continued to win three more National awards. There might not have been even a single day when this song was not heard at the time of its release.

One phrase from summarizes this song: ‘Jillendra Kaatre’…cool breeze. Whenever you listen to this you feel a cool breeze caressing you.

12. Kuyile Kavikuyile-Kavikuyil-1977- Ilayaraja-Panchu Arunachalam

Matching note by note , the sound of ‘kuil’ (nightingale) in this song, SJ could come out with a super hit song in this movie , that also had the great classical singer M Balamurali Krishna rendering his immortal Chinna Kannan Azhaikiran.

13. Antha Purathil Oru Maharajan-Deepam-1977-Ilayaraja -Pulamaipithan-Duet with TMS

The first few years after he stormed the Tamil film music scene , Ilayaraja was having a creative explosion! Whatever he tuned turned out to be a super hit. TMS and SJ sang very few songs together and that too in IR’s composition, they were very few, but this is one song that remains in our memory whenever we think of this rare combination. Note how SJ modulates her voice in the line “ Aasai kanindhu vara avan paarthaan; annam thalai kunindhu nilam paarthaal.”

14. Azhagiya Kanne-Udiripookkal-1979- Ilayaraja-Kannadasan

In songs like this, SJ proves that apart from those high pitched, intricate/difficult, and romantic songs, she can also render a sober , melodious song with equal fervour.

15. Kaatril Yenthan Geetham-Johnny-1980- Ilayaraja-Gangai Amaran

When we listen to this song, the first impression is on the extraordinary tune and orchestration of IR. But it is also the excellent singing of SJ, who took this song to a different level, and made it into a masterpiece. Especially the way she elaborates that “ kanatha…ondrai theduthe” with those subtle pauses and drag.

16. Puthum Puthu Kaalai-Alaigal Oivathillai-1981-Ilayaraja-Gangai Amaran

Like Senthoorapoove , Kaatril Yenthan Geetham , this is one iconic solo of SJ under the baton of the maestro Ilayaraja. One of my all-time favourites of this combination, the multi-layered orchestration by IR is simply world class. SJ brings the right tone to the song , with a restrained singing in some places and then going all out in the higher notes in her typical style.

17. Ponvanam Panneer Thoovuthu-Indru Nee Nalai Naan-1983- Ilayaraja-Vairamuthu

That intricate humming right from the beginning of the song to the first charanam and the second one , and of course the usual orchestration brilliance of IR set the mood for the song.

18. Pothi Vechha Malliga mottu-Mann Vasanai-1983-Ilayaraja-Vairamuthu-Duet with SPB

The hero of this song is of course SPB , who embellishes it with all those intricate nuances that he is well known for. Equally SJ matches him in each and every note. And when these two sing together it is always magic!

19. Vetti Veru Vasam-Mudal Mariyathai-1985- Ilayaraja-Vairamuthu-Duet with Malaysia Vasudevan

Mudal Mariyadai had some of the best songs from the team of IR & Vairamuthu although it is said that they did not like the film and never watched it! It even fetched Vairamuthu a National award for best lyrics. One of the best duets of Malaysia Vasudevan and SJ , with both effortlessly gliding through those high octaves in the charanams.

20. Ooru Sanam Thoongiduchu-Mella Thiranthathu Kadavu-1986-MSV & Ilayaraja-Gangai Amaran

When two legends , MSV & IR teamed up for this film , the music is bound to be a milestone. The former had composed most of the songs in the films, with IR taking care of the arrangements and orchestration. A soft melody that lingers in your mind with SJ conveying the feelings of separation by a lovelorn woman so evocatively.

21. Kodiyile Malliyappu-Kadalora Kavithaigal-1986-Ilayaraja- Vairamuthu-Duet with P Jayachandran

Just around 3 months back we lost this legendary singer-P Jayachandran. If someone could look at the statistics of his Tamil songs, he must have had the one of the highest percentage of hits. This eternal duet by him and SJ , with that out-of-the world orchestration by IR has always been my personal favourite.

22. Adi Aathhadi -Kadalora Kavithaigal-1986-Ilayaraja- Vairamuthu- Duet with Ilayaraja

From the same film Kadalora Kavithaigal, we have one more excellent duet of SJ, this one with the composer himself. Also the unique experimentation by IR by creating an overlap of the singer’s voice adds so much charm.

23. Thoongatha Vizhigal Rendu-Agni Natchatiram-1988-Ilayaraja-Vaali-Duet with KJY

It has been IR’s mastery to take a classical raagam and compose a catchy film song , embellishing it with a superb orchestration . And when it comes to a classical base song, then who else but the Gaana Gandharvan K J Yesudas to join with SJ and come out with a timeless classic.

24. Sundari Kannnal Oru Sethi – Thalapathi -1991-Ilayaraja-Vaali-Duet with SPB

It was a real dilemma for me to choose from the numerous hits of the golden combination -SPB & SJ. All songs from Thalapathi were super hits and this duet

is one of the most famous from this duo.

25. Nenjile Nenjile-Uyire-1998-A. R Rehman-Vairamuthu

I have limited knowledge of Tamils songs after 1990 , especially those SJ hafd sung with composers other than Ilayaraja. I have to admit that I was aware of the Hindi version of this song that was also composed by ARR ( film Dil Se) sung by Lata Mangeshkar when her voice was past her prime. Only when searching for some best SJ songs for ARR , I came across this -even at the age of 60, SJ’s voice sounds so youthful.

With that I conclude my article on the versatile S Janaki. I only wish I had listened to many more songs of her . Normally I do not venture into the songs in other languages that I am not very familiar , but would like to make an exception here. This Malayalam song-Thumbi Vaa Thumbakudathin from the film Olangal, written by O N V Kuruppu ,has been my personal favourite and so posting the link here:

IR must have liked this tune so much that he later took into this into a Tamil film -Sangathil Padatha Kavithai for the film Auto Raja and in Telugu as Aakasham Ennatido for the film Nireekshana . All had one common singer-S Janaki!!

Acknowledgements and Disclaimer:

I sincerely thank the publishers of following Internet sources for the information that I could gather for this article:

You Tube
Wikipedia
QFR series in YouTube by Ragamalika TV

The songs mentioned are from the popular, public domain and have been embedded here only for the listening pleasure of the music lovers. This blog does not claim any copyright over them, which rests with the respective owners of the rights The photograph is taken from the internet, duly recognizing the full copyrights for the same to the original creator or the site where they were originally displayed .This blog does not claim any copyright over them, which rests with the respective owners of the rights.always known as S Janaki and shortened SJ for simplicity , in my blogs , it is because of this . The dilemma of how to select few songs from the huge number of hit songs that she has rendered in Tamil films alone, apart from all the other South Indian languages, in a career that spans around six decades. Of course, my own limited knowledge about her songs also prevented me from writing about her till now. Even now, I am not confident if I would be able to do some justice to her, but let me at least try.

SJ , a living legend, has rendered some of the most difficult songs in film music. In her own words , the song “Shiva shiva ennada naaligeyeke” for the Kannada film Hemavathi was her toughest song , composed in Thodi and Aabhogi , alternating between these two ragas and the lightning speed in which she sings the swaras towards the end of the song is something unbelievable. I am providing the link to that song here:

Singara Velane Deva” –Konjum Salangai -1962-S.M Subbiah Naidu-Ku. Ma. Balasubramaniam-Nadaswaram played by the legend Karakurichi P. Arunachalam